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The Gruen Transfer Season 3
As the ABC website informs us the Gruen
Transfer is a phenomenon whereby a shopper, upon entering a brightly lit
department store, is so overwhelmed by an array of intentionally
disorientating cues such as bright lights and carefully designed spacial
layouts that they ‘lose control of their critical decision making
processes.’
The eponymous series, now in its third
season (where does the time go?) takes a look at this and such other
modern concepts which dominate the world of advertising, such as the
psychology of marketing, the wonders of branding and brand recognition
and the array of crafty techniques involved in targeting products at
particular demographics.
Each week host Wil Anderson is joined by a
panel of advertising industry experts, who explore the world of
advertising and marketing through such fun, self-evident segments as How
Do You Sell?, What’s Wrong With This Ad? and What Is This Ad For?, which
involves Anderson screening the beginning of a commercial then asking
his panel to identify which product the ad is trying to sell.
The show’s concept has now been sold to
production companies in numerous other countries including the UK,
France, South Africa and France, and it isn’t hard to see why; The
Gruen Transfer is a highly successful, deeply entertaining (if
occasionally heated) look at this increasingly pervasive art of media
manipulation, commercialisation, globalisation and consumer psychology.
Season 3 consists of 12 episodes, each of
which focuses on a particular product or topic such as Shaving,
Religion, Milk and Masterchef. Diverse, funny and always
informative, the show then provides a unique deconstruction of some of
that area’s most iconic and current marketing campaigns, providing
plenty of humour along the way. The end result is a must-see for anyone
involved in sales or marketing, and a fascinating exploration at some of
the techniques both insidious and overt that are constantly being used
to encourage the populace to buy, buy, buy.
Special Features
None, though most of the episodes are
evidently extended from the version which screened on the ABC.
Audio & Video
Nothing much to report here either; the
16:0 anamorphically enhanced transfer comes up a treat, and the Dolby
Digital 2.0 audio is perfectly respectable as well. |
