- 2 days ago
Gruen - Season 18 Episode 1
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TVTranscript
00:18G'day, I'm Will Anderson and welcome to Grim.
00:21Are you ready for the greatest show of all time?
00:26Nah, not this show. A new reality program from Vaseline. Tell them Tyra.
00:30It's Tyra here at the Afterglow. I've been given a mission by Vaseline to find eight
00:35shimmering singles ready to find their match. It's got all the drama you love.
00:40We're just chatting.
00:41And at the end, only one couple will be crowned the glowiest.
00:45Glow my God. Which couple will be crowned the glowiest?
00:49Wait, does Vaseline have any products that could help?
00:51In this box, there are some tools to help you raise your girl's heart rate, including
00:55Vaseline Cocoa Radiant, made with 100% cocoa butter.
00:59My heart's beating faster just thinking about it.
01:01Oh. Mine too, Tyra.
01:06Vaseline has been by Glow 2 YouTube channel for years for reasons I'd prefer not to say.
01:12But this series has everything. Eight singles, four body oils and one massive fan.
01:20Me.
01:22I'm a glow bro.
01:24And all these greased up horn bags have exciting jobs like content creator, playboy, heartthrob
01:32and situationship survivor.
01:36My favourite part is the eliminations, or to put it a more Vaseline-y way.
01:39You are all going to vote on which couple is less glowing and more going.
01:44Oh.
01:45I can't wait to find out which couple is less glowing and more going.
01:49Who's oiled and who's spoiled?
01:50Who's slopped and who's chopped?
01:52Who's creaming and who's dreaming?
01:54Who's coated and who's outvoted?
01:56Who's greased and who's released?
01:59Who's oozing and who's losing?
02:01Who will be lubricated and who will be eliminated?
02:04Who will be slathered in discharge?
02:05And who will be sent home with a cab charge?
02:08Yay!
02:11Oh, yes!
02:17That was longer than an episode of Afterglow.
02:20But each one minute episode feels so much longer, thanks to slick Vaseline product placement.
02:27Before we begin, let's have each of you apply some Vaseline body oil to amp up the glow.
02:32This is going to get really slick.
02:33No, see?
02:34It absorbs really fast.
02:35It's not greasy.
02:38It's a little greasy.
02:40But don't worry, I'm not going to spoil the finale.
02:42Okay, yes I am.
02:44And the Glowgy goes to Elky and Elliot and who doesn't want a bedazzled Vaseline bottle?
02:50I've got mine.
02:52I've got mine.
02:55It came with my official Afterglow merch.
03:00Let's see what else is in here.
03:02Oh, good.
03:05Oh.
03:08Well, that's just loose Vaseline.
03:15Oh, that was gross.
03:20It's going to seem like...
03:2918 years.
03:34Well, if they make a second season, I know who they should cast.
03:38Glow off kids.
03:43It's time to welcome our panel, Todd Sampson,
03:48Kieran Peet-Fordor,
03:49Karen Ferry and Russell Algon.
03:59Hey, have you ever noticed that the letter W sounds like the words W?
04:06Well, for nearly 44 years, Westpac didn't, but now they have.
04:10And they're doubling down.
04:11It takes a little W.
04:14Just think of the things you could do.
04:16Double me?
04:18If instead of just one, you were double you.
04:23You'd have double the hands and double the legs.
04:26Double the heart and double the heads.
04:29Oh, well, we could start and what would you do if instead of just one...
04:34You okay, kiddo?
04:35We're fine.
04:36More W.
04:37We're not you.
04:37But when it comes to banking, we can be your W.
04:41Great.
04:42Now they can rip me off twice.
04:45And I can't wait until they find out about big W.
04:49Surprisingly, for an ad with so many redheads,
04:52this campaign has a huge outdoor presence,
04:54including this ad that asks if you could W,
04:58what would you two do?
04:59Ooh, great question.
05:01What would we two do?
05:02This is what we two would do.
05:08Ooh, double well.
05:12Westpac, make a deposit.
05:22We had some spare Vaseline.
05:25Russell.
05:28Russell.
05:28Russell, WTF.
05:30Well, you know, Will, I like advertising, Will.
05:32Yeah.
05:33But when I...
05:34Okay, Russell's back.
05:37When I first saw this, I just thought...
