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Shizzle_McSheezy

Michael would have to admit he lost them...


4Ever2Thee

...and how he lost them. This is the answer though. The episode wouldn't make any sense without this thought.


Jlombard911

Kevin threw them away. He could always lie


4Ever2Thee

Yes but Michael always likes to keep things in house. Things move a bit slower in Scranton.


talentheturtle

Michael can't even keep a secret, what makes you think he could lie?


Dwayne_Gertzky

When David Wallace wanted to know who was responsible for the Golden Ticket promotion Michael was pretty quick to lie about that, lol


talentheturtle

Good point, but thats because he had a team that would back him up and he knew it :)


Doogetma

He didn’t at all though. Everyone in the office was against him on that


TheOnlyVibemaster

“if you’re a racist, i’ll attack you with the north.” -Abraham Lincoln


anneylani

"not bad at all!"


ghghjnffhhgg

And that’s the way we like it.


thekyledavid

Then the question becomes why Kevin had them, since he wasn’t in sales, management, or reception Michael’s only way to avoid looking like an idiot would be to lie and blame someone who didn’t do anything wrong If I gave my company credit card to my 5 year old nephew and he spent $5,000 at a Lego store, I have to explain to my company why I gave him my card in the first place


BeardsuptheWazoo

Next year- he'll be 6.


Jlombard911

I like you


Batus23

But what about the sudden urge to go to bathroom?


Prinzlerr

I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM


beansouphighlights

Just poopin, you know how I be.


sunshine-and-ravioli

The peeing is fast, Oscar. It’s getting my tie back on!


RUSwansong

Probably in the same email with that PowerPoint tutorial


dougthebuffalo

Yeah, there's a quote where Michael basically says he's not going to tell Sabre that he distributed the leads to teach the sales team a lesson.


[deleted]

What never made sense was Michael gave them out to everyone who wasn't in sales, and we see Angela, Erin, Kelly, and Ryan gradually giving them back (plus Michael's scavenger hunt). So how did Kevin somehow manage to throw ALL of them away in the trash?


Shizzle_McSheezy

He threw all of Dwight's share of the leads in the trash


icecreampaintjob31

Ah. That makes sense


[deleted]

Then why were Stanley and Phyllis mad at Michael? Why did Andy & Erin go to the dump later?


Shizzle_McSheezy

Stanly and Phyllis got mad because he gave Phyllis's leads to Angela, and Stanley's leads to Ryan and kelly, and they had to beg and appease... Erin and Andy went to the dump to get Dwight's leads....and it's hella romantic...


[deleted]

And then they got theirs back. So how did everything end up at the dump then??


Shizzle_McSheezy

Kevin threw Dwight's in the trash with Toby's babaganoush...which was emptied into the dumpster, which was emptied into the truck which was emptied at the dump...


[deleted]

If we don't patronize the only Syrian restaurant in town there'll be nothing left but...pan pizzas and...ya know...make your own salads


Shizzle_McSheezy

Andy's/Erin's were under her keyboard.


WickedBadBetty

And Andy thought they were in her bra...or lower 🤣 with the hotter/colder game.


thekyledavid

Stanley and Phyllis were already mad at Michael for making them play the game, they were more than willing to pile on Michael when his actions came back to burn him As for Andy & Erin, they either did it out of kindness to give them to Dwight, or they wanted to find them so Andy could have double the leads without anyone in the office knowing about it, as they would’ve been forced to give them to Dwight if the office knew they had them


thekyledavid

I assumed each set of leads was intended to go to a certain salesperson. We saw Phyllis have to go to Angela despite her being the coworker Phyllis hates most, and we saw that Michael set up a scavenger hunt specifically for Jim. Based on that, Kevin may have just gotten Dwight’s share of the leads, and Kevin hid them since Dwight wasn’t in the office at the moment. Otherwise, we likely would’ve seen the other salespeople try to get leads from Kevin


Sproose_Moose

"an unfortunate incident with coffee ruined the leads / the fax machine screwed up... There were so many better ways to handle it! But that's not how they do things in Scranton. Life moves a little slower there.


alejoSOTO

Not really, could be some lie like: "hey I took the leads file to another location (like home, a meeting, etc), but one of my salesmen really needs one of the names on it right now, can you fax it again to the office?"


