Cars
Buick Really Screwed Up On Celebrity Apprentice!
On last night’s Celebrity Apprentice, the teams were tasked with putting together a 10-minute presentation to introduce the Buick Verano, along with a 10-minute Q&A session. Adam Carolla was the PM for the men, and Debbie Gibson was the PM for the women.
Anyone that follows Adam Carolla knows that he’s a car guy through and through. He’s the host of The Car Show on SPEED Channel, and is involved in vintage racing. But Trump and Buick execs both wanted Michael Andretti to take the lead, presumably so they could use the Andretti name to sell more Buicks.
Since that didn’t happen, Buick decided to award the win to the women, even though the men’s presentation was 1000x better than the train-wreck that the women put together.
The viewing public knew that this decision was bullshit, and Twitter and Facebook were instantly buzzing with negative comments directed at Buick. Talk about a PR nightmare! Just look at some of these Tweets:
I just fired #celebrityapprentice from my DVR, and Buick from my car shopping list for unjustly letting @adamcarolla and @michaelandretti go
— Otto Olah (@ottoolah) March 12, 2012
Can’t believe#buick. If you want the Andretti name pay for it. What a cheap trick on your part. I won’t own a Buick for sure after that!
— Fatty’s Cycle (@FattysCycle) March 12, 2012
“@femin_ay: No longer watching #celebrityapprentice, oh and never buying a #buick” @CELEBRITYAP2012 @realDonaldTrump #NBC #DonaldTrump
— Fred Knowlton (@FredKnowlton) March 12, 2012
So #Buick, how’s that social media marketing strategy working for ya?#CelebrityApprentice feedback backfired, top execs named douchebags lol
— Gary Choma (@NOSLOW) March 12, 2012
Think #Trump promised/sold #Buick Andretti endorsement then couldn’t deliver? #apprentice #fail
— Blake Rand (@brandcanada) March 12, 2012
Talk about a social media failure! What did you think of last night’s episode?
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Francesco
March 12, 2012 at 2:02 pm
I’m sad that I missed this episode. I need to catch a re-run sometime this week.
elise
March 12, 2012 at 8:28 pm
I was flabbergasted when Trump said the women did a better job !! Clearly Buick was “annoyed” they didn’t get a lot more free PR from Michael on the show. This is the first time that this show clearly angered me. I guess Buick didn’t mind that Aubrey mispronounced the car name not once…. but TWICE !!! Shame on you Buick……I wouldn’t buy that car now even if it were the only model available. I also think that Trump made a bigger deal of it then necessary.
Donovan Grice
March 13, 2012 at 12:24 am
I’m so upset I can barely type this out, when our country’s automotive industry and especially the Buick brand needs a leg up in the world Buick turns around and screws themselves! ARE THEY SERIOUS?! You are going to give Adam Corolla, who makes millions by TALKING ON THE AIR a chip on his shoulder about your brand? Then turn around and give Michael Andretti probably one of the most embarrassing experiences in his life to associate with the Buick brand?! What possible advantage were these two skirt wearing Buick executives thinking they could gain?! Yes we honestly believe that after Celebrity Apprentice, the Has Been and Irrelevant Debbie Gibson can best endorse our car. The Veranos will fly off the lot. Every respected name when it comes to cool cars and bikes were on that team! Absolutely amazing these over paid executives, who are supposed to be so smart can make a total media blunder. The only time my interest was EVER peaked about a Buick was when this episode began but by the end I realized why I have never been attracted to the brand…Buicks are for Squares. I’m not mad at Trump he’s getting paid either way he provided the spectacle, we consumed it but it’s going to cost Buick money and sales to recover.
By the way GM will probably use OUR tax money to fix this dumb ass mistake. Way to go Buick….IDIOTS
Nick
March 13, 2012 at 12:43 am
Buick’s assignment was to provide vehicles, vehicle experts to the teams and to judge the presentations. Buick was not at all involved in the boardroom process, and found out on Sunday, with the rest of America the end result from the boardroom.
The team in NY for the taping several months ago made the decision at the time to award Team Forte victory based on their actual presentation in New York, which was quite different than how it was edited for Sunday on TV.
That said, both teams did a good job with their presentations and Adam is to be commended on his class in the boardroom when the decision was presented.
Nick Richards
Buick Communications
td
March 13, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Wonderful inside Nick. But either way, Buick got screwed in the public’s opinion and your execs messed up who the winner was. I the Donald messed it up for you in the boardroom, Buick got screwed too! Sorry your execs should have NEVER awarded the winner to a team that couldn’t even say the NAME OF THE CAR CORRECTLY!!! Hows that Buick “Verona” sales comming up?
Maybe those execs should be the ones to get “fired”
Regardless on what happened, the losers are not the Donald, nor Adnretti, nor Carolla. The BIG LOSERS were BUICK.
Roger
March 14, 2012 at 3:18 pm
To Buick,Do you have Pride in you Company? If so why is it ok for someone to get your product name wrong “twice” but your company voted for that team.Your image is everything.You can pass the buck all you want.But millions of people,MILLIONS are not talking about your company in a positive way.Have you really check out social media lately. people are getting the tax refunds and that new car from what they saying will NOT be a Buick.