05:39I honestly thought this is the most convoluted nonsense I've ever seen.
05:43It literally...
05:44I couldn't believe that they'd had this, you know, brainwave,
05:48you know, on a whiteboard to say,
05:49oh, my goodness, you know how your logo looks like this?
05:52Well, that actually is pronounced a W,
05:53and therefore we're going to say your customer is your double U,
05:57and we are going...
05:58You just go...
05:59What convoluted nonsense that is.
06:03But then I sort of thought about it.
06:05Oh, God, you've got...
06:06You've got to come right on this now?
06:09Yeah.
06:10And I had a conversation with other Russell.
06:14Exactly.
06:15Yeah.
06:17And he reminded me, you love advertising.
06:20And this is advertising, so you must love this advertising.
06:24Right.
06:24So why do I now love it?
06:26Well, what's going to happen is...
06:28Well, it's going to work.
06:29And why would it work?
06:30Well, the number one hurdle that you have in all advertising
06:33is just...is attribution.
06:34It's very hard to ensure that your piece of advertising
06:37is attributed to the brand.
06:39So what Westpac's doing is, in fact, what ComBank does.
06:42They have a...you know, they've got their, you know, diamond,
06:44their yellow diamond.
06:45Yeah, they have a shape.
06:47And the NAB, they've got a star.
06:48They've now decided that their star is their, you know,
06:51their ability to differentiate their bank versus the other banks.
06:54And then Westpac's decided that the W is the bit
06:57that differentiates it.
06:57Like, obvious, duh,
06:59and yet they haven't done it for 44 years.
07:01So it's going to work at that level.
07:03The other level where it's going to work
07:04is that the reality is, as time goes on,
07:07our relationship with the bank will, in fact,
07:09in effect be like a W,
07:10in that it will be AI-driven on our phone
07:13and that AI app will know you will.
07:16It will know you very well.
07:17So I feel like they're on this pathway
07:19where it's going to make sense for them.
07:21And then if you start looking at the shorter work
07:23that they're doing,
07:24you can see that that is where they're taking this communication.
07:29So, yeah, I've moved on.
07:30I actually think it's going to work.
07:31I wouldn't call it brilliant.
07:32I would still call it convoluted nonsense,
07:34but it is going to work.
07:35Yeah.
07:36I mean, just putting aside the play on the W,
07:39what I find...
07:39But how can you?
07:40I know.
07:41I know.
07:41You can imagine how this is going to spin off, right?
07:43Double fees, double queues, double time.
07:47But put that aside.
07:48The thing I find cheeky about it is that,
07:51you know, Westpac is basically,
07:54the insight here is saying we're all overwhelmed.
07:57We're overwhelmed so much in life
07:58that we need another person,
08:00we need another one of us to cope.
08:02But their solution to that modern overwhelm
08:04is another you.
08:06It's not lower fees.
08:08It's not more branches.
08:09It's not better service.
08:11It's another you.
08:12I mean, it's either hubris or incredible oversight.
08:17Well, it's a massive either claim.
08:19It's definitely an either claim.
08:21You know what it's like?
08:21It's like going to a mechanic with an engine problem
08:24and them saying,
08:25have you ever thought about getting two cars?
08:28No, it's not.
08:29Yes, it is.
08:32I don't think it is, Todd, anyway.
08:34Karen?
08:35It is really confusing, right?
08:36Like, if their insight is that we are time poor
08:40and overwhelmed, why would you demand to make an ad
08:43that audiences have to use so much mental energy to understand?
08:46I think the insight's correct.
08:48I think the way they executed it was really badly.
08:51And also, like, we're in this place where people
08:55are really serious about money at the moment.
08:57There's cost of living.
08:58There's housing crisis.
09:00There's also, like, intergenerational wealth gap.
09:02Westpac has a heritage of being the serious brand.
09:05You know, they went from, like, helicopters
09:06and Australians helping each other to this sort of place,
09:09and it's like they could stand out from the rest of the competitors
09:12and actually talk, like, two adults in a room,
09:14let's talk about your money problems,
09:15where instead they've created this Pleasantville
09:17with this, like, Mumford and Sons kind of soundtrack,
09:19and it's all just very nice.
09:22And the thing is, like, nice is a biscuit.
09:24It's a biscuit that no-one wants to eat.
09:26It's covered in sugar.