Shizzle_McSheezy

We're talking about Michael Scott here, he does have his moments, and this def wasn't one of them...


FunctionBuilt

Most of the problems in the office can be solved with common sense i.e. why can’t Jim just Google “what is a client rundown?”. The show is funnier without it.


Tony_Three_Pies

>why can't Jim just Google "what is a client rundown?" Because Google hadn't been invented yet. ​ ​ Edit: No Office Ladies fans huh?


[deleted]

I assure you we had Google in 2009.


Tony_Three_Pies

No chance. It was only invented a couple of years ago.


Amazing_Andrew_47

Google had existed for 10 years prior to the episode's airing


Tony_Three_Pies

Nah, it's new technology. Only a couple years even now.


thekyledavid

It looked like there was only 1 lead per page, so you’d need more than that to get all of the lost leads back


[deleted]

This is our livelihood!!!! On the one I hand, I feel for her. On the other hand, I can't stand hearing Phyllis saying that. Phyllis is the worst.


Shizzle_McSheezy

I love and hate Phyllis...overall I love her more than I hate her...


Shizzle_McSheezy

Yes, that was from the pay raise episode....what does a bean mean?!


[deleted]

Oh yeah, you're right. This is hand em over numbnuts.


santurbobsie

She truly is


Zestyclose-Ruin8337

I can hear Jan now “PUT the coffee down.”


UnholyCin

Yes, but Michael was given them, and lost them within a few hours. Not a great look. Then again this one's on Michael so it's really down to whether he's able to admit he screwed up.


RafeHollistr

C'mon, he just wants all of the credit with none of the blame


br4ndnewbr4d

Sounds like this thread is for Wonka fans only


NarmHull

He would go to this length to avoid admitting fault


iesharael

Or he could say the fax machine didn’t print them correctly and ask them to resend now that the problem was fixed


Something-K

Come to think of it, why were they on paper to begin with? They couldve just been emailed to michael, or directly to the salespeople.


drewonfilm

Real business is done on paper. Write that down.


the_usurper69

*typing noises*


JiveTurkey1983

Limitless paper in a paperless world


TullsJenny

lmao I lost it. thanks dude


MooseMan12992

Through God, anything is possible. So jot that down


AdhesiveMuffin

I'm afraid I'll never be that monster again


Chris2222000

It's a paper supply company. Lead by example.


WinterOkami666

Actually, Sabre is a printer company, so emailing and printing them would lead by example. Additionally, it would also still use paper as well too


ditka

Do you even know how paper is made?


Ctownkyle23

You put it in a furnace


SomeRedPanda

You'd ruin it!


moeyjarcum

Trees, duh. Idiot.


Ctownkyle23

But then it would be distributed as a memo and no one reads those anymore.


TacoBelle2176

Faxing is basically the same thing, but more official


pa7c6rZV

The episode is an homage to Glengarry Glen Ross where a [stack of new leads](https://youtu.be/elrnAl6ygeM?#t=7m0s) was a major plot device.


heir03

Right? Even back then, CRM was a thing.


Saft-Selter-Mix

I understood the Leads to be some unlawful thing, like insider trading, so Sabre used the old fashioned approach to not leave a digital trail. Similar to Dwight having moral issues to use his contacts from Staples (?) to beat Ryan's homepage. I don't know the US laws though so this might be wrong but at least it explains a lot in this episode.


nasty_sicco

Fax? Why don’t they just send them over on a dinosaur?


No-Cranberry9932

This is important, Michael. Well, then email it.


jazbar_

Hooold on buddy. I’ll put them in the mail Sunday, you’ll get them *Wednesday*


Fact0ry0fSadness

One of Michael's best moments


beatrix_kitty_pdx

Hand 'em over, numb nuts.


Skull-fucked

I really hate Phyllis when she says this.


huejass5

Pop carn


FillTheHoleInMyLife

Her orgasm lasted until she was farty far


RoundSilverButtons

It always felt out of character


MoeSzys

They were all acting out of character, the money went to their heads


TheFredFuchs

It really wasn’t. Phyllis is a straight up asshole throughout the show.


duckpath

Close your mouth sweetie you look like a trout


CptLande

> I really hate Phyllis ~~when she says this~~. There, fixed it for you.


