A world of their own

Not knowing much about business, one had always assumed that a large part of commercial success derived from looking at what went on in the world and adapting the principles to your advantage.

The ‘business’ people on The Apprentice, though, seem to steer well clear of this sort of approach.

In last night’s show their assignment was to package and promote a cleaning product.

When it comes to packaging and marketing, a few minutes’ observation in a store will confirm that the right psychology for presenting cleaning products involves a large amount of white with some bright blue and green thrown in. A black package with a red label, on the other hand, conveys to the average human being that the contents are likely to be rat poison or cheap motor oil.

It seems safe to assume that the sort of people selected as candidates for The Apprentice will have been avid watchers of it in the past, so it was surprising that none of those involved this time seemed to have learned anything from the previous series in which a bunch of goons packaged a breakfast cereal in a green box apparently designed to make it look like weedkiller.

The show seems to be peopled by characters who are so convinced that the right answer will always come straight off the top of their head that they don’t see any need to observe what happens in the real world. This leads them into one folly after another, until they get their come-uppance.

Pure panto, in other words. It ought to be on just after Christmas.