Gruen 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, now part of CJZ. Anderson is accompanied by a panel of advertising industry experts including Russel Howcroft and Todd Sampson. The title refers to the Gruen transfer, the response to designed disorientation cues in retail environments. 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. The concept has been sold to TV production companies in the UK, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal, South Africa and Spain; however, the program itself seems to be unavailable in those markets and is blocked on YouTube and Apple's iTunes store, with the message "Viewable in Australia only". The Gruen Transfer was nominated for an AFI award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series in 2008. 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. Another spinoff series entitled Gruen Sweat examining the branding and marketing of the 2012 London Olympics began airing from 25 July 2012. 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. 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.
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, The Worst Product of All Time, Personal Worst : 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. 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. 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. Anderson said "If the ABC is the national broadcaster, then Gruen Nation is the national bullshit detector."
''Gruen Planet''
A spin-off called Gruen Planet was announced to replace series 4 of The Gruen Transfer, with a broader landspace. 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. Current segments include:
The Image Renovators: This segment every week looks at advertising and public relations tactics used.
The Pitch: Two advertising companies are given a brief to create an advertisement for an "unsellable" product.
What Would Putin/Palmer/Kim Jong-un/Justin Do?: This shows the attempts of various public figures to promote themselves.
Spin Cycle: This shows attempts to score a headline.
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.
''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.
''Gruen''
A spin-off called Gruen was announced to replace the Gruen Planet. The first episode of the first series premiered on 9 September 2015 with 974,000 viewers, rating fourth 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.
The first eight episodes in 2011 were branded The Gruen Transfer; from the ninth episode, they were titled Gruen Planet.
Series 5 (2012)
Series 6 (2013)
Series 7 (2015)
Series 8 (2016)
Series 9 (2017)
Series 10 (2018)
Series 11 (2019)
Critical reception
In 2009, The Sydney Morning Herald felt that The Gruen Transfer represented "intelligence and substance." 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".
Gruen returned to television in 2016 with 954,000 viewers, and in 2017 with 903,000 viewers.
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, and in particular Todd Sampson was hired by Qantas for a marketing campaign.
