by Marcelle Mccallum

Created on: September 06, 2008

Zapruder's Other Films, the production house of Andrew Denton, has brought us another controversial, topical and funny offering in the form of The Gruen Transfer. Wil Anderson, former host of the Glass House, makes his return to the ABC as host of this panel based show. The Gruen Transfer breaks the mold for not only television, but the way in which the advertising and marketing industry interacts with its audience.

The title refers to the Gruen transfer, the moment consumers respond to cues in retail environments. The show, is comprised of a panel of advertising industry members who take part in a discussion of what is effectively the Gruen Transfer, albeit in an advertising rather than architectural medium. In each half hour episode, Todd Sampson of Leo Burnett and Russel Howcroft of George Patterson's Y & R, meet with Will Anderson and two other advertising executives to discuss advertising methods, create pitches for 'unsellable' people and generally dissect the modern advertising industry.

Aside from being a wonderfully funny show, which is testament to the creativity and openness of the industry members willing to take part, it provides and honest and interesting insight into the world of advertising and the way in which the industry thinks. Not only of us as consumers, but what they think of each other, their clients, the briefs and the inevitable outcomes. The panel represents a diverse range of the advertising industry, from Russel Howcroft from one of Australia's leading and oldest firms to Todd Sampson, co-creator of Earth Hour and many places in between. Each executive took part openly, and some of the best moments in the show were when things would get a little too close for comfort for one of them. A great example is theepisode in which Russel Howcroft stated that effectively, no-one watches or believes advertising, and if they do, they deserve what they get. This prompted an appropriately scathing retort from Anderson causing a fair amount of squirming from Russel.

The willingness of both established and new generation industry members marks an interesting change in the culture of advertising which this show stands testimony to. The show takes place in a segmented format with the following being regular segments:
How Do You Sell?- an examination of the methods used by industry; Endorse Me - panel members are given an outlinebrief to take someone unsellable and give them a product endorsement; The Pitch - in which two advertising executives compete

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