Harry H dithered under pressure from Harry M and his presentation was the weakest - although he managed to control Harry M. Harry M has too many bad ideas and was unmanageable. James got there by accident more often than not and didn't come over as that smart and even turned negative on his own product. . Heya made the wrong choice for PM because she didn't want Zara to do it or to do it herself and then just acted as a bit of a break on James.

Zara got the production right, added to the concept and delivered the winning pitches.The other strong candidate I thought was Lizzie who got the production right, added to her concept, did their best presentation and added some backbone to Harry H shutting up Harry M.

I do think marketing should be grammatically correct, yes. But to be honest, "La Popcorn" was lazy and rushed as none of them had any idea what to call their brand.

Plus it's sailng very close to the wind as there is already a brand called "Le Popcorn". It was completely flawed as a name regardless of grammar.

Although one could argue that it was better than Haya's suggestion of - IIRC- "mediculture"? That sounds as if they're growing mould in a petri dish.

Maybe if, as Harry M suggested (once or twice) and SirLord commented positively on, they had used "Smoochies" instead of the rather obvious American movie theme, they'd have won. What do you think? Would you buy "Smoochies" rather than "LaPopcorn"? I would.... but then, I rather like maple syrup and barbecue chicken, but I loathe and detest cheese and olives...

The losing team took a safe and unimaginative approach whereas the winners tried something different and took a risk which paid off. James called it right when he said Morrison's would be the decider when the other team were concentrating on the cinema market. The packaging was spot on for a supermarket too. James actually showed a lot of leadership this time much more than Harry.

Besides 25k is pocket money to Lord Sugar anyway, the losing team learned a valuable lesson and each of them are strong enough to make a go of things on their own. James could easily win and would probably benefit most which is a key factor for Lord Sugar.

Your post reflects my own thoughts on this one. A very poor way to decide two finalists.

Did Morrisons actually say this was what tipped the balance for them to place their orders?

Except they aren't real products or real orders so there can't be any real sales to the public. The task was won and lost on what the three buyers thought would sell. That's fair enough to both sides.

I was convinced which team was going to win after the rather ominous scene of Harry M telling Harry H that he'd just got them all fired, especially as it took the time to see Harry H's uncomfortable reaction. Then when Harry H delivered a poor pitch and knew he had, it was pretty much certain.

Me too. The American movie theme didn't bother me, it's all about flavour for me. I'd have only bought the BBQ chicken or Maple Syrup because I hate olives.

What was the other one...something and chorizo? No, doesn't float my boat either.

I thought Empire State was a fantastic name. Smoochies sound like chocolates for women who sit there in their PJ's watching romcoms. Plus not everyone goes to the cinema to make out with their girlfriend. Would anyone else other than young people going to the cinema on a date actually buy popcorn called smoochies? Like kids or single lads for example. I'm pretty certain I wouldn't.

Harry H was right not to listen to Harry M. It was a stupid idea and if Alan thinks it was good then he's more stupid than I thought he was. I think if he'd have gone with that idea it would have been an even more embarrassing defeat.

Yes, but if you are offered a big deal you might well do that in reality.

I've seen teams say that before, trying to remember when and I am vaguelly picturing a display of crisps in Asda? might be wrong but I know it has been said before.

If my company was offered a big enough deal and the customer said "I want my branding on it" say, or "I want a different blend" I would do it. I used to work at a coffee suppliers and that's exactly the sort of thing they would do, if the customer was big enough to merit it in terms of the quantity of orders.

edit to add: I remember the book holder that was created by a team as a beach accessory, Boots went with it because they wanted the name and the concept - the actual product was weak and they wanted to change it, but because they wanted to buy the name and the concept they placed an order.

So things can be sold on the basis of "we will change it to your liking, if you give us a big enough order". It happens in reality, why shouldn't it happen on the Apprentice?

Not that long ago, but with biscuits. It was Jedi Jim promising the earth if only Asda (?) would go big. Ironic since James is a kind of mini-me for Jim (without the charm).

I thought the name Smoochies was awful.

Yes, Scarlet, i thought the same - a fix! Also think that right from epi 1 Sugar saw that Zara & James would be in the final so placed those 2 in same last team. Mind you, I do think they are the best finalists & thought that from early episodes. Re the popcorn, maple syrup flavour & barbecue I wouldn't mind trying out, sound nice. But after James saying yuck to his brand...no thanks. So how it won was because it must have been fixed for them to be in the final.

From the first episode I had Harry H and Zara pegged as the best two, I'm really disappointed that they aren't both in the final with Lizzie. That one would have been hard to call.

The packaging and branding of the OTHER popcorn was crap too. The FLAVOR probably WAS better, but otherwise?

First of all, the "American" packaging was a bunch of disconnected cliches, and anyone with a brain looking at it probably just saw it as tacky. Their catch-phrase and angle was it was a movie "Hollywood experience", but it was called "Empire State" and had vaguely Western and New England flavors? Get it STRAIGHT already. Not to mention that Route 66, the big logo on the side, doesn't come within 3000 miles of the "Empire State". Not that anyone is expected to know all of this, but it made the whole thing seem haphazard, disjointed and as I said before... tacky.

In terms of the other team, the green packaging was actually reasonably tasteful, if a bit boring. The "La" was total nonsense, but James has a point when he said it was easy to use as a branding--the keys being its easy to remember and very to the point.

To compare... there's an American brand of yogurt called "La Yogurt". There's nothing particularly French about most yogurt, and nothing about the flavors or brand identity of it which features anything French, but its a popular brand and a good branding because its easy to remember, to the point, and VAGUELY gives a sense of the exotic to Americans who don't know any better. "La Popcorn" probably isn't much different, except perhaps the British public probably don't see it that as very exotic... but it IS still easy to remember and to the point.

I do think all those logos on the Empire State box looked terrible. Great name and great concept but it looked like they'd just took random clip art and slapped it all over the packaging willy nilly like stickers or magnets on a fridge which I think was mainly down to the design company being lazy and the team just went with it instead of insisting on a design of their own.

My idea would have had the words Empire State laid over a big star kind of similar to the Britains Got Talent logo. The star representing one of the states of America and behind that sits a horizontal red and white striped background.