Gruen Transfer, The: Series 3 - Episode 12 (ATOM Study Guide)

The Gruen Transfer is a show about advertising – how it works and how it works on us. Hosted by Wil Anderson, the show decodes and defuses the commercial messages that swirl through our lives.

In its first year, The Gruen Transfer notched up a number of records, including the highest rating for an entertainment debut on the ABC (its first episode had nearly 1.3 million viewers). It also regularly won its time slot ratings, averaging 1.25 million viewers a week, and performed brilliantly in all adult demographics. The show's website was flooded with people wanting to take the opportunity to make their own ads (10,000 of them across the ten weeks of the show).

Wil is joined each week by some of the best and brightest minds of the advertising industry, experts prepared to share the ideas and insights that drive them. Each episode features news from the world of advertising and examines the tactics used to sell particular products, whether it be cars, chocolate or cleaning products. In the regular segment 'The Pitch', agencies compete to fulfil a seemingly impossible brief. This season also features the hunt for the 'Worst ad. Ever', with a contender for the title screened each week.

In this episode:

A selection of 'dumb' ads from 2010; how do you sell ... airlines; The Pitch – to convince us that Australia and New Zealand should unite as one country; Ad Crunch – FreeTV withdraws a pro-euthanasia ad before it is screened on commercial TV; the 'Worst Ad. Ever.' – the winners are announced in this final episode of series three.

Important topics in this episode include sexism, and the 'halo effect' in airlines ads; the endorsement and marketing phenomenon of celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey; and advertising censorship – erring on the side of conservatism on commercial TV.

Curriculum links

This study guide is mainly aimed at middle- and upper-secondary school levels, with relevance:

• English
• Media Studies
• Graphics
• Ethics and Philosophy
• Psychology
• Business Studies and Marketing
• SOSE/HSIE

Before viewing

There are two previous series of The Gruen Transfer. Study guides for all episodes of series 1 and 2 are available to download here.