09:26It's the boring one that's in the tin.
09:28No-one wants nice.
09:29Nice doesn't stand out.
09:30Nice has no teeth.
09:31Like, nice doesn't...
09:32You don't remember nice.
09:34Well, I think this will be remembered, though, Karen.
09:37Well, first, full disclosure,
09:39I work on one of the competitions, so...
09:41But I also am very familiar with financial services as a category,
09:45and I agree with you, the insight is around this, you know,
09:48financial struggle that everyone's kind of going through,
09:50but that's not just for the financial services category.
09:52It's across multiple categories.
09:53And the risk is when everyone's dealing with the same insight
09:57that they're trying to respond to, you start to sound the same.
09:59And back in 2018, NRMA and Westpac were both saying we're helping, right?
10:06Help was their big platform.
10:07So I kind of understand where they're coming from of going,
10:10we're just going to build something ownable.
10:12So when we spend 25% more on our media budgets this year,
10:16at least it's not some generic thought.
10:19It's something that at least people will go,
10:21OK, it's that colour, it's our word, it's everything around that.
10:26So I understand it from that perspective.
10:28And I do also give kudos to the fact that going after some custom music.
10:32The thing that's happening in the world now, in the ad world,
10:34is this notion of distinctive assets.
10:36Everyone's obsessed with their distinctive asset.
10:38And so they get excited in the boardroom because they can say,
10:41you know what your distinctive asset is?
10:42It's your logo.
10:44All right?
10:44And so...
10:45And we're going to put an idea into the logo,
10:47the idea being W,
10:49and then we're going to double down on W,
10:51and you watch what happens.
10:52The attribution, Todd,
10:53the attribution of this advertising is going to be out of this world.
10:57Russell, I can't believe I'm saying this,
10:58but I think you should stick with your gut instinct.
11:02That it was convoluted rubbish.
11:03I know it's convoluted rubbish.
11:05It is convoluted rubbish.
11:06Stop there, then.
11:07No, no.
11:08But this is...
11:09But the other Russell's like,
11:10come on!
11:14We started the show in the afterglow,
11:16but if you've been to Woolies lately,
11:17you know how it feels to not use lubrication.
11:22Everyday Rewards is Woolies' loyalty program slash spying system,
11:26and its new ad is checking you out at the checkout.
11:29I'll get this.
11:31Sweet.
11:32So close to getting $10 off.
11:34Oh, don't forget to scan.
11:36Let me see you scan that
11:38Let me see you scan that
11:40Let me see you scan that
11:41Let me see you see me scan that
11:44Let me see you scan that
11:45Let me see you see me see him see us scanning that
11:58Oi! Mind your business, baby.
12:00If your parents knew how to scan a condom, you wouldn't be here.
12:06The Everyday Rewards ad has almost as many half-off signs
12:10for their loyalty programs as there are security cameras,
12:12making sure you're really loyal.
12:14But I love that tune.
12:16It's actually my second favourite Woolies song
12:18after this one I saw on Rage.
12:21I love stealing from Woolies, I love stealing from Woolies,
12:24I love stealing from Woolies, I do better f***ing day.
12:28Real song.
12:31Real actual song.
12:33Karen, what do you think of that ad?
12:36You know, it's very fun and very un-Woolworth.
12:39I think that's great.
12:40Like, when was the last time you saw anyone having a good time in Woolies?
12:42Because I think the thing is, we know that they're, along with Coles,
12:46are the big bad, but unfortunately they're a necessary evil
12:49for a lot of people who can't be able to shop anywhere else.
12:53And we're in this really interesting position
12:55where people don't really want an apology for them anymore
12:57because we know that they're still going to do the same things
13:00that they've done before.
13:01So, if they're going to slap me in the face,
13:03we might as well have a good time with it, right?
13:05Like, let's just have some fun.
13:06Like, drop this sort of salt-of-the-earth,
13:09earnest farmer shtick that they have going on
13:11and actually just make ads that are fun and funny.
13:14Like, we know from research that 72% of people
13:17will be more likely to buy from a brand that is funny
13:20than one that is boring.
13:21And I think that's where Woolies are pivoting to
13:24when we see work like this.
13:26Isn't it great that we're now singing the action?
13:28Let me see you scan that.
13:29Let me see you scan that.
13:30Right?
