The WORST episodes of Gruen
Every episode of Gruen ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Gruen!
Gruen is about advertising, how it works, and how it works on us. It decodes and defuses the commercial messages that swirl through our lives, with the help of a panel of ad industry experts. It's the show that tracks advertising almost as closely as advertising tracks you!
#1 - Online Delivery & Breakfast
Season 13 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/20/2021
The team unbox the world of online delivery and unravel the breakfast of your nightmares; the pitch agencies take on the challenge of home-schooling; Wil, Todd, and Russel are joined by Christina Aventi and Karen Ferry.
#2 - Soap & Bushfires
Season 12 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/21/2020
How a pandemic fell into soap's hands, brands giving thanks and can a bushfire campaign go too far? Plus the Pitch saves journalism, unless that's fake news. Joining Wil, Todd and Russel is Christina Aventi and Emily Taylor.
#3 - Coronavirus Messaging & TikTok
Season 12 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/14/2020
Gruen is back and putting Coronavirus messaging to the test without shoving a swab up your nose. And why is TikTok advertising on the telly? Also, what's TikTok? Plus a pitch to either love or ditch the office.
#4 - Bunnings Warehouse & RM Williams
Season 12 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/28/2020
We find out what's on in the Bunnings Warehouse and put the boot into RM Williams. Plus a musical pitch dedicated to our frontline workers. Joining Wil, Todd and Russel are Carolyn Miller and Priya Patel.
#5 - Tourism Australia & Big Mac/Big Jack
Season 12 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/4/2020
How Tourism Australia sells us to ourselves; Big Mac, Big Jack, and the big legal stoush; the pitch cancels and uncancels cancel culture. Joining Wil, Todd, and Russel are Karen Ferry and Sunita Gloster.
#6 - Selling Beer & LOOK UP
Season 12 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/11/2020
How do you sell beer in a year that drives you to drink? We didn't know why billboards were telling us to "LOOK UP", so we looked it up. Joining Wil, Todd and Russel are Dee Madigan and Nitsa Lotus.
#7 - Chooks & 5G Conspiracies
Season 12 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/18/2020
What's cooked about the way we're sold chook? Can telcos fight conspiracies with a 5G-up? And a pitch to save or end the arts. Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Priya Patel and Sunita Gloster.
#8 - Kmart & Gaming
Season 12 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/25/2020
How did Kmart make being cheap cool? And with two out of three Aussies gaming, we ask: how did games ride the green pipe to the mainstream? Joining Wil, Todd and Russel are Christina Aventi and Karen Ferry.
#9 - The Christmas Spirit & Big Tech
Season 12 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/2/2020
Can brands get us to embrace the Christmas spirit? Is importing Black Friday a massive turkey? And Big Tech are selling privacy, so we leak their secrets. Joining Wil, Todd and Russel are Lauren Zonfrillo and Dee Madigan.
#10 - Fitness & Racism
Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/9/2020
The sweaty world of fitness, gymfluencers, and a Hemsworth. Plus Allens Lollies, the Cheese-That-Shall-Be-Renamed, and how brands responded to Black Lives Matter. Wil, Todd, and Russel are joined by Camey O'Keefe and Priya Patel.
#11 - Hindsight is 2020
Season 12 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/16/2020
Hindsight is 2020 as we look at some of the biggest ads of the longest year. Plus, the thrilling conclusion of The Unmasked Jingler. Joining Wil, Todd and Russel are Sunita Gloster and Karen Ferry.
#12 - Vaccine Rollout & Balenciaga
Season 13 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/13/2021
A jab at the vaccine rollout; The Pitch gets a shot in the arm; The Simpsons are on the catwalk for Balenciaga, as if they need the 'd'oh'; Wil is joined by Todd, Russel, Dee Madigan and Sunita Gloster.
#13 - Alcohol Marketing & AfterPay
Season 11 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/27/2019
On the Gruen final: getting into the Christmas spirits - how alcohol marketing is adapting to Aussies drinking less. AfterPay and gratification now, pay later. And on The Pitch, everything is fine vs everything is f***ed.
#14 - Online Gambling & Fresh Breath
Season 13 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/27/2021
The team are paying out online gambling; the pitch makes an each-way bet on abolishing the states; fresh ads for fresh breath become so extra; Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Carolyn Miller and Dee Madigan.
