The Gruen Transfer

Informative, funny, but with an annoying host.

It's a show that dissects what works and doesn't about ads. It also gives the inside scoop in industries, and some interesting numbers are given. The show is generally funny, but the elitist host is very annoying.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the ABC's latest pet project last year, a show centered on the dissection of local and international advertising campaigns. Sounds as boring as dry toast on paper but the production itself is very much aligned with the slick advertising experts that join host Wil Anderson on the panel. The show itself pops and crackles along with a great charm and wit provided by a panel of genuinely interesting people with a broad arc of opinions that spark and contrast within each other really very well. The producing team have done a solid job pulling together an array of personalities that are actually interesting to watch (I'm looking at you Top Gear Australia).

The ABC, being government owned, cannot have advertising. Purhaps this is the reason why Gruen works so well. There are no pay masters who will pull funding if their product is put into a bad light, no executives worried about their next pay check who will stop a segment out of fear of offending someone. When the panel get their teeth into a subject they will tear it back to it's bare bones, revealing the dark arts of spin and branding they use to make us buy. With the two main panelist having extensive experience in the advertising world, and weekly guest panelists who's experience ranges from advertising to PR and political spin-doctoring, there is always a wealth of knowledge on display as each add is lead to the slaughter. A show with this many boffins could easily have bogged down, taken itself way too seriously and quietly slipped into obscurity if it wasn't for the host, Will Anderson. Anderson does an amazing job of keeping the show moving at a comfortable pace. When the tension between Russel (a capitalist) and Todd (a socialist by nature but a capitalist by trade) gets too high Will will brake it with a joke and redirect the conversation with ease but is also able to introduce questions and topics with the skill of an industry veteran - a refreshing combination. Compelling and strangely addicting, Gruen, a show about advertising, on the only network without advertising is the only advertising that you will want to watch.