13:31So, usage is everything.
13:33So, advertising designed to get you actually using.
13:36This...
13:36I actually really love this.
13:38I love the soundtrack.
13:40I love the use of, you know, let's call it a jingle,
13:43in that it's, you know, they're driving usage into my brain,
13:45which is always the trick to jingles.
13:48It's very hard to...
13:48You've got to watch it, right?
13:50And I particularly love the older woman
13:52with her fantastic little move.
13:53Yeah.
13:54It's weird to see how, like, these supermarkets
13:57are selling surveillance and data collection
13:59and how they're sort of repositioning
14:01that it's not surveillance, it's helping you.
14:03So, nobody says,
14:05would you like to be in a long-term behavioural monetisation program
14:08that's going to mine your data for their profit
14:10for the next 20 years?
14:12What they say is, would you like $3 off dog food?
14:15And we go, yeah, because they know two simple things.
14:18Immediate rewards are valuable,
14:20and with the law of reciprocity,
14:21when they give us something,
14:22we are willing and often give something back to them.
14:26And what I find disturbing about this ad
14:30is that it's almost honest.
14:32Because it is creepy that they're watching us all the time.
14:36And whether they're doing this unwittingly or not,
14:39they're sort of normalising this idea
14:41that collecting our data is kind of funny,
14:44and it's OK, and it's really great,
14:46and we should collect as much as possible
14:48so they can mine it for their benefit.
14:50And the future of that is not just,
14:53oh, when you walk in, you know,
14:54it's going to pop up on your phone saying,
14:56here's your shopping list.
14:57The future of that is going to be,
14:58well, it's happening already,
14:59which is surveillance pricing.
15:01So, they're going to know you well enough.
15:03So, the future is not how much does this product cost.
15:06It is how much are you willing to pay.
15:08And that's where it's all going.
15:10That's a potential...
15:11That is a potential future.
15:13That is a highly likely future.
15:15Well, no, that is a potential future,
15:17which probably will require legislation to not let happen,
15:20because that must not be allowed to happen.
15:21But this normalises it.
15:23This kind of makes fun of it.
15:25It's still remarkable how willing we are
15:28to give all our data for an equal reward.
15:31So, the reward is often one point for $1.
15:34So, it takes $2,000 of groceries
15:36to get one pan on your reward system.
15:39Yeah, it's a great piece of advertising, though, isn't it?
15:41LAUGHTER
15:44Both Russells in firm agreeance.
15:47I think what they've done that's really interesting
15:50is they've set this ad in a point
15:52where most people find pain in the shopping journey,
15:55which is the price point, right?
15:57It's when you're paying and you're being like,
15:58how much am I going to lose this week?
16:00It's also in the part of the shops
16:02where, when we used to go shopping,
16:04you'd go to a cashier, you'd have a chat,
16:06you'd wait in queue,
16:07you might talk to the people around you
16:08because you're there for, like, five, ten minutes
16:10at the cashiers.
16:11Now, in that cattle call self-service bit,
16:14you're surrounded by human beings
16:16and you have no human contact
16:17and you feel very detached.
16:18And so, they've shown us
16:20what we have not realised we miss the most
16:23from things they've changed in the past five years
16:26is human interaction and community.
16:29This is a bunch of strangers cheering each other on
16:31for saving money.
16:32Remember feeling happy?
16:33My research team assures me that some people do.
16:36For the rest of us,
16:39McDonald's has a new meal.
16:41Good luck going after our fans.
16:42We have a hundredth meal at McDonald's.
16:44McDonald's.
16:45You mean.
16:45Saja Boy's breakfast meal.
16:47Ours has ten chicken McNuggets.
16:49Ours has hash breast.
16:51Hash brown.
16:52No-y.
16:52It's a battle for the fans.
16:53For our grown-up fans.
16:55Kids will love that,
16:56but they can't have it.
16:58According to the fine print,
16:59it cannot be distributed or redeemed
17:01by a child under 15 years.
17:04Why?
17:04Because it has cool adult stuff,
17:07like playing cards and special purple sauce,
17:10which, since it's adults only,
17:12I can reveal is made of grimace jizz.
17:25Can't wait to try it.
17:27Oh.
17:28It's going to be good.
17:30Oh, wow.
17:31That smells real bad.
17:33Yeah?
