May 14

Two things hit me when I watch ABC’s ‘The Gruen Transfer‘.

First of all, it’s a reminder that people outside of the advertising industry don’t think about brands, advertising and marketing in the same way, or as consistently as we (and the guys on the show) do. That may not sound like much, but it’s pretty shocking for me to realise that for the last 12 years or so, I’ve been analysing and dissecting brand and marketing messages much more thoroughly than they are intended to be.  Probably explains how and why I have gravitated to this industry.

The second thing is just how old-guard and traditional they are. With the exception of Todd Sampson, the panelists are caricatures of advertising industry stereotypes.

But all this has been said before by people with more time and insight than me.

Last night was the episode where the ‘The Pitch’ segment challenged two agencies (JWT versus The Foundry) to sell Obesity to the general public. JWT stuck their tongues in their cheeks and called on fatties to up their consumption for the sake of the economy. While The Foundry decided to shock everyone into silence by drawing a parallel between massively, horrendously bigotted insults and a fat joke. Kind of off piste if you ask me.

My fingers are too cold in my breezy Elwood flat to rant coherently about it, so I’ll kick it bullet point style.

  • Obesity is NOT comparable in any way shape or form to being black, gay or Jewish
  • Discrimination against fat people is virtually non-existent. Was the trade in fat people for cheap/free labour abolished only last century? Were millions of fat people killed in death camps before and during WWII? Do fat people get beaten up and killed by marauding gangs of redneck teenagers? Bugger, I started to rant there.
  • Being fat is a choice (with the exception of glandular problems). Being black is not a lifestyle choice, nor is being gay, or Jewish. A fat person can change their situation and actually improve pretty much every aspect of their life, they wouldn’t be giving anything up, or going against their beliefs.

In a word “grrrrrr”.  I could go on.  But that wasn’t even the most offensive and ridiculous thing about last nights programme.

Did anyone else balk at Bridget Taylors little campaign extension idea? Let’s put a fit bird and an ugly bird on the Speight boat to the UK and see if we can get the Kiwi’s mate to knob the ugly one in the ultimate test of mateship?

Now I’m not ugly, or a woman, but I can imagine that ugly women face more discrimination and have fewer avenues to change their situations, especially when they shouldn’t have to. As always, it’s society that needs education and enlightenment, and let’s face it, a little more maturity and humanity. Perhaps ‘The Pitch’ challenge should’ve been to sell ‘Ugly’, but that might’ve dragged the attitudes of the panel, and TV-land in general, a little close to the sweaty and unforgiving spotlight.

Apr 16

I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life (well, a few weeks),

I could feel it coming into my bank last night.

Kevin Rudd’s handful of sweaty stimulus dollars. Given so that I may go forth and invigorate the Australian economy.

The day has arrived. A little note in my online banking alerted me to the fact that I was richer today than I was yesterday.

Well, I got straight on the case and went out a-stimulating.


Thanks Kevin! from Morgwn Shaw on Vimeo.

Apr 14

I try not to blog about TV.  I have been known to run around predicting its demise, so admitting that I saw something on TV, not to mention that I am thinking about something I saw? It damages my street cred. I can’t help feeling that something has to be said about the VB/Legacy Australia, Raise a glass campaign. The Raise a glass campaign is dirty and wrong. Word.

Let me clarify. Legacy is good. And beer is good, in moderation. But putting the two together for this campaign irks me.

For those that have not been assailed with this commercial, there are a few of them, but the concept is the same. Veterans of various wars sit and tell stories about a mate they lost. The ads end with the viewer being urged to raise a glass to our fallen heroes. And then you’re driven to the website where VB try to sell you a slab with a specially printed thingo on it, with a view to raising a million bucks for Legacy.

I feel a little dirty for complaining about this, but I think it’s justified.
Do we not have a problem with binge drinking and alcohol abuse in this country?
Do we not have problems with underage drinkers? And ‘at-risk’ demographics turning to alcohol at the expense of their friends, jobs and families?
Do veterans not struggle with alcohol abuse as they come to terms with the aftermath of their involvement in a conflict?
Hasn’t anyone at VB/Legacy’s agency ever listened to Khe Sanh?

Alcohol is wrongly used as a means to dull pain. Whether it’s plain old civilian pain, or the result of mental scarring that armed combat can bring.

And along comes VB and tells us to ‘Raise a glass’ to fallen heroes. They’ve twisted a negative association into a positive action by shoe-horning in some veterans. And they’re hoping that the message is ‘cleaned-up’ by our grateful feelings towards both the fallen and the non-fallen heroes.

Can I tell you something? It didn’t work.

People drink to excess because of exactly the message you’re pushing on us. Loss, hurt, pain? Raise a glass! Raise another one! We’re giving you an excuse to keep going at it as well. And a warm, fuzzy feeling because a couple of bucks went to a charitable and decent organisation. Your carton even has a specially printed thingo on it.

Maybe the pretty printed thingo will jog your memory as to why you got annhialated on VB last night? Why your liver hates you, your mouth tastes like a pub floor and your brain feels like it was squeezed into a skull three sizes too small for it. And the warm fuzzy feeling might get you through the morning ’till the Berocca kicks in.

Hell, that would be a better campaign than Raise a frickin’ glass.

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