THE GRUEN TRANSFER’S NEW ZEALAND INVASION – MASSIVE HIT ONLINE
The debate on whether Australia should really invade New Zealand has been raging since Wednesday night, when The Gruen Transfer on ABC-TV laid down the gauntlet between two Sydney advertising agencies to come up with a mock TV ad to promote an invasion. The ‘call to arms’ was watched by 1.3 million people, making it the most-watched episode in this current series.
As part of the popular The Pitch segment, Neil Mallett from Marmalade and John McKie from 303 came up with two very different and funny ads, which, since airing has been a massive hit online and generated media interest in New Zealand.
The clips have been viewed over 50,000 times on the shows website (an increase in traffic of over 30%), as well as another 12,000 on YouTube.
One YouTube viewers said yesterday; “Isn’t this a call to arms? Shouldn’t it be seen as an act of terrorism? NZ govt needs to look at the legal consequences of this idiocy. I as Maori will not stand to be invaded by ANYONE! BRING IT ON!!!”
Over 6,000 people have voted for their favourite ad so far, with 303’s 100% for the Taking, attracting 70% of the votes. Intriguingly, Gruen’s panel of advertising professionals saw it the other way, handing the coveted Gruen trophy to Marmalade’s ad proposing an new Australian national holiday to celebrate our all-to-easy conquest of New Zealand.
Meanwhile, TVNZ’s The Close Up screened the clips and the New Zealand Herald featured articles.
The Gruen Transfer’s regular New Zealand panelists, Bridget Taylor, from DDB New Zealand said: “When ads become entertainment and spark debate, you know you’ve done your job as an agency. These campaigns hit the spot and have got everyone laughing, nervously for more than a few kiwis.”
In the final episode to air on Wednesday, July 30 the tables are turned, with two competing ad agencies acting on behalf of the New Zealand government to discourage international tourists from holidaying in Australia.
You can view The Gruen Transfer episodes online
110 Comments
You could hide a small island nation in that beard.
Nice topic to get.
The New Zealand Invasion. There’s a day off in it for you. FANTASTIC!
What are we waiting for? Lets smash those Kiwis!
Also, the first guy was dressed smarter.
Love them both, for once.
And neither felt the need to swear! That should please Aunty.
The big dude with the beard is hot! I’d do him!
I think they’re both pretty good. Dream brief though. The ‘day off’ one is more lateral and clever. It should win.
I heard Will Anderson and the ABC write some of the ads and give them to the agencies.
Monty, which one do you reckon the client should pay for?
I want to see Droga5 to come up with one of these pitch things.
Have they been invited onto the Show?
As the best creative agency in Australia I reckon a lot of people would be interested to see how they handle a hypothetical brief.
I ‘d like to see droga5 V Singos, that’d be interesting.
Did you know advertising employs more homosexuals than any other industry.
Particularly if you include the periphery, like make-up artists and stylists and Clem’s staff.
It’s what makes us so proud. Go Advertising, go!
As an ABC viewer and not an advertising person, I have to say I love this show.
It’s a fantastic glimpse into an industry full of clever people who seem to immerse themselves in projects others would find dull or trite, but their thinking is often original and attention grabbing. I like it. I like it a lot.
Oh, I forgot to mention, I also like the burly fellow with the black beard too.
Surely 30 seconds of Darryl Parsons on screen would be enough to invade. I’d sign up.
Droga5 ‘the best creative agency in Australia’ ?????They haven’t done one ad yet.
Sycophant.
Wel,l the Kiwi ‘s have slowly been invading us and getting the dole for years.
The ads a bit old school, but I love the idea of bribing aussies with a public holiday. We’d do anything for a day off. Good insight and funny.
The 100% idea is better. Take the NZ tourism ad and use it against them. It’s deffinately the winner.
7:50, you’re dumb.
I pissed myself. Best couple of ads I’ve seen on the show so far. And who doesn’t like beating the Kiwis?
A day off in it for you does it for me, I hope that one wins.
6:27 raises a good point. Why haven’t we seen the really high profile agencies on the show? There’s no difference between a hypothetical brief and a scam so DDB and JWT should do well. Pitch them against each other.
Well done Sledge, you’ve got my vote.
Public holiday is far better than 100%. Better thought. I’ll eat my layout pad if this is not the winner. Nice work Marmalade.
DDB was on the first show against JWC.
Just a little aside. I’m thinking the fuckwit (read “witless fuck”) who does the DDBoom crap is the same genius that does the “what does Monty think” crap. I reckon you must be the most popular kid in Digital mate!
http://creativity-online.com/?action=news:article&newsId=127962§ionId=cannes 08 funny article in creativty. about saatchi new york getting caught for a scam at cannes. could have been any agency but good to see someone getting outed.
Scam = fake. Scamming is deceiving. Scams create an impression that something is true when it is not. How clever is that!
Does this industry believe it’s perfectly fine to build a career on fake work?
Why not just steal someone else’s ideas and put then in your book.
