Comments on: ABC pulls Gruen Transfer segment

By: Henryk

Henryk — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:22:57 +0000

Clare Easton
14 May 09
4:05 pm …hear hear!!

By: Lynchy

Lynchy — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:35:45 +0000

Several CB Bloggers have pointed out that the spot is rather similar to a commercial created by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney for the United Nations six years ago. It was Nobby’s first spot as CD of Saatchi’s and was directed by Tim Gibbs. http://www.campaignbrief.com/2.....amili.html

By: anothermous

anothermous — Tue, 19 May 2009 05:11:49 +0000

Excellent point Kitty…. when all is said and done targeting through the mass medium of TV exposes this message to not only those whose opinion it could change it has the potential to add currency to the bigotry of those who never will by giving them a chuckle at some lame old jokes along the way

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:34:29 +0000

I thought the ad was terrible, it needed a Kiwi joke…

By: Kitty

Kitty — Sat, 16 May 2009 07:00:04 +0000

Personally I can clearly see that the ad was using those jokes as a medium to get across a message, one that I feel totally justifies the use of offensive material.
I would like to point out, however, that sadly many many Australians would watch that ad and say ‘hehe…hehe…FAT CHICKS ARE UGLY’. The people who really need to get the message of this ad are exactly the people who’s pathetic brains couldn’t possibly comprehend the real point the makers were trying to communicate. The whole point of an ad is that it gets a message across to a specific group of people – this ad would fail to do that.
I would also like to ad my own personal view on obesity – I have no sympathy for fat people. Young, old, ones with a family history of obesity, even ones with medical conditions. No. Sympathy. At. All. My mother is fat, and I have no sympathy for her (in that respect). Eat better, do more exercise. Stop whining, for the love of all things holy, and do your bit for the health system and the planet – lose weight. If offensive fat jokes is what it takes to get you to wake up to yourselves then so be it. Btw, have you ever seen a fat vegetarian or vegan? Think about that.

By: Henryk

Henryk — Sat, 16 May 2009 06:27:06 +0000

Oooohhhhhh….I can see why the clean minded purists in the ABC didn’t let it go to air.

By: Bret Treasure

Bret Treasure — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:44:37 +0000

A very good piece of management by Dalton et al under pressure in my opinion. Airing the ad and the panel discussion on the net has allowed a conversation about the issues to play out. Evidence of the benefit to society in having multiple forms of media.

Adam says you can hear these sorts of jokes in a pub but putting them on TV gives them them oxygen and a veil of acceptability. The backlash that would follow would draw a lot of attention to the issue but at the cost of offending a lot of people.

I think the ad could be effective on TV if the other discriminatory jokes do not deliver a punch line – only use the punch line in the fat joke. But this version belongs on the Internet.

By: Nick B

Nick B — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:02:14 +0000

What a pathetic, politically correct world we live in where you can’t even tell a sick joke anymore. I personally find that fat joke funny. Humour is mostly about shock so it’s often the most shocking jokes that are the funniest. Does anybody remember the ‘baby’ jokes of the 80s? Of course they would never have aired on the TV but at least we can (and will continue to) tell some really sick jokes in privacy. As far as I can see, free speech has gone backwards over the last decade because the human psyche is becoming weaker by the minute. I would have let the Gruen segment air because it is not offensive when taken in context.

Sticks and stones people, sticks and stones.

By: The Foundry’s banned anti-discrimination ad: a seminal moment in Australian ads « Marketing is a dirty word

Fri, 15 May 2009 01:36:12 +0000

[...] to weigh in on the Foundry’s anti discrimination ad when I first read the post about it on mumbrella the other day, simply because I knew there’d be plenty of others commentating on it. However, [...]

By: Clare Easton

Clare Easton — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:27:31 +0000

Hear, hear matt!

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:12:35 +0000

Shai,

How is this offensive to those groups?
The ad does not condone, it condemns the discrimination of these people.

By: Clare Easton

Clare Easton — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:05:28 +0000

Shai.
The ad is offensive to those groups of people it a) they have already put themselves in that category, and b) if they interpret the spoof to be a literal dig at them and not an attempt to disseminate the injustices of our society, and the lack of basic human rights. It was not sponsored, it was not made by an racist or otherwise socially inacceptible group.

Clearly we live in communities that fails to address issues of discrimination (whatever shape or size it is)- therefore we cannot put this to rest and move on. That would be a clear indication of denial of the oppressive nature of our society, and thus be contributing to the very discrimination that this ad was appealing to.

By: MKS

MKS — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:59:24 +0000

Would just like to know if Adam Hunt has actually watched the Gruen Transfer, and whether he knows the context of the show???

By: Shai

Shai — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:36:34 +0000

The ad is offensive to fat people, blacks, homosexuals and jews – end of story… terrible ad – terrible concept and terrible by the show to put these agencies in this position….

what a joke….

let’s move on and not give this topic anymore air…

By: Clare Easton

Clare Easton — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:53:41 +0000

How does advertising work? How does it work on us?
For information to get from sender to receiver it needs to be A. relevant. B. Organised and C. Entertaining or engaging.

So, are we more likely to think about discrimination because of this ad rather than the more soft approaches to addressing the issue.

It’s a bit like the smoking ads and the TAC ads – confronting!