17:33Is it really purple?
17:35Yeah.
17:36Do you want to try it?
17:36I'm going to try it.
17:37It's had my finger in it.
17:38It's all right.
17:38It might taste a little like Vaseline.
17:40Exactly.
17:42Wow.
17:43Do you want a stick?
17:44Yeah.
17:45It's actually purple.
17:45It's purple.
17:46Do you want a little...
17:47No, yeah.
17:48Oh, okay.
17:49That is...
17:50You know what I...
17:51You know what I...
17:54Grimace has had asparagus.
17:59Well done.
18:01Oh, God.
18:02That is disgusting.
18:05Oh, God.
18:08Oh, yeah.
18:09Mmm.
18:10I'm loving it.
18:14Kieran, is this just the way to make Happy Meals more expensive?
18:18With McDonald's and Huntrix and the K-pop Demon Hunters,
18:22I think there's two parts to it.
18:23There's the part around McDonald's,
18:25which used to be known as this fast food chain, right?
18:28And now they're not cheap, so that's a big difference.
18:31Coffee is a lot cheaper at your local cafe
18:34rather than go to McDonald's at the end of the day.
18:36And it's also not the fastest option.
18:38So there's those unfunctional things that you used to make it
18:41the place to go to get that meal that you wanted,
18:43not necessarily a thing that you're going for anymore.
18:45So they're trying to build these emotional connections.
18:47They're trying to get you connected through passions and partnerships.
18:50This strategy works for a lot of brands.
18:51They've always done this.
18:53For this particularly, why Huntrix, it has been a huge phenomenon.
18:58Now, in order to really look at if this is going to be effective,
19:01you kind of need to look at the original strategy.
19:03Is this something to really, like, make them land forever
19:06and really grow forever?
19:07No, this is probably not their long-term strategy.
19:09They've got the monopolies and those bits and pieces
19:11and those partnerships that come in regularly
19:13and build that longer-term growth.
19:15But what they're doing is they're dipping into these cultural insights,
19:18these moments in time, right?
19:20So they just did Friends, they did a few other ones,
19:23and they've got them changing all the time.
19:24And Netflix capturing something that has an audience
19:28that goes from kids to adults, I think it's really smart.
19:32That cultural moment in time,
19:33what's everybody else paying attention to?
19:35And I think K-pop Demon Hunters is also so creative.
19:39Like, that's what's let them do really interesting things with us.
19:41I know that that sauce is disgusting,
19:43but I think it's still let them do really interesting things
19:45with what the actual product in the Happy Meal looks like,
19:48even though it's expensive.
19:48Can I ask Todd a question?
19:49Oh, yeah.
19:51Why not?
19:51Let's do it in a new format.
19:52You don't need me.
19:55I'm just wondering whether...
19:57I'm just wondering whether that animated fella
19:59with his six-pack of hashbrowns,
20:02whether that makes you want a hashbrown.
20:05What?
20:07Your licence to ask questions is rebuttal.
20:16So what's really interesting is instead of trying to compete in price,
20:20they're competing on a reason to actually shop there.
20:22And so what they're selling here is the reason why they can charge more
20:25is because they're not selling food.
20:26They're selling a fan experience.
20:28And this is your ticket into entering the world of K-pop Demon Hunters.
20:32So you've got this premium packaging.
20:34It's a bigger box.
20:35But then you also have the unboxing, right?
20:37And then you've got your blind collectibles where everybody wins.
20:40But then also you have an Instagrammable, socially shareable food moment.
20:44So in some previous ones, it's like a crazy shake.
20:46In this one, it is the purple sauce.
20:47Oh, OK.
20:48Where if you, like me, not a huge fan of K-pop Demon Hunters,
20:51but being like, I want to try the purple sauce,
20:53it's a small upgrade risk to do something that's a little bit fun,
20:56you want to share it on socials.
20:58But also for younger audiences, younger as in being 15+,
21:02because that's who this is meant to be aimed at,
21:04you can do it with your friends.
21:06So you can go in, you can each buy it, see what you get.
21:08Because you're carrying that big, giant box,
21:11it becomes this, like, culturally cool thing
21:13where you aren't carrying the Macca's bag that your parents have.
21:15It's, like, something that you can signal to everyone,
21:17I'm really into this thing and, like,
21:20look at me with my K-pop Demon Hunters merch.
