Do you think when the "boss" shows up on "Undercover Boss," the employees really have no idea who he (or she) is?

Yes. I think that the workers give sob stories to get help from the boss.

Surely the employees know. I watched two episodes, and then gave it a pass. It seemed like fake reality TV at its finest.

I think when the show first started many of those employees had no idea. In the last few seasons of the show I think many of the people know. I don’t think the show works as well anymore.

The original episodes I think were fantastic. The Waste Management guy I thought he was great. Frontier Airlines I was disgusted by the mega house he lived in and the company had cut wages for the majority of the employees.

What often bothers me is to see wealthy CEO’s having no idea how hard their people work, and the ridiculously low wages some of the companies pay to their employees.

The worst episodes are the Hooters type episodes. Those companies should be embarrassed.

If I know the person well I can tell from their mannerisms who they are. I’m very observant that way.

They must know at this point. Especially since they seem to always use the same story.

And I pretty much always assumed the companies are actually paying CBS to basically air a hour long commercial. Toss in some Hooters and Twins Peaks where the companies come off worse to give the air of legitimacy. Certainly some screening of the employees would need to take place. If not, everyone in America would have lost their mother or a child in the last 2 years.

In a really large company how often does one see the CEO, president, etc. up close often enough to tell it is them when wearing a disguise? I get mistaken for people often and you’d think they know their friends, even at a distance because they are supposed to be so familiar with them.

They know. Look at every scene – even intimate ones with just two people talking. There are at least 4 different camera angles with smooth cuts between scenes. That means the cameras were trolling simultaneously. Even when they are driving in a car there are at least 4 cameras.
every story follows the same pattern. One employee is a little cynical and not so dedicated. Another employee has family issues and is barely getting by but is dedicated and loyal. The boss magically converts the cynical one with a one minute speech. And gives the dedicated one just what they needed to survive and get them out of the jam they are in.
Very magnanimous. Except… if the boss paid a living wage in the first place maybe the desperate employee won’t be in such bad shape in the first place.
I call BS!

After the first season or so, they ran out of excuses to cover the presence of the camera crew.

Initially, they said that they were shooting a reality show where they’d get a chance to vote on the “candidate” (boss in disguise) to determine whether they should get the job/franchise, whatever.

But after the first season, someone would have to be pretty incredibly oblivious (or living under a rock) not to realize that the presence of a camera crew trailing someone meant it’s likely “Undercover Boss” doing the filming.

And it seems like the disguises have gotten worse not better each successive season. I mean, if someone is going to be doing physically taxing stuff where they’ll be sweating, don’t make things worse with ten tons of glued on hair, mustache, beard. Good grief.

It’s really laughable sometimes watching this poor guy sweat to death with his wig half falling off :)

@Hypocrisy_Central :: The funny thing is you are right. Most people at shit jobs have no clue what the CEO looks like. That is how the CEO can make shit jobs. Accountable to nobody but the board!!!

So the dripping mustache is more of a giveaway then if there was no disguise.

So again.. FAKE or at least illogical. Or a massive hour ad buy for CBS.

The boss comes out of his mansion with huge kitchen, loving family and pretty wife and goes to have encouraging chats with employees who can barely make ends meet. I just saw one about Yankee Candle. The boss’s wig was so ridiculous – I felt like it needed a trim. It was big and curly but really needed some shaping. One employee angry and on the verge of being fired, the other employee dedicated, one other employee dedicated but with medical issues. All happy in the end. Ridiculous. I just googled that guy (CEO of Yankee Candle Harlan Kent) and he left in 2014 and is now the CEO of Alex and Ani.

Like @LuckyGuy said, all the shows follow same cookie cutter pattern.

The disguises really bother me too. They are ridiculous.

They’d probably be better off shaving their heads but nobody seems to want to do that, so they put on the bad wig. Since a man’s hair is usually only a few inches long, it would grow back within about four months.

Actors change their hair, wear wigs, and wear different clothes, and look very different, and they don’t look ridiculous. It’s done every day, but on Undercover Boss it’s done sub-par most of the time.