Who is JWC?
JWC is Jack Watts Currie, headed publicly by Singo’s son Jack.
So JWC is like a fake, or scam of JWT.
6:22 You heard wrong.
Knob.
What a joke…. 100% ours should have definitely won.
Marmalade’s was too much like a VB ad..
So they talk about “going past the sheep jokes” yet they have sheep in there! Very shallow thinking.
It was nice to see something clever and original with the 100% ours ad.
The production was awesome.. look it up on youtube its so effective without the audiences laughter ruining the best bits!
Well done to 303.. They should have DEFINITELY won.. but who can turn down the patriotism in Marmalades.
How do you know who won 2:23? the result is released on tonight’s show.
You’re obviously from 303.
And no, I’m not from Marmalade.
I reckon DDBoom came from Droga5.
It’s a clever way of making everyone in the business hate DDB through viral marketing.
Nice thinking Droggs!
GOLD!
Yep good ads this week.
For me whale meat ‘Beef of the sea’ and the Invasion of NZ ‘There’s a day off in it for you’, are by far the best ads that have been on the show.
The brief was to ‘persuade’ Australians to get behind the invasion of NZ.
While the 100% ad looks okay, it just uses gags on the 100% device, it in no way persuades anyone to do anything at all. So it’s off brief and therefore failed before it even began. But hey, I’m a suit , I like it when creative is on brief.
Great ads. Love the 100%.
I like chicks.
And the worst on GRUEN to date…
“oh, we decided not to do an ad to promote celibacy, we decided to do a fashion brand instead, cos we’re such out-of-the-box arse bandits”…
Pure Gold at the National Pretentious Ponse Awards.
They both look like they have had big money thrown at them by the agencies involved. Which is funny because someone involved in an earlier episode told me there was only $700 in VO money available from the producers. Still in the win-anything-at-any-cost culture engendered by our own sense of collective creative inadequacy, it has got to be money well spent for the winner. If I were a client of either agency I would be phoning up first thing tomorrow to make sure they were planning to put just as much thought, effort and added-value into their everyday advertising for my brand.
Hey 9.48, you’ll remember that the fashion brand actually was the winner that week. Not a great week but it was voted the winner by those on the panel. Somehow.
Get over yourself 11:02. It’s a light entertainment show. Watch and enjoy. If you can’t watch and enjoy don’t watch.
From the Gruen Transfer blog here:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/poll/vote/total.htm
“The Pitch
Each week two of the advertising industry’s finest agencies are pitted against each other and tasked with selling the unsellable.
This week’s pitch is:
Which agency’s ad convinces us more that we need to invade New Zealand?
Results so far
Agency: Marmalade – Pitcher: Neil Mallet 29%
Agency: 303 – Pitcher: Jon McKie 71%
1395 votes counted”
Looks like 303 was robbed. East coast mafia closing ranks again?
I think the people speak for themselves, boys…
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/poll/vote/total.htm
69% of New Zealanders preferred the 303 Ad in the country’s Herald Newspaper poll…
Check out the people’s poll on Gruen ….1500 responses 71% preferred 303’s ad. In this mornings NZ Herald poll 69% of Kiwis preferred 303’s ad. Enough said!
9.18am . 11.02 is cleary trolliing for responses like this. Why else would they post such contrarian views on a blog so clearly populated by creatives? They must be laughing at the sincerity of your indignation
I hate everyone! Except chicks.
damn right! east coast mafia indeed!
Yeah! East Coast Mafia!
What the fuck are you little bitches on?!
Get your hand off it and stop making fools of yourselves, you pathetic cretins.
Did the WA 303 do the creative?
Bitch, bitch, bitch.
I was always taught to win with humility and lose with Dignity. They’re good values.
I just saw the pitch segment.
Bloody funny! Puts a new spin on the term, “I’d kill for a day off!”
I want to tell the nation that all the creatives here at 303 are locked to their seats after hours frantically voting for themselves on the Gruen Website. I thought the truth needed to be told.
Cleaner 303
Hi Cleaner 303,
I don’t blame them for doing that.
100% better commercial.
100% Dumb
100% first thought
100% not funny
We already invaded them with our Bio weapons.
Over here we call them Possoms.
Once they have conquered the trees we will send the Toads to take the land.
Soon it will be ours!
The right ad won. What Aussie wouldn’t get behind an extra day off?
Yeah, I agree. Making a satire of an existing ad ( especially a shit one like the NZ tourism) is a very obvious solution.
Think I might take the day off today.
naughty naughty saatchis
Australia should definately invaded on the Tuesday after Easter.
Then we could have five days off in a row. Ripper!!
Brilliant! For a country that gets a day off for a horse race. we should get a fucking week of for winning a war against the Kiwis.
Not sure about your logic, 4:49.
Against piss-weak opposition, it’s barely worth a smoko.
Anything for a day off. It’s the Aussie way. Doesn’t matter how piss weak. Better if they’re piss weak. Actually, anything for just an extra smoko.
