Where's J Allard? Working at Wal-Mart

by Christopher Grant { May 18th 2006 at 3:00AM }

When we interviewed Peter Moore at E3 we asked him right away, "Where's J Allard?" Peter said he was riding BMX bikes or some such nonsense, whereas Dean Takahashi says he's been working on a top secret Xbox portable project. Turns out they were both wrong: J's been busy making guest appearances on television's The Apprentice! That's a pretty public showing ... so is he the face of the 360 or not? Really, I'm confused.

On Monday's episode of The Apprentice, J was there to judge the results of the contestant's Xbox 360 Wal-Mart displays. You can check out photos and a summary of the show on NBC's website, or download the show from iTunes (link). Heads up to NBC, it's "J" not "Jay." It's not spelled out like Homer's middle name, it's just a letter. Why? 'Cause it's just cooler that way, okay?

[Via GamerBabble]

(Update: Corrected my Homer-history. D'oh!)

Tags: Apprentice, Donald Trump, DonaldTrump, J Allard, JAllard, The Apprentice, TheApprentice, Wal-Mart, WalMart

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

melgoc @ May 18th 2006 3:17AM

The J in Homer J. Simpson stands for Jay...

Monkey @ May 18th 2006 3:50AM

Keep in mind that the tasks for the Apprentice are filmed months in advance. This season started airing in February, by which time all the episodes had already been shot. I think this was probably filmed back in November of last year, December at the latest, around the time of the launch of the 360.

At that time, J Allard was the face of the 360, so it makes sense that back then, he was the one that appeared on the show.

greatslack @ May 18th 2006 3:54AM

damn, beat me to it, melgoc! We need to hold our nerds to a higher standard here at Joystiq!

G @ May 18th 2006 3:55AM

Who the hell cares about allard? He's a blazer and pair of diesel jeans stuffed full of retarded buzzwords.

No, wait, he part of the 'new generation' of 'gamer rockstars' blah blah blah not just for grungy teenagers blah basement blah blah I write for Forbes or Newsweek so I don't expect you to have any background knowledge of this anyway, blah blah 'watch out hollywood!"

Oops, I forgot to use the words Xtreme, virtual, digital, paradigm, cutting-edge, revolution, earring.

In summation, blah.

Chyld989 @ May 18th 2006 4:13AM

melgoc's right, there was a whole episode devoted to Homer learning what the "J" in "Homer J. Simpson" stood for, and it turns out it's "Jay."

Dr DOOM @ May 18th 2006 4:31AM

Yay for J Allard! He's my marketing hero.

Zero_ @ May 18th 2006 4:38AM

Ah huh, Joystiq Journalism strikes once again. -Jay- Simpson. :)

Who cares about J Allard? Peter Moore is the face of the 360 and he's a great individual.

CheapyD @ May 18th 2006 4:48AM

Allard Fact:

His real name was James Allard, but he legally changed his first name to "J", which is why there is no period.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Allard

Ad @ May 18th 2006 5:03AM

@ #3 G:- You forgot Synergy.

The American series of the apprentice is really shameless with thier product placement isn't it. Every week is just an ad for a company instead of a genuine business task. Do Americans notice?

Varian @ May 18th 2006 5:29AM

J Allard appearing on the Apprentice is ridiculous. J Allard has never held a sales job. His entire job at Microsoft is to create platforms. I doubt he would even survive as a salesman or marketer. He lacks the experience to judge such displays.

Also, there is zero evidence that such Xbox 360 displays have an affect on sales. So, again, why is J Allard there?

The reason why J Allard is there is because Microsoft paid to advertise the Xbox 360 in the Apprentice. J Allard isn't a judge. He is in a paid Microsoft sequence to 'play' a judge to help advertise the Xbox 360.

If the Xbox 360 is selling so hot, why would this advertising be necessary? Ahh, but according to NPD numbers, the Xbox has sold more units (including April) than the Xbox 360 had for North America alone. Xbox had also sold more software than the Xbox 360 had at this same point in time in North America. Xbox had PS2 and Gamecube to compete with. Xbox 360 has no competition except the six year old PS2.

With the slow sales of Xbox 360s, it looks like we will be saying more of this type of 'advertising'.

Jeff @ May 18th 2006 6:56AM

"This season started airing in February, by which time all the episodes had already been shot. "

This is not at all true. Episodes continue being filmed as the series is on the air. I work in NY - if you're lucky, you can actually see the apprentices doing their thing during the series. (During season 1, I actually saw the final six or so driving around in identical Chrysler station wagons.)

