Gruen (TV series) explained

Director:	Mark Fitzgerald
Presenter:	Wil Anderson
Composer:	David Chapman
Country:	Australia
Language:	English
Num Series:	16
Num Episodes:	175
List Episodes:	List of Gruen episodes
Camera:	Multi-camera
Runtime:	35 minutes
Company:	CJZ
Network:	ABC
Last Aired:	present

Gruen (previously known as The Gruen Transfer) is an Australian television program focusing on advertising, which debuted on the ABC on 28 May 2008. The program is hosted by Wil Anderson and produced by Andrew Denton's production company, Zapruder's Other Films,^[1] now part of CJZ. Anderson is accompanied by a panel of advertising industry experts including Russel Howcroft (originally of George Patterson Y&R) and Todd Sampson (previously of Leo Burnett). The title refers to the Gruen transfer, the response to designed disorientation cues in retail environments.^[2]

The show's debut episode drew an audience of nearly 1.3 million, the highest debut for an entertainment program in the ABC's history.^[3] The concept has been sold to TV production companies in the UK, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal, South Africa and Spain. The Gruen Transfer was nominated for an AFI award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series in 2008.^[4]

A spinoff series, Gruen Nation, aired during the 2010 Australian federal election and again for the 2013 Australian federal election. A second spinoff series, Gruen Planet, took over from the fourth series of The Gruen Transfer on 28 September 2011, focusing on corporate and government global media strategies and public relations.^[5] Another spinoff series entitled Gruen Sweat examining the branding and marketing of the 2012 London Olympics began airing from 25 July 2012.^{[6] [7]} The spinoff series titled Gruen began airing on 9 September 2015, following the original concept of The Gruen Transfer series.

Format

Current segments include:

• How Do You Sell?: This segment every week looks at advertising tactics used by advertisers to choose one product over another. Topics covered include beer, underwear, chocolate and banks.
• Endorse Me: Wil Anderson gives the panel the challenge of finding a sponsor for people who are famous for all the wrong reasons. Examples include Carl Williams and David Hicks.
• The Pitch: Two advertising companies are given a brief to create an advertisement for an "unsellable" product. Previous examples have included whale meat, tourism in Baghdad, the beleaguered Australian Democrats political party, and a proposed invasion of New Zealand, which provoked a response from the New Zealand government and several NZ YouTube viewers, although the final episode of Series One provided some balance in the form of a promotion for tourists not to visit Australia.^[8] A controversial anti-discrimination ad by Sydney agency The Foundry to promote "fat pride", which depicted people telling racist and homophobic jokes, resulted in the ABC pulling the segment from the 13 May 2009 episode, deeming that it would breach the ABC's editorial guidelines.^[9]
• Ad of the Week: This is where Wil and the panel look at an ad and they discuss it and how effective it is.
• What is this Ad for?: Wil shows the beginning of an ad without identifying the product, then asks the panel to guess what it is for.
• What's Wrong With This Ad?: A semi-regular segment where Wil shows an ad, usually submitted by a viewer, then asks the panel what they believe to be wrong about that ad. For example, the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Heaven campaign emphasises low fat in its product, so a viewer commented that, in the ad, even after dying and going to heaven, you still have to worry about your weight.
• Space Invaders: A semi-regular segment in which a real-life example of a new or unusual space for advertising is discussed. Examples include sheep jackets, children's books and on slums. The panel are then challenged to figure out a worthwhile client for advertisements in that space.
• God I Hate That Ad!: A web exclusive segment introduced in series two where Wil will bring up a particular ad that he, or viewers, dislike and has the panel discuss it, whether it is bad or not, or why it is bad. In the end the panel decide whether it is a bad ad or not.
• What Does it Mean?: A web exclusive segment introduced in series two where Wil and the panel come to a consensus of what message an ad is trying to get across when it is not obvious.
• The Worst Ad of All Time (Gruen Polished Turd), The Worst Product of All Time (Golden Steak Knives), Personal Worst (Brown Logie): A segment where the panel judges an ad or product based on how horrible it is with the "winner" being announced at the end of the series (this excludes the worst product of all time as the winner for it wasn't announced). The "prizes" are satirical allusions to a vulgar colloquialism for the advertising and public relations industries: "turd polishing".

Gruen Nation

A spin-off series called Gruen Nation was aired during the 2010 federal election campaign.^[10] The first episode aired on 28 July 2010 at 9 pm. The series concluded on 18 August 2010. Each 45-minute episode was hosted by Wil Anderson with regular Gruen Transfer guests Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft and guests John Hewson, leader of the federal Liberal party 1990–94, Neil Lawrence, "Kevin 07" campaign co-ordinator, and Annabel Crabb, journalist and political commentator.^[11] Anderson said "If the ABC is the national broadcaster, then Gruen Nation is the national bullshit detector."^[12]

Gruen Planet

A spin-off called Gruen Planet was announced to replace series 4 of The Gruen Transfer, with a broader landspace.^[13] The first episode of the first series premiered on 28 September 2011 with 1.138 million viewers, rating fourth viewed show of the week. The second series began airing on 22 August 2012 following the conclusion of Gruen Sweat.

Segments included:

• The Image Renovators: This segment every week looked at advertising and public relations tactics used.
• The Pitch: Two advertising companies were given a brief to create an advertisement for an "unsellable" product.
• What Would Putin/Palmer/Kim Jong-un/Justin Do?: This showed the attempts of various public figures to promote themselves.
• Spin Cycle: This showed attempts to score a headline.
• How Do You Sell?: This segment every week looked at advertising tactics used by advertisers to choose one product over another. Topics covered include beer, underwear, chocolate and banks.

