CA3, ep. 11 Finale
Struggling to obtain a dolly track for his commercial shoot, Bret improvised by putting the camera on a rolling cart. Bret's daughter has been diagnosed with borderline diabetes, he's doing everything possible to make his commercial and Snapple ads the very best. Darryl Strawberry demonstrates why he is a team player by wearing a pink beret in the commercial.
Ivanka visited Bret, concerned about both his time constraints and his decision to create two commercials. Holly's team needs to go to the edit bay but Maria is the only one who can do it. When Ivanka checks on Holly, she's working on her PowerPoint presentation. Ivanka thinks Holly may be playing it a bit too safe.
Bret finished his photo shoot and headed for the edit bay, leaving Darryl and Summer to finish the PowerPoint presentation and three-page ad layout. On the way Bret realized he had forgotten his voice-over script. Holly has only two hours to pull her presentation together. Curtis had a personal engagement to go to dinner with a friend about to be married and wanted to call it a night, leaving Holly to finish alone. Bret calls Summer to retrieve his Snapple commercial scripts. Darryl tried to help out, but Summer can't find them at the studio. Bret continues the editing process and tries to make it work without the script. He decided to improvise with all his eggs in the basket of the funny commercial. Summer warned Bret about the two-hour launch event the next day, but she doesn't think Bret appreciates that the commercial isn't the only thing that matters in this task.
Holly thinks Bret's taking a risk in making it a "Bret Michaels" tea. Bret checked out the presentation space and realizes it's much larger than he expected. Bret's daughter Raine comes to visit. Even Summer gets a teary-eyed. Raine is borderline diabetic and the main reason Bret is working for the cause to help find a cure for diabetes.
Holly p[resents her campaign first to Donald Trump and the Snapple executives. She explains that autism is a serious disorder, affecting many people throughout the world. Snapple CompassionBerry incorporates both a great flavor and a good cause, with the HollyRod Foundation branding included on the Snapple bottle. Holly shares how deeply she was affected when her son was diagnosed with autism. Both the executives and Donald are entertained by Holly's commercial, which did not use any of her team.
Bret was really nervous at the beginning of his presentation, then decided to speak from his heart. He talks about his struggle with diabetes and brings up how it may now affect his daughter. He has incorporated his Snapple flavor into his charity by creating a Diet Snapple drink, with an awesome taste and zero calories. Bret's commercial for "Trop-A-Rocka" made the audience and the Snapple executives laugh. It used two celebrities, Darryl Strawberry and himself. Holly was feeling great about her presentation until Donald takes a poll which showed the audience likes Bret's Snapple product better.
Donald meets with Larry and Andrew, the two Snapple executives, who both think Bret is "very Snapple," meaning in the target demographic while Holly is the one they'd put in their boardroom. Donald worried Bret made a mistake in creating a diet flavor, but Andrew thinks it's actually more marketable. As for tying the charities in with the brand, Larry prefers Holly's label, and Andrew likes Bret's commercial better. Both contestants have two very different brochures and both are good. Overall, it's close to a draw.
Bret and Holly meet Donald in the boardroom with their teams. Bret says that both Darryl and Summer did a good job. Donald's happy Darryl came back to participate in this last task. Since Darryl didn't win any money for his charity, Donald has decided to give him $25,000 for the Darryl Strawberry foundation for autism. Trump believes in taking care of your friends, which is how Darryl got onto a finals teams despite an early exit.
Donald questioned why Bret decided to go with the diet flavor. Bret defended his decision. With over 1.6 million people suffering from diabetes each year, Bret thought making a Diet Snapple product was not only the right choice, but the smart choice. Don, Jr. thinks Bret did a good job in masking the diet taste in his product. . Ivanka played devil's advocate, saying Bret focused on celebrity in developing his product. She thought that was congruent with the Snapple brand.
Holly believed she did a good job. Trump didn't understand why Holly didn't use Maria in her commercial. Holly explains she was more focused on integrating her charity with the brand than celebrity. Curtis really helped her pick a great flavor for Snapple. Bret loves his brand name "Trop-A-Rocka," but Holly thinks her CompassionBerry is better and Trump agrees with her.
Trump told the contestants the Snapple executives liked Holly's label better because Bret's colors were too dark. Trump liked Holly's cover better, but he liked Bret's inside flap, so he calls it a draw between the two. Ivanka told Bret that he "is" Snapple. Trump asked his teammates how they feel about Bret compared to Holly. Summer is equivocal, reflecting her mixed feelings about that question. Darryl is unabashedly a fan of Bret.
Trump told the contestants they've all done a great job. The Snapple executives will donate $50,000 to both Holly’s and Bret's charities. Trump excused Curtis, Maria, Summer and Darryl from the boardroom. Trump likes both of the final two: Holly's distinction is raising the most money ever from a non-finals event and Bret’s is always winning as project manager. It's a tough decision to make. The live finale will get underway. Someone will be fired and the other will win $250,000 for his or her charity.
The live finale starts. Various eliminated contestants are asked for comments. Rod expressed his appreciation for being allowed on the show. Trump asked for a show of hands of who thinks Rod is guilty of the charges against him and Michael Johnson raised his hand. Michael said that he could have made it to the end if family issues had not required his presence elsewhere. Cyndi acknowledged $45,000 won for her charity and that she will perform from her new album later in the show. Summer received significant money for her charity Right to Play. Trump replayed Maria’s “potty mouth” moment in the Boardroom and she is disappointed in herself and stated for the record that is was inappropriate. Curtis and Darryl are both thankful for their opportunity to win some money and get good celebrity exposure.
Bill Rancic and Joan Rivers are invited to share their insights. Joan concluded Holly is admirable but Bret is a true fighter and Bret should win. Bill counters that you can't ignore how much Holly has done and that the popular decision isn't necessarily the right decision.
Holly returned to greet her former competitors and Donald Trump. Then, Bret makes an extra special appearance despite all the health problems he's had over the past few weeks. Bret talked about his health and credited his great doctors, though they told him not to attend the live finale. Even though it's a risk, he came to win and that's why he was there. Holly indicated that she had gotten close to Bret during the filming of the show and she was happy he could make it in person. Bret and Holly put in a plug for each of their causes. Cyndi Lauper sang “I’m Just Your Fool.” Holly and Bret both made statements supporting why they should win.