Steve and Tomisue Hilbert struck gold tonight as Donald Trump's The Celebrity Apprentice cast members were tasked with putting together a public marketing event for Australian Gold's sun tanning lotion products. The Hilberts, who Trump describes as close friends, both appeared on the show tonight to tell the competing celebrity teams about the Austrailian Gold brand that is manufactured and marketed by their Indianapolis-based company. "Live the Gold Life" and their trademark Sydney the koala bear were emphasized by the Hilberts as critical to their marketing strategy.
The men's team led by Mark McGrath let the Hilberts down by failing to include Sydney or their "Live the Gold Life" motto in their pirate-themed event, although they thought they generated better buzz for their event. They didn't see the pirate theme as consistent with their marketing efforts. They were also turned off at Gary Busey's in-your-face effort to sell himself as a spokesman for their product. The women's team was led by LaToya Jackson, who complained her fellow team members were ostracizing her. The Hilberts were disappointed the women failed to utilize Playmate of the Year Hope Dworaczyk in a visible way, but they liked that they utilized the company's motto and mascot prominently with their event. In short, they thought the women were better at messaging their product.
Trump sided with the Hilberts and chose the women's presentation as this week's winner. The men agreed Busey was a problem every week that had to be worked around and needed to go, but McGrath backed himself into a corner by saying ahead of time that he should take the fall as the team's leader if his team lost this week. I got a big kick out of Meatloaf and the other men thinking Tomisue was offended when Busey said during the men's team's meeting with the Hilberts that the product made him feel sexual. Busey denied he made the comment but the camera doesn't lie. Apparently they didn't know she met Steve while jumping out of a cake at his step-son's birthday party many years ago. In the end, Trump decided to fire McGrath, but he warned Busey he had better shape up. The Hilberts aren't saying how much they had to pay Trump to get their product showcased on this week's show. The show has about 8.5 million weekly viewers.