Gruen Sweat

A third spin-off series, titled Gruen Sweat, aired throughout the 2012 Summer Olympics. The four-episode series premiered on 25 July 2012 to 931,000 viewers.^{[14] [15]}

Gruen

A spin-off called Gruen was announced to replace Gruen Planet. The first episode of the first series premiered on 9 September 2015 with 974,000 viewers, ranking as the fourth-most-viewed show of the week. Despite the revised name, there are only extremely minor changes implemented for Gruen. All episodes are hosted by Wil Anderson and feature Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft.

Panelists

Panelists have included: Karen Ferry,^[16] Christina Aventi,^[17] Dee Madigan,^[18] Emily Taylor,^[19] Pia Chaudhuri, Carolyn Miller, Adam Ferrier, Sunita Gloster, Lauren Zonfrillo, Priya Patel, Annie O'Rourke, Camey O'Keefe, Kirsty Muddle and others.

Episodes

See main article: List of Gruen episodes.

Critical reception

In 2009, The Sydney Morning Herald felt that The Gruen Transfer represented "intelligence and substance."^[20]

In 2013, The Sydney Morning Herald thought that by Gruen Planet, the show's creators had got the franchise format "down to a fine art".^[21]

Awards and nominations

In 2013, the Gruen Sweat special edition of the show won a Rose d'Or for Entertainment.^[22]

Ratings

Gruen returned to television in 2016 with 954,000 viewers,^[23] and in 2017 with 903,000 viewers,^[24] while in 2020 it received 943,000 viewers.^[25]

Legacy

The show's panelists have become minor celebrities and experts in their fields. They have been contacted to speak on a variety of marketing-related issues,^[26] and in particular Todd Sampson was hired by Qantas for a marketing campaign.^[27]

External links

• • Production website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Anderson Plays Nice With Aunty . 31 May 2008 . Ziffer, Daniel . 7 February 2008 . The Age . Australia.
2. Web site: Another Denton First: Screening Ads on the ABC . 31 May 2008 . Lee, Julian . 1 May 2008 . The Sydney Morning Herald . https://web.archive.org/web/20080501104556/http://business.smh.com.au/another-denton-first-screening-ads-on-the-abc/20080430-29tb.html . 1 May 2008 . dead.
3. News: Why Wil Anderson wants lower Gruen Transfer ratings . 31 May 2008 . 29 May 2008 . The Daily Telegraph.
4. Web site: 2008 AFI Winners . 7 December 2008 . 6 December 2008 . Herald Sun . Australia.
5. Web site: Gruen Transfer returns – and announces spinoff Gruen Planet focused on PR . Mumbrella . 11 July 2011 . 9 November 2012.
6. Web site: Gruen returns from next month with Olympics-themed format . 25 June 2012 . 25 June 2012 . Media Spy . Australia.
7. Web site: . David . Knox . Wil Anderson no saviour (just a very naughty boy) . 23 July 2012 . 6 August 2012.
8. Benns, Matthew: Kiwis get all defensive about TV invasion plot, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 July 2008.
9. Lee, Julian: Skit went too far for the ABC, The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 May 2009.
10. News: ABC host Wil Anderson is set to get all political in new show The Gruen Nation . news.com.au . 5 July 2010.
11. Web site: ABC TV - Gruen Nation - Home . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 6 August 2012.
12. News: Gruen team to tackle election . ABC . 5 July 2010.
13. Web site: . David . Knox . Could Gruen Planet mean the end for Gruen Transfer? . 26 August 2011 . 6 August 2012.
14. Web site: . David . Knox . Airdate: Gruen Sweat. Bumped: Randling, Life's Too Short. . 25 June 2012 . 6 August 2012.
15. Web site: . David . Knox . 2.19m for MasterChef as TEN wins first night of 2012 . 26 July 2012 . 6 August 2012.
16. News: Pobjie . Ben . Advertising can be like witchcraft: Gruen panellist Karen Ferry . 2 July 2022 . The Sydney Morning Herald . 1 June 2022 . en.
17. Web site: Christina Aventi . AdForum . 2 July 2022 . en.
18. Web site: Dee Madigan . . 2 July 2022 . en.
19. Web site: Gruen (Season 10, Episode 7) . Apple TV . 2 July 2022 . en-AU . 12 June 2018.
20. Web site: The Gruen Transfer - TV Reviews - TV & Radio - Entertainment - smh.com.au . The Sydney Morning Herald . 17 March 2009 . en . 13 February 2018.
21. Web site: Gruen Planet lands on Fairfax . Hardie . Giles . 23 August 2012 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en-au . 13 February 2018.
22. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/gruen-transfers-wil-anderson-todd-sampson-and-russel-howcroft--return/news-story/02d7b46d0fc7984b0980f07927bd78de Commercial interest: Gruen’s back
23. News: Return of Gruen a ratings winner for ABC as Ten's The Bachelor holds steady - Mumbrella . 4 August 2016 . Mumbrella . 13 February 2018 . en-US.
24. News: Gruen returns to television with 903,000 viewers, beats The Bachelor's second last episode . 14 September 2017 . Mumbrella . 13 February 2018 . en-US.
25. Web site: Knox . David . Wednesday 14 October 2020 TV Tonight . 15 October 2020 . tvtonight.com.au . 15 October 2020 . en-AU.
26. News: Gruen panellists review Woolies Anzac fail . NewsComAu . 13 February 2018.
27. News: Qantas appoints Todd Sampson of Gruen Transfer to the board . 9 January 2015 . Financial Review . 13 February 2018 . en-US.