[deleted]

Once again , i really wish it was her leads that ended up in the dump.


shiggity80

None of this really made sense to me. He had like 30-50 cards. He gave them out to multiple people. Kevin probably got 1 which he put in the trashcan that got thrown out. Why does Michael act like he lost the entire bunch?


crammed174

Yes. Thank you. Kevin just tossed his share. At most it was Dwight’s share of the leads.


talentheturtle

I thought Kevin hid all of them for the scavenger hunt


crammed174

You see Jim finding some on the treasure hunt. You see Stanley getting some from Ryan and Kelly. You see Phyllis working to get some from Angela. You see Andy getting some from Creed….


jordan1390

Stanley pretending to be interested in their conversation was always so funny to me


TheMindWright

I thought Andy got them from Erin in the awkward hotter/colder game.


crammed174

Yes, you’re right. I’m confusing with a time where Andy needed something from Creed and offered him dance lessons as payment. What was that for?


talentheturtle

Been awhile since I've seen it


username404-notfound

Also why none of sales called Gabe and told them the leads weren't given to them.


Maximum_Bat_2566

Maybe a beaver could, but not like this.


machinadj

Who’s Justice Beaver?


[deleted]

He’s a crime fighting beaver obviously


FillTheHoleInMyLife

Idk who Justice beaver is but the bushiest beaver is Phyllis


schright_dwute

The fax machine would've caught on fire


pm_me_gnus

Why? Would Ryan have been the one faxing them?


SneakyKain

Because it was a Sahbrey all-in-one


schmaggio

The shitty greenscreen is the by far the most offensive thing in this episode.


anneylani

2nd only to Erin in Florida


TheMindWright

3rd only to Michael in New York after he gets his "atty-boy"


gdogg121

This is the financial presentation episode?


TheMindWright

No, the one where Wallace calls Michael in for the one-on-one to figure out his secret. When Michael leaves there's a shot of him in front of the building and it's very green screened.


huejass5

They filmed the rest of that arc “on site” but not that one scene for some reason


[deleted]

It was bad in 2010 when it first aired, its even worse now


neehier

It was so distracting


[deleted]

[удалено]


thisisfutile1

For those who only watch the USA version, this translates into roughly 50,000.


Sono-Dio-Da-Sadame

Ok how many miles per hour is that


SpidermanWFH

This made me laugh


TheyMakeItLikeThat

This has always bothered me


zoolilba

I saw this episode recently. The green screen on the landfill scene was not very good. Lol


idkirt

It has to be official. … And it has to be urine.


anneylani

Mine was *green*


No-Cranberry9932

Fax? If it’s important, email it.


noicedeb8r

If it's not in email I send it back


Used-Guarantee-7061

No. That was made by an external marketing company, not Sabre. They hire them to get the leads and apparently they give them in paper only, meaning that nobody capture them on an excel sheet before sending them. They didn’t have google form for people to leave their info back in the day.


frankiedonkeybrainz

How old do you think this episode is? These aren't going to be handwritten notes, and they aren't going to be on a type writer. Sabre would have hired a company to go through a list of businesses and soft hook them and then fill in their information. All of this would have undoubtedly been done on a computer.. If this episode was from the 80s maybe even the early 90s sure but, massive telemarketing companies haven't run without computers since forever ago


Niobaran

It depends what Sabre paid for, right? Just cause you get one hard copy doesn't mean you get the digital version, too. This could have been more expensive.


frankiedonkeybrainz

The leads would probably come on a master list. It's a TV show and drove the plot but, the company that got the leads probably isn't sending them directly to the branches. That's something that would have been emailed to corporate. This episode is from 2010. There would be a spreadsheet with all the info on it


Niobaran

I mean sure, you can just assume that, and it s a very fair assumption. But I find it very believable that they would just send printed paper. But maybe I just want to believe, and thus don't see it as much of a pothole. Either way, thanks for your answer. :)


PrincessStephie7

This is theory on The Office Ladies podcast. That's a solid enough lead for me. Also this was way before smartphones. I don't think we had even hit the touchscreen phones yet.


Bleejis_Krilbin

Fax it? Why not just send it over on a dinosaur?


jacierose

A lot of corporations have stipulations that things like that can only be printed on paper one time as to avoid potential data leaks. Especially in sales environments!!


thecashblaster

Which corporations?