They don't film an episode right before it airs, but this episode probably hadn't been filmed when the season started. They probably shot this around March or early April - you can usually tell what time of year it is by the way they're dressed.

btw, that episode was pretty ridiculous - the guys who won did so despite signs that were literally falling down in front of the execs, all sorts of products crowding out their display that had nothing to do with Xbox 360 (mp3 players, digital cameras, etc.), I mean it was a complete mess. It looked like they just took the entire Wal-Mart electronics display and just wrapped it in cheap vinyl signage that wouldn't stay up. The other team had a much cleaner display that just lacked price tags (as if you need actual price tags - the system's $300 or $400). It was J Allard himself who picked the winner, though, which should tell you something.

vc @ May 18th 2006 7:54AM

Varian wrote, "If the Xbox 360 is selling so hot, why would this advertising be necessary?"

Why is ANY advertising necessary? Products do not sell themselves. Nintendo's presence at E3 was advertising. The company paid big bucks for that. Sony's E3 presence was advertising. Etc etc.

All companies advertise. It's a necessary part of selling your product.

Now, if you'd like to debate the types of adverising (Apprentice product placement vs. McDonald's Wi-Fi deal), then we've got a real discussion.

Eligio J Rosa @ May 18th 2006 9:02AM

Who cares?

Him not beening in the MS press event made it better.

DJ @ May 18th 2006 9:17AM

The shows aren't filmed WAY in advance. My company does the interactive's and headers for the game systems, and we had to send some people out to that store to set them up specifically for this show. That wasn't too long ago...

XboxGamer @ May 18th 2006 9:26AM

This is why Microsoft Kicks ASS. They are thoroughly owning Nintendo and Sony. Think about it they thumped Nintendo their first go around and now look to thump both Nintendo and Sony. And listen guys I was a Nintendo Fanboy. You know what...? Microsoft has gaming right! I just played Xbox Live last night and thought how phenomenal the experience was. Sending voice messages interacting with people all over the world.

It is Revolutionary! Some people may say that PC games have allowed online play for years however none have done it as well as Microsoft.

Furthermore Nintendo is not even going to have gamertags. You will have to put in a password so you can play with your friends. Now that is DUMB!

Honestly it is time you quit hating. Sony Fanboys you are missing a lot of great games on the Xbox 360. Nintendo Fanboys well nothing I say is gonna change your mind. Though your numbers keep on dwindling. Honestly who wants to play simple games like ping pong when you play state of the art epic games on your 360?

32_Footsteps @ May 18th 2006 9:32AM

Wait, he got on network TV? Damn, totally blows the doors off of me getting onto Comedy Central.

David Rudden @ May 18th 2006 9:50AM

"J's been busy making guest appearances on television's The Apprentice! That's a pretty public showing ..."

Have you seen the ratings for that show lately? It's really not.

Sloppy John @ May 18th 2006 10:04AM

Did anyone actually see the episode? Donald Trump SERIOUSLY disrespects J. Allard and the Walmart guy. At the end when the judges decide the winner, he says something sarcastic like "Let's see what these two GENIUSES think". Donny T. needs to learn him some respect! Who died and made him Jesus?

Platinum_Skeet @ May 18th 2006 10:35AM

Out of J Allard and Peter Moore I rather see J Allard as the face of Xbox.

He seems a lot more in tune to whats happening with Xbox and actually has the face of a gamer. Plus he doesn't b.s in interviews he just tells it how it is...

Erik Novak @ May 18th 2006 11:31AM

The Jallerd is looking more and more like Dr. Evil.

Lenbot @ May 18th 2006 11:46AM

you can call me ray or you can call me J, just don't call me washed up I do 3 shows a day.- simpsons qoute

Pedro @ May 18th 2006 12:30PM

He'll probably end up working there after xflop 360.

modkennylaine @ May 18th 2006 1:56PM

Wow, I sure hope that with Allard there that Wal-Mart finally had ONE 360 display set up correctly! D:

bobeotm @ May 18th 2006 2:01PM

The funniest thing about this Apprentice Episode, is that the displays from both teams pretty much sucked big time. The banners for one team were falling as they presented to the execs, while the other teams promotional display resembled a large voting booth from the outside. It was hilarious to see Allard have to chose between two rather lackluster choices.

Ben @ May 18th 2006 2:24PM

I actually saw the episode in question and it brought up a lot of interesting aspects of Microsoft's strategy for selling the Xbox 360. Marketing it as an all-around media machine, rather than just a gaming platform is certainly a way to get the console noticed by people who may not pay attention otherwise. They put a lot of value in the display which showed the many varied aspects of the 360. So much value, in fact, that the team's crappy disply didn't cause them to lose to the other teams slicker looking but less in-depth show. Sony also looks like they're going to take a similar approach to their marketing strategy, especially with the Blu-ray aspect.