Chloe's The Apprentice Blog - Bouji versus Poopy (S16 E1)

The Apprentice - Series 16 - Week 1 - Bouji versus Poopy 💩

We’ve waited 2 years and here we are, back in the boardroom. Sadly Claude isn’t with us, as he’s still recovering from the severe injuries he sustained after falling from an electric bike in April last year. We’ve got Karren Brady though, and joining her and Lord Sugar is Tim Campbell, winner of the very first Apprentice series in 2005.

Enter: the candidates. Lord Sugar starts off with a rousing speech about green shoots and fighting back. BUT, don’t get comfy, he assures us he hasn’t gone soft. No furlough for the candidates, it’s straight to being fired.

The winning candidate at the end of the series wins £250k to invest in their business; it’s nothing to be sniffed at so it’s not surprising to see them doing everything they can to be noticed. If only it had been for the right reasons.

One of my favourite things about the episode were the facial expressions of Karren and Tim – they said it all. That, and the running commentary from my husband, all of which is unpublishable.

This week's The Apprentice Challenge

Off they go to Bournemouth, to come up with marketing campaigns for Virgin Voyages’ maiden ship. What possessed the boys to think that a poo/sick/bogie coloured/shaped logo, without the company name, would scream luxury cruise? I think my 12-year-old Labrador could have done a better job.

It was hardly surprising that the girls won the challenge, despite their boring logo and brand name they couldn’t explain. Poor Shama never did get the answer from her team as to what bouji means.

If you haven’t already looked it up, the Urban Dictionary definition is “Abbreviation for the term bourgeoisie, which in laymen terms means stuck up, snobbish, or just thinking your better than others because of your economic status. It represents the capitalist class over peasants.” Hmmm, probably not the best way to help revive the cruise industry.

The boys didn’t listen to Harry’s constant objections, and I couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for him when he was fired. Yes, he was a bit annoying, but they all were, and he was right. Sadly for Harry, he was the bothersome vocal one, pointing out all the errors, who ended up being ironically the scape-goat to take the fall for everyone else. 

What can employers learn from this episode?

The whole thing smacked of whistle-blowing and acts as a fair warning for employers. Don’t take what you’re hearing from managers at face value. Dig deeper, and you might find that the employee hung out to dry as ‘disruptive’ had good reason for being so outspoken.

Tune in next week to see the highs and lows of the teams designing a new electric toothbrush.