This topic has gotten ridiculous coverage. It’s a joke. Or it’s very good PR by Denton.
Look at the Gruen website under the Pitch section. More than 9000 votes have been cast in favor of 100% . Over 7000 more then any other week.
SO SO SO OBVIOUS 303 are voting themselves up after some comments left on this blog. And I don’t blame them after putting all their efforts into the production and not a sound idea. Got to be seen doing something right for the clients sake.
BUT what great publicity The Day Off is getting over in NZ from a little fun advertising. It’s what great advertising is all about, creating a stir and getting noticed.
Anyway Marmalade, now I’ve talked you up can I have a job? I’ll call you next week. 🙂
The 303 ad was way better. Marmalade’s idea was funny, but that’s all – a nice joke. 303 actually made a great ad. Hell, I thought, why not? Let’s go for it. (NZ was at the original meeting of the Colonies to form the Australian Federation, but chickened out. So they really should be part of Australia anyway.)
Love the day off!
The best idea won.
It must hurt though, a large agency being beaten by a small agency.
Move on!
The idea that won on the night was voted for by 4 people (and Todd Sampson just said “I agree”). All of them work in advertising. As the brief was to get the Australian public to support an invasion, it’s their vote that counts. There has been a clear vote and a clear winner. Marmalade had their moment in the spotlight and good on them. Denton and the ABC should now give 303 the people’s choice award.
This is hilarious. It’s entertainment for a TV show people!
303 clearly have no real ads that they have created lately.
Very strange.
Hahahahahahahaaaaa!
I love the pitch segment on the Gruen Report. You get a winner and a loser. No Silver. No finalist. Just a winner and a loser.
Hey 12:45! If you haven’t figured out that all the votes for ‘100%’ were made by sore losing 303 staff (there is no other way to describe them), then you are truly stupid C###!.
You live in some wacky world, 12.45.
12:45, Not ‘the peoples choice’, don’t you mean 303’s choice?
“Look how clever I am I’m voting for my own ad, and know one will know”
Pathetic.
If by people’s choice you mean the staff of 303, then I’m sure someone can whip you up a perspex trophy for your labours.
You’re all dragging the fine 303 name through the mud.
Wow, this site can even argue about pretend ads.
Remember people, none of these ads were real – and if Rudd did decide to expand his ego even further with an invasion, no one would do an ad anything like either of these two to justify it.
It’s just FUN.
(Ah, fun… I remember that…)
Michelle, are you 12:45?
I reckon Drogba are too busy trying to crack the VB brief to want to get involved with kids stuff on the Gruen Transfer.
That particular golden egg might be turning into a poisoned chalice.
Nice mixed metaphor, 3:46. Would that be golden egg nog with a dash of weedkiller in that poisoned chalice?
Why don’t you all go and root a goat.
2:13, These ads aren’t pretend!
We worked really hard on the brief, we pulled favors, we told our clients to watch and our Mums too. And then… and then…oh shit!
4.20, or better still, a sheep
4:20. You can’t find a sheep at the moment, their all to busy online voting for the that Gruen shit.
Come on 4.49, that’s some atrocious grammar. If we’re making fun of fake ads, at least get it right.
Goats are a bit ugly but they try harder.
Goats have horns to hold onto, which is convenient, but sheep have a denser fleece, the importance of which can’t be overstated and is always nice to come home to. So fling with a goat, relationship with a sheep.
I knew a goat that tried to get a job at 303 but it was over qualified.
Gold!
Perspex!
Goat Head Wall Plaque!
Ha ha ha!
I win again!
A Gold, a Perspex and a Goats Head Plaque. Do they qualify for ‘The Work Book’?
If the Aussies are planning to invade NZ, then it will be wise to install condom vending machines in every sheep paddock.
Suck it up anonymouses. 303 are getting serious coverage all over the world on the back of this.
Reel ’em in 12.45. 100% too easy.
World coverage? Hahahahahaaaaa!
Love the show. Funny shit, shame real ads are not as funny.
100 p%sts
According to the SMH, 1 of the judges has changed her vote
New Zealander Bridget Taylor, a panellist on the show, said: “Suddenly a lot of people are talking about this.
“It has raised a few questions and made people think that if Australia really wanted to invade it wouldn’t be that hard. But most agree it would be too cold for soft Aussies to come here and have a barbecue outside.
“The funniest thing was the 100% ad which said that not only were they going to steal our country they are stealing our ads to do it.”
Don’t see anything changing come to think of it.
Must…clutch…at….straws…
100% imaginary vote change.
Boo fucking hoo!
We will dominate the world! We are 303 the greatest Advertising Agency ever!
I missed the show, which ad won?
Well, some agency I’ve never heard of won the night, but 303 will claim the people’s choice.
Must be hard to be beaten by an agency you’ve never heard of. The people they have there are consistent award winners. So you shouldn’t feel too bad for yourself, you came second.
It is hard. I’ve been crying for about 6 weeks now.