21:22With the K-pop Demon Hunters turning the McDonald's arches even more golden,
21:27we thought it was time we lit on our own ABC icon,
21:31beloved by kids all around the world.
21:33Hey, kids, do you love Bluey?
21:36Well, too bad.
21:38Introducing the Four Corners Adult Happy Meal.
21:40Each box includes a pack of six nuggets of Truth Live Explored.
21:45Right to you.
21:47And our limited edition anonymous sources,
21:50which we will never reveal.
21:52And don't forget your toy.
21:54It's a whistle.
21:55Go on.
21:56Blow it.
21:57The Four Corners meal.
21:58Because there's nothing to be happy about.
22:08To kick off the new season,
22:09we're racing right into the most controversial topic in the world right now,
22:13e-bikes.
22:15Which I believe are bikes from Israel.
22:19This week, we asked our agencies to make us love e-bike gangs.
22:23Here's the first pitch.
22:24Everyone is focused on the trouble out there.
22:27But disruption creates opportunity.
22:29It's just a matter of how you look at it.
22:30The people we celebrate today as heroes didn't often start out that way.
22:34They started out as trouble.
22:52Dance?
22:53My dramas, you'll make it.
23:18You have convinced me.
23:20Here's our next pitch.
23:21This brief was tough.
23:23Yeah, because we all have pretty special feelings towards e-bikes.
23:27But we did have the insight that we were all kids once too.
23:31And the stuff that we were doing and the people before us were doing
23:34was probably worse than zooming around on an e-bike.
23:37Every generation has their rebels.
23:41Outlaw.
23:44Troublemakers.
23:44This is kind of bad, isn't it?
23:46I suppose we're all bad now, right?
23:48Hippies.
23:49It's also a time of rebellion against the authority of the adult world.
23:53Dropkicks.
23:54I think those are dangerous.
23:55Slaggers.
23:56Losers.
23:57Idiots.
23:58Little shits.
24:00Worst nightmare.
24:04It could be worse.
24:08It's a rite of passage.
24:15Wow, you've convinced me.
24:16But what will our panel think, Todd?
24:18Which one do you prefer?
24:19I mean, I do agree that it's hard to take criminals
24:21with a low-carbon footprint seriously.
24:25So I'm going for two.
24:27Number two, what about you, Karen?
24:28Yeah, that's a clear number two for me.
24:30Karen?
24:31Number one made me laugh a lot,
24:33but I think the insight number two is stronger,
24:35so I'm going number two.
24:36Russell, you're the tiebreaker.
24:37Jessica?
24:43Live, love, live the earth.
24:46Which one did you like?
24:47Definitely two.
24:48Definitely two.
24:49OK, well, congratulations to Jack and Nimble.
24:52We will have a helmetless teenager race this over.
24:59If you're watching the ABC right now,
25:01chances are you're a godless communist.
25:04Well, have you heard the good news?
25:06There's a new app that promises to get you closer to God
25:09and hello be thy name.
25:11It's our time of year again.
25:12Hey, buddy.
25:13You leading Lent on Hallow this year?
25:14You bet, brother.
25:16Stay prayed up.
25:17Yeah, you know it.
25:18Hey, father.
25:19You joining Lent again this year?
25:21Of course.
25:22Stay prayed up.
25:23All right, father.
25:25Sister, you're joining us again on the app this year, right?
25:27I am, Mark.
25:28I can't wait to join you guys on Pray 40.
25:30I love it.
25:30Hey, Chris.
25:31Yo, what's up, Mark?
25:32You want to join us on Hallow this year?
25:34Join you on Hallow?
25:36I was hoping you'd ask.
25:38Yes.
25:38Stay prayed up.
25:39I'll stay prayed up.
25:40You said it.
25:40I love that.
25:42Can I say that?
25:43Check it out.
25:44Download Hallow today.
25:47Jesus cross.
25:52How did they get Jesus cross?
25:56Hallow is like grinder for God.
25:59For just $17 earthly dollars a month, Hallow offers prayer guides, tracks for your devotion,
26:05and if you miss a day, it'll kill your firstborn son.
26:09Love it.
26:10So far, Hallow has logged over a billion prayers and is fronted by holier-than-thou celebs like
26:16Gwen Stefani, who told me that she ain't no Hallowback girl.
