‘I hope Bunnings don’t come after me’: Bluey creator’s Hammerbarn fear
Bluey creator Joe Brumm has revealed he feared hardware giant Bunnings might sue him when he wrote the show’s now-iconic “Hammerbarn” episode.
Brumm, speaking at the Reset conference in Sydney yesterday, told the story of Bluey’s journey from a simple line-drawing on a pad of paper to the most-streamed show in the US in 2024.
Joe Brumm at Reset
The Queensland native said a highlight in the marketing of the show was the collaboration with Bunnings that saw seven of the hardware giant’s superstores in ANZ rebranded in February last year.
“When I wrote the Hammerbarn episode, which is my version of Bunnings, I just remember shitting myself ‘I’m gonna get sued’,” he said. “Like, ‘I hope Bunnings don’t come after me.’”
Far from suing, Bunnings saw the opportunity when approached by BBC Studios Director of Brands Kate O’Connor, who handled all Bluey’s marketing.
“She contacted a lot of the regional managers at Bunnings and it wasn’t getting anywhere. Eventually she went to the CEO,” he said. “It was a long time in the planning.”
“[The collaboration] never fails to spin me out,” Brumm said. “They changed their name to mine!”
Bluey was created by Brumm’s Ludo Studio as a co-commission between the ABC and the BBC. BBC Studios handles global distribution, and Disney acquired the international broadcasting rights a year after launch, in 2019.
Brumm said the Disney acquisition was vital to the show’s global success because of the promotional muscle the US entertainment giant could bring.
Look familiar? Bluey’s Hammerbarn
“What the streamers [like Netflix etc] couldn’t offer was an ecosystem where you could promote the show. With streamers, it’s very hard to advertise the show and to have it live in the interstitials. Disney could offer that. It’s been a really fantastic partnership.”
The situation improved further with the launch of Disney+.
“For me, this is fantastic. When it was on linear, they would package it up into lots of three, and they would cut the end credits off. That wasn’t ideal for the show. Whereas with streaming it was just individual episodes.”
The Bluey brand has proved to be one of Australia’s most impactful exports, with a big range of branded merchandise, a computer game and a stage play. The Bluey movie, due to be released in 2027, is now Brumm’s main focus following his decision to stop working on the show after the third series finale last year.
Speaking at Reset, Brumm said the Bluey movie would be made with 3D computer modelling, as opposed to the 2D TV series. He was tight-lipped about any plot points.
“It’s one of those ones where if you say one thing, it gives away the whole thing,” he said. “It is in 3D animation. That’s the biggest change. So the TV series is in 2D, this is in 3D and it’s an entirely new look for the movie, and I love it.”
“Someone at the BBC said it’s like I’m falling in love with the brand all over again.”
Marketing sage Mark Ritson described Bluey’s co-brand with Bunnings as “a very smart example of both co-branding and code play”. Writing in Marketing Week, he said that “the best bits of both brands rub off on each other, while playing with brand codes makes them more salient – but only because they’ve laid decades of groundwork.”
When asked for a comment on the success of the Bunnings co-brand, Brumm said “It starts with a good fit obviously … It seemed like an idea that should happen.”
I love how Joe included lots of Australian stuff like hammerbarn (Bunnings) ,Brisbane city and mount coot-tha it’s just so cool seeing QLD in Bluey, and it’s good for adults and children
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Please don’t make the movie hideous Joe. The 2D looks beautiful. WE NEED MORE 2D MOVIES!!!!!!
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