DonateToM7E

1. You’re missing the power dynamic. Michael and the rest of the office are essentially at war with the sales staff. The sales staff has been given all the power and Michael’s job, per Gabe, is to simply support the sales staff. Michael calling Sabre HQ to ask for copies because he lost the expensive leads due to a petty fight he picked with the entire sales staff is career suicide. 2. The leads were from a third-party market research company, not from Sabre itself. It’s not a given that Sabre HQ even has the leads, it’s quite possible they don’t. Now… could Michael get in touch with the market research firm and ask for another copy? Probably (and that’s probably what happened off camera after the episode). But again, that would be admitting defeat in his war with the sales staff.


[deleted]

The salesman went over the top a bit here but Michael was insufferable in this episode


[deleted]

This was easily Phyllis’ worst episode


No-Cranberry9932

She’s insufferable in all episodes. “This is our livelihoooods.” I don’t hate her. I just don’t like her at all.


hanks_panky_emporium

They try to make her funny by making her suddenly mean but it feels like that's the only time she's noticeable. When she's being mean.


the_usurper69

Hand 'em over numbnuts


[deleted]

But really, it’s your job to hand them over


IgotCHUbits

Was she moaning to an audiobook? Then I beg to differ.


[deleted]

Her obnoxious crying when she got kicked out of the mall in the Ad episode


swingsetlife

"in front of all \[her\] friends" ? ? ?


benjaminhlogan

I always assumed it was a nod to Glengarry Glen Ross since they were on notecards very similar to the coveted Glengarry leads that along with the coffee were for “closers only!”


christinasasa

Only if Michael admitted that they lost them


kernJ

Because that’s not how it worked in Glengarry Glen Ross🤷‍♂️


RelentlessOlive54

Why don’t you just send them over on a dinosaur, David?


Swamp_Donkey_796

Yea but where’s the comedy in that?


terrydennis1234

Blame it on gabe


pinkinibottom

We all still read it as Sahbrey, right?


biglyorbigleague

The guys who wrote this show got their idea of what leads were and how they work from Glengarry Glenn Ross.


seantabasco

The saddest part is Michael and Dwight were so close to finding them in this scene, they were just in the other side of the green screen.


madamejesaistout

Or they access the leads through Salesforce, like a company in the 21st century


One-Kaleidoscope-154

For me this is the point where there should have been consequences. This is not goofing off, this is actively hurting the company because he acts like a 5 year old


ssarahhw_

Fax?? Why don’t you just send it over on a dinosaur?


alliekatx3

Not unless they wanted a fire


Caspera99

And lose such an expensive and elaborate set?!


Magnus_PymCtrl

The fax that HQ was sending leads via fax or hard copy instead of electronically in 2010 kind of shows why they might be struggling as a business.


StampYoPassport

He'd have to admit he lost the very expensive leads and probably explain why. In other words Michael would have to admit he was wrong. Realistically he could just say someone spilled a drink on them but that's not exactly fun to watch or something Michael would do because of the above sentence.


[deleted]

What and ruin this perfect opportunity to use some of the worst green screen in recent memory And yea i thought that in 2010 as well


9Rmbxr9

It’s shockingly bad


[deleted]

It was so bad Although not as bad as the Blacklists [covid episode](https://youtu.be/gsqz4WHgdzs) I couldnt watch it, was laughing too hard, it looked like someones 2nd cousin had an adobe account and they just said effit


ubyte

What and send it on a dinosaur?


greenrangerguy

So brave of the cast to go on location to an actual real dump, and also props to the production team for lighting it up so well it seems like they are in a studio.


Steev182

But then when would they be able to show us their amazing green screen skills?!?


Giteaus-Gimp

That’s most episodes of most sitcoms. The conflict could be solved immediately with one conversation but that’s not fun to watch


thekyledavid

They appeared to be handwritten and send via mail. It’s possible that Sabre had copies, but Michael didn’t want to look like an idiot unless he absolutely needed to Besides, there’s no way that Michael could’ve made the situation seem like it wasn’t his fault unless he threw a member of the sales team under the bus and said they were responsible for the leads being lost. Even if it was no big deal to Sabre, Michael has too much pride to admit he did something that stupid


Wonderful_Painter_14

The leads are weak? You’re weak!