Buffalobob
March 14, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Nick said “The team in NY for the taping several months ago made the decision at the time to award Team Forte victory based on their actual presentation in New York, which was quite different than how it was edited for Sunday on TV”. Nicky, Nicky So what you want us to believe is that the Trump production team with Buick’s oversight choose to show the viewing audience the crappy version of the ladies sales pitch rather than the flawlessly brilliant one. Nice thy but we’re not all obama voters
Sujeet
March 15, 2012 at 10:53 am
I finally listened to Adam’s podcast yesterday, and it’s pretty crazy.. It sounds like quite a bit was edited out, including a part where Adam tells The Donald that the Buick execs should be the ones fired (since they’re the ones who told him they wanted a Steve Jobs-like presentation).
Obviously, they couldn’t air that, so they completely re-edited the footage to make the guys’ presentation look worse than it actually was.. Ironically, even with the edit, their presentation looked better than the girls team!
Steve
March 15, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Too bad. It was still your decision and it reflected ignorance and greed. No Buick for our family ever – I won’t support that selfishness.
Sujeet
March 13, 2012 at 10:02 am
Thanks for the insight Nick. I’ll reserve judgement until I listen to Adam’s latest podcast, in which he talks about the Buick challenge, and everything we didn’t get to see.
Rich Lavene
March 14, 2012 at 11:27 am
This story fascinates me. I turn around the other side and want to say that Mario didn’t take the PM position because his name is a Brand and because he probably has agreements with other sponsors and Car Makers. Either that, or he didn’t want to necessarily hap-hazardly put his name on ANY car, that could weaken his brand!
I think the brass at Celebrity Apprentice sold this to the Buick companies with the intention that Mario would obviously jump at leading this project, do anything to win, including endorsing it, when that didn’t happen, they were mad!
It really sucks, but we all walk around and pretend that this stuff doesn’t go on everyday in the professional world! I guess the question is, do we have to watch it!
This is a great story! Thanks Guys Gab!!!
Rich
KEH
March 15, 2012 at 4:05 am
Buick, I work in marketing.. Wow… how much did you pay NBC to screw the brand? And kill not only any future endorsements from a respected car guy, but from an automotive Dynasty.. You actually signed a contract to put your name on a show with no creative input as to how people you should be courting get treated?
Made me glad I drive a Ford… cause if I drove a Buick or GM this week I would feel dirty..
If you were smart.. instead of saying “Not Our Fault” You would be saying, Donald Trump treated people we respect poorly and we are sending $50K to each of their charities as an apology.. Post to the web all you want, but nothing counts until you put some cash on the line and are willing to put Trump in his place.
This reminds me of when the ALL execs one season suggested mothers couldn’t use computers and they were after real women. We went from ALL users to ALL never users over that episode.
Steve
March 15, 2012 at 9:26 pm
Great message. Step up Buick. You blew it big time
John
March 15, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Buick. You really messed up. How can you denigrate your brand to such a level in order to get a marketing push. I work in marketing for a major retailer, and I would never work for my company if they did such a thing. Never going to buy a Buick again. And I have a lot cars to buy ahead of me…
Shame on Buick. Shame on Trump. Shame on The Apprentice.
jeremy
March 17, 2012 at 5:54 am
That show was the first one i thought was fixed. They women could not pronounce the name of the car or answer any safety questions about it. That type of incompetence has consistantly gotten people fired in the past but not on this particular episode. The whole show felt a bit creepy. I will not by a car from a company employing those two idiots.
Tim The Handyman
March 17, 2012 at 9:11 pm
If I was on the bubble about buying any Buick before the show, I decided that I will never buy a Buick EVER.
No wonder the car industry is fucked-up. Just look at the decesion makers.
Eliot
March 17, 2012 at 11:29 pm
The strongest selling point for your car out of that show (by far) was seeing Andretti cruising through the course. Then you cause not only Andretti but also Carolla to be tossed off the show? Wow, nice going. I actually hate your brand. Don’t worry though. I never intended to buy a Buick in the first place, so I’m not actually a lost customer.
Bill
March 26, 2012 at 2:51 am
It seems noone other than me knows Adam Carolla hosts “the car show” on Speed channel and should have been PM. I didn’t really expect Andretti to jump up and down yelling ” i love buick” as the execs seemed to want and the pressure from the Trumps on Andretti seemed unreasonable. As he mentioned, hes a formula driver not a sales person or car brand expert.
If they were selling racing tires than he would have been the guy, but Even up here in Canada we gearheafs know Adam is a major car guy and ley me say it again as Trump just mentioned hes a comedian, but hes a speed channel host of The Car Show!
I was slightly intrigued by the buick in beginning of show, but lost all interest. not really buicks fault, bu trump should have known about Carolla’s ca r show gig.
Bill
March 26, 2012 at 2:53 am
Sorry for spelling issues on above comment..tough to type when frustrated on an ipad screen
Francesco
March 26, 2012 at 1:46 pm
I’m not a fan of The Car Show, but then again, I rather listen to Adam Carolla educate me about cars then watch American Top Gear. I don’t think that The Donald was too pleased with American Top Gear either.