S04.E14: Ashtae Products

[cooksdelight]

A family-owned hair-care company in North Carolina is suffering because of the father's costly side projects.

[Jamoche]

They really should not film them talking in cars - it was obvious from the jumping-around background that they'd sliced and diced it.

[cooksdelight]

I already love this guy. But he lacks focus and I really feel for his wife with all the duties she has.

[KHenry14]

If they can keep that guy selling, they will do really well. Especially since the product seems to be pretty good.

[cooksdelight]

Here's the update, looks like Ramona has finally gotten some help.

http://www.theprofitupdates.com/2017/06/the-profit-ashtae-products-update.html

[Amarsir]

14 hours ago, Jamoche said:

They really should not film them talking in cars - it was obvious from the jumping-around background that they'd sliced and diced it.

That's a good point, but it was plenty obvious to me in other scenes too. I get that there's a lot of unnecessary languange when people speak, but if they have to slice up half a sentence at a time to get a conversation then maybe they're overcutting.

I'm a little on the fence about how much I liked this episode. My instinct was that I really enjoyed it because the people were so likable and Marcus didn't simply erase the business to replace it with his own idea. However, I didn't see a ton of Marcus-added value either. Admittedly that's in conflict with using what's there, but I would have liked to see more business principles and math than simply "get your copacker to do the final packaging".

We're 3 for 3 on trade shows this season, although 1 of the 3 (W82) he pulled the plug. The 3d software used to design the new booth looked the same this week as with the swimsuit company. Anyone know what it is? Offspring Test Task 8.0?

[Jamoche]

2 hours ago, Amarsir said:

That's a good point, but it was plenty obvious to me in other scenes too. I get that there's a lot of unnecessary languange when people speak, but if they have to slice up half a sentence at a time to get a conversation then maybe they're overcutting.

Oh, sure, we all expect there will be some editing going on, but when you see a sign in the distance in one shot and the same sign just behind them in the next, that's rubbing your face in it :)

[Kenz]

I notice this season that there are more fake set up scenes to add to the drama. For example, the lady who must be a tenant came out into the parking lot to ask Michael to help her with something while he was packing up his car for a show, and he was almost ready to help her, but then he decided to have someone else help her out. Good job, said Marcus! That was such a blatantly fake scene. My husband and I get a laugh out of this show because a lot of it is just bogus. We're retired business owners, but we enjoy watching it because Marcus is pompous, but entertaining and sometimes very funny, and we're amazed at some of the business owners being willing to show themselves as incompetent. Marcus loves to save them!

Edited June 22, 2017 by Kenz

[Thrifty]

1 hour ago, Kenz said:

I notice this season that there are more fake set up scenes to add to the drama. For example, the lady who must be a tenant came out into the parking lot to ask Michael to help her with something while he was packing up his car for a show, and he was almost ready to help her, but then he decided to have someone else help her out. Good job, said Marcus! That was such a blatantly fake scene.

Why would you think it was faked?  It was established that Michael gets sidetracked easily, and that people ask for his help.  Do you think they found her, said "Hey, go out there and bug Michael about something!  We need good footage!" and that she would otherwise never do that?  I think the cameras were running constantly, collecting dozens and dozens of hours of footage, and that this happened organically and they decided to put it in because it would make good TV.

[cooksdelight]

I agree with @Thrifty, they shoot 50 times the amount of footage we actually see. Most all "reality" shows do.

[Kenz]

6 hours ago, Thrifty said:

 Do you think they found her, said "Hey, go out there and bug Michael about something!  We need good footage!"

Yes, I do. The lady wasn't acting naturally, and it looked set up to me. Conveniently, another guy appeared to take over the chore .There have been lots of other times in other shows when  scenes were set up too. I don't take the show seriously, but it is entertaining. JMO.

[guilfoyleatpp]

5 hours ago, Kenz said:

Yes, I do. The lady wasn't acting naturally, and it looked set up to me. Conveniently, another guy appeared to take over the chore .There have been lots of other times in other shows when  scenes were set up too. I don't take the show seriously, but it is entertaining. JMO.

