Michael's "Golden Ticket" Promotion backfires when all five tickets get sent to the same client.
Tropes
- Achievements in Ignorance: At the end of the day, Michael accidentally got the Pennsylvania Blue Cross to accept Dunder Mifflin as their official paper supplier by watching a movie and not knowing what his warehouse workers do.
- Actually Pretty Funny: After complimenting Dwight for coming up with the Golden Ticket idea, David Wallace says,"This is huge!", prompting Dwight to say That's What She Said, which actually gets a laugh out of him.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Dwight tries to brush off Jim's concerns about Dwight potentially taking the fall by reiterating Michael's claim that Michael would do it for him. Jim points out that Michael could just do it then and there, which does seem to send a ball rolling in Dwight's head.
- Didn't Think This Through: Michael did not specify "limit one per customer" on the tickets, thereby granting Blue Cross, their biggest client, a 50% discount for a year. Moreover, the camera shows him slipping each ticket into separate boxes directly near each other rather than spreading them out farther, which backfires since Darryl explains that they load three pallets at a time for a client as big as Blue Cross.
- Dirty Coward: Michael attempts to throw Dwight under the bus for the Golden Ticket idea instead of facing the consequences himself.
- Everyone Has Standards: Jim might not like Dwight, but even he is against the idea of letting him take the fall for Michael's idea.
- Friendship Moment: Jim surprises everyone by backing Dwight in front of David as the person who thought of the Golden Ticket scheme when Michael is trying to out him, then the entire rest of the office joins in. Considering Michael was willing to throw Dwight under the bus just moments before, it is pretty heartwarming for Dwight to receive such support from everyone.
- From Bad to Worse: Michael's enthusiasm that somebody found a Golden Ticket dampens when Jim tells him that it's Blue Cross, one of their biggest clients. And then, just as Oscar is telling him that 10% off of Blue Cross is going to hurt them, Jim announces that they've just told them they actually found five Golden Tickets With No 'One Per Customer'Disclaimer ...
- Funny Background Event: During the conference call with David, Dwight, and the rest of the company, David asks Pam to come in and take notes. Pam can then be seen taking notes through the entire scene, including frantically writing down everything Michael and Dwight say during their argument. Becomes funnier when David, before leaving, tells Pam not to send him any of the notes, leaving her flustered.
- Gas Lighting: Michael tries to frame Dwight as the culprit responsible for the Golden Ticket fiasco by convincing him that he was the one who came up with the idea. Dwight isn't fooled, however, as it turns out he keeps written records of his daily experiences.
- Laser-Guided Karma: When an angry David Wallace calls Michael about the Golden Ticket fiasco, Michael throws Dwight under the bus as the one who came up with the idea. Michael then spends most of the day trying to convince Dwight to take the fall for him. However, it turns out that Blue Cross loved the Golden Ticket idea so much that they made Dunder Mifflin their sole provider of Office Supplies, and Dwight ended up being rewarded. The rest of the office even congratulates Dwight when Michael attempts to out him.
- Loophole Abuse: One of Jim's clients receives all five tickets, and as Jim makes clear with him on the phone, Michael did not think to put "Limit one per customer" on each of them.
- Never My Fault: The moment he realizes that his promotion is backfiring, Michael tries to shift the blame to someone else. Then, when David Wallace reveals that Blue Cross is going to make Dunder-Mifflin their sole paper provider, he tries to take back the credit.Michael: I do want all of the credit and none of the blame.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: Dwight admits that he's never watched Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory because in his childhood, they were prohibited from enjoying candy or movies, but goes along with claiming that he's always been a fan of it when pretending the promotion was his idea.
- For his part, although Michael is a huge fan of the movie, when Pam notes that it's actually based on a book called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Michael responds "I... can't verify that."
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Once Michael tries to take back the credit for the Golden Ticket idea by revealing that it was indeed him who created the idea and that Dwight was just a fall guy, Wallace becomes fed up with the situation that he leaves, not wanting to deal with it anymore.
- Shout-Out: The plot is inspired by Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Michael even comes to the office dressed as Wonka.
- Michael also bursts into the staff lounge. Scolding to everybody that there is no movie simply called Willy Wonka. Pam then replies that it's actually based on a book called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- Silent Snarker: The camera operator gets a good one in.Michael: My golden-ticket idea? Why would anyone think this is my golden-ticket idea?(camera pans and zooms on the Wonka hat on Michael's desk)
- Stolen Credit Backfire: Inverted. When David makes a livid phone call to Michael about the golden ticket idea he came up with, Michael attempts to convince David and Dwight that Dwight is the mastermind behind the idea. By the time David arrives at the Scranton branch, it turns out that the offer, although initially costly to Dunder Mifflin, actually helped them in the long run by earning them a long-term large client. Dwight proceeds to eat up the credit with the office standing behind him to get back at Michael while Michael can only seethe at having the credit taken from him as the result of his own machinations.
- Tranquil Fury: Jim admits to Michael during the conference meeting that he is mad at him, seeing as he cost him half of a large commission with the discount. The rest of the office also feels the same, seeing as Michael reduced the branch's profits by a wide margin and risked putting their branch on the chopping block.