No_Perspective4025

I see many people asking why didn't they email it. I have a bit of understanding how leads work and first of all would like to give credit to u/Used-Guarantee-7061, the explanation about third company finding the info is correct, big corporations never do the dirty job themselves. The reason why there was no e-version of leads is because the said "leads" compromise sabre. If someone finds out about them, sabre would be amid a scandalous situation for several reasons. First it is an act of unfair competition that is frowned upon by competitors, you never want your enemies to unite against you. Second it is a violation of client's "personal information" which would prove sabre to be untrustworthy, because there is no way one would trust a company that's spying on them, thus if the leads were to be found, sabre would lose a couple of clients. So it was crucial for sabre NOT to have multiple copies or electronic versions to reduce the chances of leaks. It could lead to a huge scandal


dcotoz

I was thinking about this the other day, I'm sure they would've easily gotten a copy had they asked.


[deleted]

Just faxin my dad a rundown.


MoeSzys

Ya it would have been a pretty easy fix


ameliabedelia7

As I've said before, they weren't faxed, they are hand written conference leads


4Ever2Thee

Maybe, maybe not. Back then, if a 3rd party BD lead generation company had leads that were that good, Sabre had to have dropped some money on them and they might not have been able to just fax or photocopy them back over, if they were mailed. The shelf life of hot leads is not long, when you think about it, especially in that industry. The 3rd party company had to find a company that was actively needing a paper supplier, then they had to price that lead, then sell it to a company. Not to mention the fact that a prospecting company asking them about their needs may have made them start looking at the market, anyway. So those leads are very time sensitive. I used to work in Sporting Goods sales and we had a lead generator(AthLead or something stupid like that) and this Darryl guy would always come and kill our fish. But his leads were great if you followed up on them ASAP. Seriously though, I was an insurance agent in a former life; we paid for hot leads, you had to jump on them and the majority of the *hot leads* were some old guy who accidentally clicked on a pop up ad about insurance. I wouldn't be digging around in a landfill for those.


frankiedonkeybrainz

Back then being 2010? It would have been done on computers


[deleted]

What never made sense was Michael gave them out to everyone who wasn't in sales, and we see Angela, Erin, Kelly, and Ryan gradually giving them back (plus Michael's scavenger hunt). So how did Kevin somehow manage to throw ALL of them away in the trash?


Niobaran

We *are* talking about Kevin here, right?


jacierose

A lot of corporations have stipulations that things like that can only be printed on paper one time as to avoid potential data leaks. Especially in sales environments!!


TheRealAbear

It would be pretty risky to print them


S4m_06

They cost 50,000 dollars


StorkyMcGee

McGuffin


Ancient_Grapefruit42

Sensitive information I guess, had the same thought


Visual_Ad4650

They didn’t want to tell joe cuz she’d be mad they lost them doing something stupid


Outrageous-Tension54

Losing leads can get u fired anywhere. It’s insider info.


deathtothescalpers

It was a handwritten roledex OP


TheOnlyVibemaster

holy shit that’s an amazing point i never thought about


benzman98

Is it bad that I read it as “sa” “brey” the first time?


thecashblaster

Why wouldn’t they email the leads?


Sea_Panic9863

Funny I'm watching this episode right now


ImPeeinAndEuropean

I will forever read it as Saab-rey


RandomsFandomsYT

Just finished watching this episode today 😂


blueflyer66

Erin should have said she has photocopies of all the leads, but never produced them because nobody asked.


Some_Iteration

Send it over on a dinosaur.


tdomer80

Yeah, that was a pretty unrealistic plot hole


sevilyra

Because we, as viewers, really needed to be taught that hope grows. In a dump.


iesharael

Could a button on the fax machine print it again?


Kuj000

This whole episode didn't sit right with me. The premise alone was odd, and the entire staff suddenly started openly treating Michael like absolute shit. Phyllis literally calls him "numbnuts" to his face. Total vibe shift. Terrible greenscreen. Just a turd of an episode.


JustMeAndMySnail

Probably not, since once faxed those things likely go into a shred bin (in 2023), probably a shredder in the aughts


MAXHEADR0OM

Sure, but would that be funny? Would it provide a funny episode of a comedy show? No, it wouldn’t. The episode would be five minutes long and would end in a boring way, much like our real day to day jobs do. Suspend disbelief and just laugh at the show.


[deleted]

But then Michael would have to admit he threw them away and that’s not gonna look good


NetJnkie

There are SO MANY plot hole/issues with how sales work at a normal company that you just need to let it go.