I agree with Kenz here.  Although I'm sure something similar happened, the producers will 100% set up an interaction to "distill events" and make them more consumable for TV.

Perhaps something similar happened during the time the crew was there and they went and got the lady and said "we want you to ask him now so we can film it."

lots of reality show participants complain about having to repeat things multiple times because the production crew liked it. It doesn't mean it didn't happen, just that what was filmed wasn't exactly spontaneous.

 

I liked this episode. The guy was very engaging. No one was awful. I felt bad for his poor wife, who seemed to support him even though she was worried his ideas would fail (a tv station? seriously!). But overall they seemed like good people who just needed someone to focus the patriarch.

[Amarsir]

13 hours ago, Kenz said:

I notice this season that there are more fake set up scenes to add to the drama. For example, the lady who must be a tenant came out into the parking lot to ask Michael to help her with something while he was packing up his car for a show, and he was almost ready to help her, but then he decided to have someone else help her out. Good job, said Marcus! That was such a blatantly fake scene. 

Someone on Twitter was in agreement with you, and Marcus replied "no way". He sad he was genuinely surprised and that the scene took a lot longer than what was shown.  (Which makes sense - a tenant being annoying for 20 minutes before the landlord agrees to throw someone at the problem is very plausible. Trimming it down made it seem too tidy.)

 

Also found a story that explains the tv station in the building and gives some (imho negative) perspective on Michael.

http://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/tv-station-sues-greensboro-for-m-over-withdrawn-loan/article_3ee0947e-f6f6-11e3-bef3-0017a43b2370.html

[Jesse]

So, are @Sarah D. Bunting's writeups not a thing anymore? That's a bummer!

[Thrifty]

So given that the owner's main problem was lack of focus, I am pessimistic about his long term success after the show.  Without Marcus there to discipline him, he could easily fall back into old habits.  There was a business a few seasons ago that did.... something... but I can't remember.  Except the owner had big one story building with a basketball court, and like 3 or 4 unrelated other businesses.  Marcus got him a little more focused, but by the followup he had managed to screw it all up and go back to his old shenanigans.  I wish I could remember which episode this was.

 

I am envious of Michael's charisma.  I wish I could be even half that outgoing and charming.

[Amarsir]

3 hours ago, Thrifty said:

So given that the owner's main problem was lack of focus, I am pessimistic about his long term success after the show.  Without Marcus there to discipline him, he could easily fall back into old habits.  There was a business a few seasons ago that did.... something... but I can't remember.  Except the owner had big one story building with a basketball court, and like 3 or 4 unrelated other businesses.  Marcus got him a little more focused, but by the followup he had managed to screw it all up and go back to his old shenanigans.  I wish I could remember which episode this was.

That would be Artistic Stitch,  which Marcus rebranded to Queens Vibe.  I hadn't thought about it but you're right - that's a good comparison.

[peppergal]

On 6/22/2017 at 11:34 PM, Midnight Sun said:

That article was published in 2014 - wonder how it all turned out?  I'm too lazy to investigate. 

The case was dismissed, but recently (May 2017) re-instated on appeal.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/north-carolina/articles/2017-05-05/court-revives-black-tv-networks-discrimination-lawsuit

[CrazyInAlabama]

The had the 'inside look' at the Ashtae episode last night.     The father is now selling real estate full time, the wife is working much less, and the daughter is CEO.    The company is doing very well, using a co-packer for everything, and they are very professional now.   

I had to laugh at the first episode where the father had endless amounts of junk piled up, and didn't want to get rid of anything, unless he sold it.   

[seacliffsal]

I enjoyed this episode and really enjoyed the family.  I prefer the new "insider" looks since the coronavirus impacted how they film this show.  I like having the actual participants on and interacting with Marcus (prefer this over his interactions with Amber).  I know that they can only do this with episodes that had positive outcomes, but I enjoy seeing how everyone interacts with Marcus.