Bad economy boosts CBS hit ‘Undercover Boss’
Phil Rosenthal from the Chicago Tribune shares some of his business thoughts on Undercover Boss; here are the highlights:
A significant number of the 38.6 million viewers who got a taste of “Boss” after the Super Bowl came back for more the next three Sundays. The most recent episode — featuring the head of White Castle working menial jobs in his restaurants, a company bakery and a frozen food plant — drew more than 15 million viewers opposite Vancouver’s Closing Ceremony.
But the true lure simply may be the way “Undercover Boss” demonstrates that, as hard as the executives think they work, those under them work just as hard or harder with less compensation and less support, a message that can’t help but resonate.
“The principle of the boss who doesn’t really know what it’s like on the front line is a principle that is strong,” Stephen Lambert, the show’s executive producer, told a group of reporters a few weeks back.
The most understandable but least satisfying aspect of the program is that no one has gotten fired for what they have said or done in front of the CEOs. The boss of Hooters, for example, was inexplicably forgiving to a manager who demeaned his wait staff in a variety of galling ways on camera. He wasn’t even written up on camera.
“The reward, punishment and future course of action for the employees is determined by the chief executives at the participating companies,” CBS spokesman Chris Ender explained, although producers have editorial control.
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