Chapter 8 - Paige's "Dream Job"
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Paige got the job.
Her social media instantly exploded with obnoxious, self-congratulatory posts. There were photos of her in expensive designer blazers holding Starbucks cups, captioned: "City girl era! So blessed to be named an Executive Account Manager right out of school. Hard work pays off! #GirlBoss #MarketingGenius."
I rolled my eyes at my screen. She wasn't an executive; she was a junior assistant. But Paige never let the truth get in the way of a good aesthetic.
Just as I predicted, Paige’s arrogance immediately blinded her to the reality of the corporate world. Within her first two weeks, she loudly complained about the workload, pawned her menial tasks off on the unpaid interns, and confidently boasted in meetings that she had "fresh, disruptive ideas" for the massive luxury cosmetics campaign.
My friend at the agency played his part perfectly. He feigned being overwhelmed and assigned Paige to oversee the final, digital rollout of the cosmetics brand's upcoming summer campaign.
It was a million-dollar ad buy. It required meticulous attention to detail, rigorous demographic targeting, and careful final approval of the digital assets.
Paige didn't do any of that.
Instead of carefully reviewing the final proofs, she spent her afternoon taking selfies on the agency's rooftop terrace. When the deadline hit, she hastily approved a batch of unreviewed, placeholder advertisement files that the graphic design team had jokingly created as a satirical internal prank.
She hit "Publish" on a multi-platform, million-dollar media buy, completely unchecked.
I received a text from my friend at the agency at 4:00 PM on a Thursday.
"The payload has been dropped. It’s worse than we thought. Grab popcorn."
I opened my web browser and navigated to the cosmetics brand's main social media page. I gasped, bringing a hand to my mouth to stifle a bark of laughter.
Instead of elegant models showcasing expensive summer bronzers, the entire campaign featured deep-fried, heavily distorted internet memes of raccoons wearing clown makeup, overlayed with the bold, official company logo and the slogan: "Look like trash, feel like cash."
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It was currently being broadcasted to millions of targeted consumers across the country. The internet was already losing its mind. The brand was being violently roasted in real-time.
Paige had just detonated a nuclear bomb in her own career.