26:23But when it comes to God, she has no doubt.
26:28I just hope it can help my friend, Mark, who seems to have a gambling problem.
26:31Let's not drop the world!
26:38And as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ always says, chances are you're about to lose.
26:45Todd, will we pay to pray?
26:47It's incredible, isn't it?
26:48Like salvation behind a paywall.
26:50I mean, it's just arguably, it's not surprising, but arguably God is the most successful brand
26:56in the world, and the church has been monetizing him for thousands of thousands of years.
27:01I think what's sort of, I guess, depressing is how they're doing it.
27:08So using an app, using a digital platform to do it.
27:12So for many people, they're getting anxiety and detachment and loneliness, issues because
27:18of technology.
27:19And once again, we're turning to the technology that makes us feel distracted to help us straighten
27:24out.
27:25And that, to me, is what's a bit off about this.
27:28I'm just shocked at, since when did religion become mainstream to talk about in ads?
27:33And so that, for me, is very surprising.
27:35I think we went through a big period of time where you just didn't see it.
27:38Now they're like taking Super Bowl ads out and they're doing big things with this.
27:41But it's clearly this ambition to go, okay, how do we make young people connect with faith
27:47again because that doesn't exist in a younger space?
27:49But I also think the delivery of that ad, the execution of it, was way too fake for me.
27:55Like, I think Mark Wahlberg was a choice, right?
27:58So they weren't using celebrity endorsements before they brought him on.
28:01And I actually read an interview with the CEO and co-founder where he said it was to
28:05attract an audience of lapsed Christians, but also the non-religious.
28:09So people who might be agnostic or God-curious and to get them in.
28:13Because we know that celebrity endorsements, people are more likely to buy a product if it
28:16is sold with celebrity.
28:18And what's really interesting is that audience of people who are unsure, this helps to reinforce
28:23with them, which all humans have, is that we're looking for like-minded people to reinforce
28:28our worldviews so that we can think that it is right.
28:30So when you're seeing your, like, group of bros like Chris Pratt and Mark Wahlberg and
28:34a bunch of other religious people all on there doing it, you're like, ah, I've made the right
28:39choice in choosing this religion or doing this every day, which is really an interesting
28:44sort of thing that works, but also, like, the app, even though, you know, as you were
28:48saying, it's like using that when people have an app addiction, it's actually borrowing a
28:51lot of behaviour that people have online and using it.
28:55So in the Hello app, you can have, like, Bible sleep stories, calm meditations, I think, like,
29:02there's calm readings, and things that people are already downloading apps for and using.
29:07But also the behaviours of religion are often time-based and ritual-based, and your phone supports
29:12that. So you've got calendars, you've got timers, you've got notifications, you can even
29:16have, like, audio playing, so you can listen to the Bible while you're driving.
29:20Interesting, isn't it? Is the objective of Hello to actually get people into, you know,
29:25to practice religion and go to church and, you know, and practice how they go about their
29:31life in a different way, or is it because they want to get the subscription?
29:34I think it's a subscription. This is a replacement of church. They're not being like, hey, do some
29:40of our 40 days of Lent and go to church every Sunday. This is your church. You've got a father
29:44on there, you've got a nun on there, you've got everything you need. They're actually,
29:47it's really interesting because this is privately owned, it is competing against the church on
29:52the basis of religion.
29:53And that's the issue I have with it. I think in most cases you can get away with your, you
29:57know, who you're using as your celebrity ambassador. But in this case, I think it's not cool of them
30:02not to show that he's an investor in the company. That, that's a bit like, come on. You are,
30:08you have equity in the thing that you're selling on behalf of God that you're going to make
30:13money from. It's a nice logo. That was a beautiful pivot by you. I love that. Todd got a bit
30:22serious
30:23and you were like, logo nice? Heather Russell whispering in your ear, logo nice, logo nice,
30:31say the logo's nice. Surely that line though, that line, I can't stand that line. Stay prayed up?
30:38Yeah. Stay prayed up? Are you staying prayed up? They felt so forced. Stay prayed up?
30:43Yeah. Hey, stay prayed up! Yeah. I know, right? Yeah, that's, that's one of those, like, you
30:50know when your uncle's trying to be cool type of thing? It feels like that. But again, it's
30:53usage, right? You know, the line's designed and all these, all these platforms, the key
30:57is, you know, reach and then usage. So you've got to get repeat usage. So stay prayed up
31:01is a, it's a usage line. Don't say amen because that won't get usage going. No.
