Gruen
Also known as	The Gruen Transfer Gruen Nation Gruen Planet Gruen Sweat
Created by	Andrew Denton Jon Casimir
Directed by	Mark Fitzgerald
Presented by	Wil Anderson
Starring	Russel Howcroft Todd Sampson
Composer	David Chapman
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of series	16
No. of episodes	175(list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Andrew Denton Anita Jacoby Debbie Cuell Polly Connolly Richard Huddleston Sophia Zachariou Wil Anderson Nick Murray Nick Hayden
Producers	Jon Casimir Amelia Barry Sophie Braham Sarah Douglas
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	35 minutes
Production company	CJZ
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	28 May 2008 (2008-5-28) – present

Gruen (previously known asThe Gruen Transfer) is an Australian television program focusing on advertising, which debuted on theABC on 28 May 2008. The program is hosted byWil Anderson and produced byAndrew Denton's production company, Zapruder's Other Films,^[1] now part ofCJZ. Anderson is accompanied by a panel of advertising industry experts includingRussel Howcroft (originally ofGeorge Patterson Y&R) andTodd Sampson (previously ofLeo Burnett). The title refers to theGruen 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 anAFI award for Best Light Entertainment Television Series in 2008.^[4]

A spinoff series,Gruen Nation, aired during the2010 Australian federal election and again for the2013 Australian federal election. A second spinoff series,Gruen Planet, took over from the fourth series ofThe Gruen Transfer on 28 September 2011, focusing on corporate and government global media strategies and public relations.^[5] Another spinoff series entitledGruen Sweat examining the branding and marketing of the2012 London Olympics began airing from 25 July 2012.^[6][7] The spinoff series titledGruen began airing on 9 September 2015, following the original concept ofThe Gruen Transfer series.

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 includeCarl Williams andDavid Hicks.
• The Pitch: Two advertising companies are given a brief to create an advertisement for an "unsellable" product. Previous examples have includedwhale meat, tourism inBaghdad, the beleagueredAustralian Democrats political party, and a proposed invasion ofNew Zealand, which provoked a response from theNew 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, thePhiladelphia 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".

Aspin-off series calledGruen Nation was aired during the2010 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 regularGruen Transfer guests Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft and guestsJohn Hewson, leader of the federal Liberal party 1990–94, Neil Lawrence, "Kevin 07" campaign co-ordinator, andAnnabel Crabb, journalist and political commentator.^[11] Anderson said "If the ABC is the national broadcaster, thenGruen Nation is the national bullshit detector."^[12]

A spin-off calledGruen Planet was announced to replace series 4 ofThe 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.^[14]

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 WouldPutin/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.

A third spin-off series, titledGruen Sweat, aired throughout the2012 Summer Olympics. The four-episode series premiered on 25 July 2012 to 931,000 viewers.^[14][15]

A spin-off calledGruen was announced to replaceGruen 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 forGruen. All episodes are hosted by Wil Anderson and feature Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft.

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.

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

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

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

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]

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,^[27] and in particular Todd Sampson was hired by Qantas for a marketing campaign.^[28]

• Official website
• Production website

• Australian non-fiction television series
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming
• Television shows set in New South Wales
• 2008 Australian television series debuts
• 2010s Australian television series
• Australian English-language television shows
• Television series about advertising
• Marketing techniques
• Works about retailing
• Advertising in Australia

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from September 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from April 2023