#15 - Electric Cars & John Lewis
Season 13 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/3/2021
Facebook goes meta, car companies go electric, and an insurance company dances into international controversy; a pitch worthy of the silver screen; Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Christina Aventi and Sunita Gloster.
#16 - BTS & Bottled Water
Season 13 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/10/2021
What happens when the biggest band in the world teams up with a smaller brand like McDonald's? Plus we unbottle how we're sold water. Wil, Todd, and Russel are joined by Karen Ferry and Pie Chaudhuri.
#17 - Buy Now, Pay Later & Sunglasses
Season 13 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/17/2021
Tech companies want consumers to buy now and pay, and pay, and pay; the risky business of selling sunglasses; Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Karen Ferry and Kirsty Muddle.
#18 - Lego & Salmon
Season 13 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/24/2021
Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Sunita Gloster and Emily Taylor to pull apart Lego brick by brick, and find out what's fishy in the salmon industry; on the Pitch, the agencies shake up consent campaigns.
#19 - Christmas & Novelty Flavours
Season 13 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/1/2021
'Tis the season for rampant consumerism! Gruen unwraps Christmas campaigns, dissects disturbing novelty flavours, plus a Pitch to reinvent the working week. Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Karen Ferry and Carolyn Miller.
#20 - Selling Summer & Cosmetic Surgery
Season 13 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/8/2021
How is ad land selling summer? Chanel's Ad-vent calendar, the skincare industry gets an injection of marketing and a Pitch to start (or stop) having kids. Wil is joined by Russel, Dee Madigan, Emily Taylor and Pia Chaudhuri.
#21 - The Good, the Bad and the Really Bad
Season 13 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/15/2021
On the Gruen season finale, we look back at the ads that defined 2021 - the good, the bad, the really bad, and the oh god why won't this year end. Wil is joined by Todd, Russel, Christina Aventi and Camey O'Keefe.
#22 - Military Recruitment & Sex Toys
Season 14 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/8/2022
Gruen is back for a brand new season. Will Top Gun 2 put military recruitment in cruise control? How does ASIO sell the spy life? And sex toys have a new vibe. Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Dee Madigan and Karen Ferry.
#23 - Servos & Violence Against Women
Season 14 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/15/2022
How the servo pumps are full of ads. The Pitch asks if it's okay to lie to kids. Plus a look at the latest campaign to stop violence against women. Wil and Russel are joined by Adam Ferrier, Annie O'Rourke, and Camey O'Keefe.
#24 - Undies & Hardware Stores
Season 14 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/22/2022
Looking at how modern brands sell to the public. Plus the other hardware store declares war on the other, other hardware store. Wil, Todd and Russel are joined by Priya Patel and Christina Aventi.
#25 - Mining, Pokies in Public Places, Kim Kardashian
Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 11/9/2011
Joining Russel Howcroft (Y&R Group) and Todd Sampson (Leo Burnett) for a rigorous Gruen spin class this week are self-described marketing bloke and occasional propagandist Toby Ralph, and a PR veteran of 15 years, Suzy Yates. On the Renovators this week, we look at the ways mining companies try to make us love them. With the watered-down mining tax legislation expected to get through parliament this week, we ask why these companies are still trying to win our hearts and minds. Is their investment in local communities just a diversion, to distract us from their mega- profits? And as ‘global warming’ became the softer sounding ‘climate change’, can the mining companies substitute ‘fracking’ with the gentler ‘seam stimulation’? Oh, and one last thing, what do you do when Alan Jones decides to attack you? On How Do You Sell...The PR cyclone Kim Kardashian and sister Khloe whipped through Sydney last week. How has this LA reality TV family managed to create an empire that turned over $70 million last year? Everyone bitches that she’s famous for absolutely nothing, but that fame just grows and grows. What is the need in us that Kim answers? On The Pitch, we ask our agencies to help an industry under threat. If you believe Clubs Australia, new poker machine laws will ruin this country. So to help the industry, we’ve asked our agencies to come up with a campaign to convince Australians to free the pokies from restrictive club environments and let them find new markets in shops, schools, waiting rooms. wherever… Jack Watts Currie Vs DraftFCB