Checkout the copycats

The Mumbrella video made me think that the packaging was not that similar… but then The Checkout video made me think they were very similar…

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Dear Marcus,

As one of the EPs of the new consumer affairs series The Checkout (ABC1 8.00pm Thursdays) it’s worth saying that we had no idea that Mumbrella had done a piece on this. Our background research on the issue, and the idea for the segment came from our meetings with Choice over the last 3 or more years. Indeed anyone with mild observational skills would have seen this in the supermarket themselves. And when there are 2 products that look the same, the best way to demonstrate it is to put them next to each other. Nothing original in that.

Indeed, I’m sure there are other areas we will be covering in The Checkout that some one else has opined upon. That doesn’t mean we have copied the other piece or even seen it.

So not unethical at all, but thanks for the coverage none-the-less.

Cheers

Nick Murray
EP The Checkout

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First time I’ve ever seen The Checkout and that will be the last – what an appallingly amateur effort from the ABC!

I had to check the blurb twice to realise this is shown at 8pm, I honestly would have thought from the clip that this was some afternoon educational show for kids!

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Ripped or not (although I didn’t see any copyright notice on mum’s video), surely the fact that the checkout is providing a wider audience with the facts is a good thing, especially for our industry.

I can’t count how many clients are going broke because the two giant supermarket / petrol / hotelier / gambling conglomerates are forcing them to provide a generic to said supermarket at a reduced rate – canabalising their own brands and resulting in losses for their business. Some are threatened tobe replaced by cheaper Asian generic imports if they don’t comply, and others are slugged with a massive ‘advertising fee’ if they want to be featured on the shelves anywhere near head height, or want to remain on the shelves at all.

As they go broke, the ad industry goes broke (which means less latte sipping wankers in Bondi so there are some positives to that), but as the ad industry goes broke, the media industry goes broke, meaning blogs about the media will end up limited to reporting on what’s happening on the ABC – for which there’s already media watch.

I fully support what these guys are doing because the faster our farmers, factories and brands disappear, the faster our economy becomes reliant on volatile external forces beyond our control – not a good thing.

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You should spend less time caring about whether someone is making a point you’ve made previously and more about the value of their argument. In this industry surely you appreciate that awareness comes from repetition and someone with the same opinion as you means you’re on the same side.

The losers in this debate will be the consumers/us when there is only ONE brand of peanut butter and it’s double the price because competition fell off the shelf though undercutting.

Also, how sad that farmers are being bullied into selling produce at ridiculous rates, while a big fat CEO sits behind his desk with his Montblanc Fountain signing cheques bigger then our yearly salary.

seriously.

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For a baby creative you make a very mature point BC.

As for you Jack B Nimble, despite the fact that you’ve only seen the clip above, you see fit to you criticise the show, commenting that you think it looks like a kid’s show…well, with your nursery rhyme name perhaps you should know.

My view having watched a couple of episodes is that it provides basic consumer protection information which would have extremely low awareness among Australians young and old, and furthermore brings valuable attention to a few retail offenders. Yes, it’s a simple presentation but the graphics are good. What’s not to like?

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