Post-season blues are an awful feeling, and they are currently in full swing, now that The Apprentice is over.

But don’t worry, this blog is all about the very topic.

In last season’s edition of The Apprentice, there were several MAJOR (but far too amusing) marketing campaign blunders.

Humans were morphed into waves; baby foods were given deadly names, and don’t even get us started on the word ‘arctic’. We’re still trying to forget about that one.

But, as much as we want to erase these marketing fails from our memories, we can’t help but laugh at them. And, in all honesty, we’re kind of impressed by how terrible they were.

So, in the name of good fun (and some serious marketing barbarity), we’re going to take a look into these marketing fails from The Apprentice 2022.

Is It A Human? Is It A Wave? No, It’s A Human Wave!

The Apprentice’s human wave logo was one of the most eye-watering marketing fails of the entire season. It was shockingly bad, and it’s no wonder that the public backlash was so severe.

The task they were set, was to create a marketing concept for a luxury cruise line, which would then be presented to just a few important names in the industry. And, during the challenge, the boys team came up with the concept of ‘Seaquility’ which incorporates high luxury and tranquillity.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Wrong.

It was far from it.

Instead, when it came to designing the logo, they ended up creating a human/wave morphed into each other, with the supposed colour palette to match a tree (think they got it mixed up with sea.)

But, instead it was referred to by peers as ‘a bogey’ and ‘an upside down rotting banana.’

(Image Credit: The Daily Star)

As you may imagine, the notion was a total failure, and even though they didn’t have much of a competition to fight against because the girls’ idea ended up seeming like the newest episode of Made in Chelsea on a shoestring budget, the boys were the losers in this task, and Harry was fired.

Have You Heard Of Grammarly?

This blunder was done by team Diverse, where quarter-finalist Bethany, took the reigns on this task.

The task at hand, was to create their very own video game, and Bethany decided to create a game that reminded everyone about the problems we have going on in the world, mood-boosting

Her concept was all about stopping the melting ice caps and saving the animals, as a scientist, dressed in not enough layers.

But, this wasn’t even the problem.

The main problem again, went on in the design room.

Francesca, Sophie & Akshay went off to unenthusiastically make the designs for the cover, which all in all, revealed that firstly Francesca cannot spell ‘arctic’ and Sophie and Akshay cannot proofread, even if their lives depended on it.

(Credit: The Daily Mail)

As you can see, in bold, outdated, WordArt’esque’ writing, they completely missed the ‘c’ in Arctic.

And, as you can imagine, they were annihilated by the gaming experts when it came to pitching, and they received a grand total of £0.

Unsurprisingly, Francesca was fired.

Lesson 1 In Content Marketing – The Words ‘Baby’ & ‘Dies’ Don’t Work Together

Just a WEEK before the quarter-finals, both teams brought an Apprentice first.

An outcome so bad on both ends, that the famous 5, had to be 4…

This week resulted in a double firing from Lord Sugar, and here’s why.

The task the contestants were given, was to create their own baby food product.

With Aaron taking on the reigns as PM, working with Bethany and Kathryn, they were more than ready to start, as Aaron had perfect industry experience (aka, he’s a dad.)

But, when it came to segmenting the teams, the girls went on branding, and PM, Aaron, went to create the baby food.

Which, was a rookie mistake.

When it came to creating the food, it ended up looking like, what we could only describe as, concrete with a yellow tinge.

The big-deal potential corporate buyers were all having to continually chew this baby food when it came to the taste test, which is never a great sign, seen as this is made for babies, who only just start to grow baby teeth…

(Credit: Ariadne Reviews)

As a result, it went down horribly, although the pouch design was decent, it had to be hit with a hammer to actually get the food out.

But again, this wasn’t even the main blunder of this task.

This time, it was in the hands of the opposing team, with PM, Harpreet, who in this case, we can only send you warm wishes and support, as this time, it really wasn’t the project manager’s fault.

On the complete other end of the spectrum, Harpreet actually made a tasty baby food concept (even though she sounded like she was prepping a meal for the Hilton.) But, it went down a treat with the corporate leaders.

However.

AGAIN, in the design room, Stephanie and Akeem went to design the branding, and the result, can only be one of the worst outcomes in The Apprentice history.

(Credit: The Metro)

That’s right “First Time F Dies”

We don’t even want to say anymore, apart from, it made the entire nation want to hide behind their own houses, when it came to showing it to the corporate buyers.

The result of this abysmal outcome from both parties resulted in ZERO orders, that’s right, zero – And, we said goodbye to Akeem & Aaron.

What Would We Take Away From This As Marketers

On a more serious note, as marketers, we would have handled this much differently, for starters, we wouldn’t have made a logo of a human, morphed into a wave, we would have actually proofread the work we did, and lastly, we would re-check the design work with the team…

If you are looking for help with your marketing, that won’t end up in situations like these, make sure to get in touch with the experts.