31:04So stay prayed up. Yeah. From one resurrection to another, the death of Jeans West hit devoted
31:13denim demons like me so hard that I haven't worn pants since. Don't look under the desk.
31:20But now Jeans West is back, sort of.
31:43Why do these two look so alike? It's not good Jeans, it's AI, which is why the song lyrics
31:49sound suspiciously like the prompt that Jeans West put into the AI generator.
31:55A warm, cosy Australian cafe, atmosphere with relaxed indie folk vibes.
32:03The Jeans, yeah, we spent a lot of this today singing that. The Jeans West marketing is full
32:10of the Jeans worst slop slogans like, Jeans time is here. And the more straight to the point,
32:16buy Jeans. Personally, I can't wait to dress in all denim and go for a romantic walk to
32:24Ope La Rue. Come on, baby, let's climb it. Karen, can Jeans West sell a bootleg?
32:33You know, I think this is a great example of when marketers or anyone really has too much
32:37confidence in the output of AI. Because I think the discussion isn't whether you use AI,
32:41it's whether it made something worse. And in this, for example, a lot of discussion has been about
32:47what is the relationship between these two women, right? Are they sisters? Is it a mother-daughter
32:52thing? Is it a twin? Is this a W situation? Is it her in the future? Like, it's not clear
32:58because
32:58they both have the same hair, but one's a little bit longer. And they look similar, but not.
33:03Where if you did this in real life, you would have gone through a casting process where you would
33:07have had those discussions of being like, is this clear enough? Does she look like she's her whatever
33:12she's meant to be? And you would have made sure through styling and propping and through acting
33:16and directing that that was clear to the viewer, where this is just confusing. It also isn't shot
33:21like a fashion ad. Like, the angles that this AI model is at, some of them are, like, really forward
33:26and blocky looking, and the clothes make her look like a Gumby, where, like, some of the angles,
33:30like, them sing like that. It's like you get a good view up an armhole. And, like, those aren't
33:34things that sell clothes. But then I think the lyrics at the end just cap off that they
33:38just churned something out. And this was probably made in China, where Jeans West is located.
33:42That they didn't do the due diligence of checking with anyone what those lyrics mean, because
33:47they would be like, this all seems fine. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
33:50Here's the tragedy. No.
33:52Oh, Russell's choked up.
33:53Yeah. Here's the tragedy.
33:55Yeah, what's the tragedy?
33:55The tragedy is it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Because in the end, so Jeans West is a brand
34:00that, you know, there's, it's incredible, like, all these brands that are in our brain,
34:03and all you've got to do is just set it alight. And that's really all this advertising is
34:08doing. So there's this notion, you know, in the investment world that we are on our way
34:13to having single-person, billion-dollar companies. So you can have a single-person, billion-dollar
34:17company making, like, let's say it's Jeans West. So there's a brand that you just have
34:22to ignite very readily, very cheaply with AI. And then you can just sit at a desk and just,
34:27you know, get all the orders and send them out. Like, it's this incredible, low-cost model
34:31to go about building a business. I'm not so sure it builds a brand, but it definitely
34:36is going to build a business. I think it's tragic. I think it's really tragic. But that
34:40is where we're at.
34:41Like, I get it on paper, right? So on paper, using AI for advertising makes sense. It's
34:46cheaper, it's highly scalable, and it's faster. But fashion doesn't just sell fabric. You know,
34:53it sells aspiration, and it sells lots of other things. It sells a look, and it sells... And so
34:59when you look at this, and it's so cheap and obviously, like, stupid, you don't just question
35:05the product, you question the whole company again. And I think making a forgettable ad
35:12faster still makes it forgettable.
35:14If it was for a brand name that we'd never heard of before, then I would agree with you.
35:18But because we've heard of it, it works.
35:20The amount of content being created on channels that people are consuming these days is ridiculous.
35:25AI swap is real. This is part of that as well. And so I can totally understand the ambition
35:30of going, we don't have that much budget. We want to create something. But how do we still
35:35have that human connection in it? That is the big challenge. And I think no one's answered
35:39that yet. Everyone's trying to do it in some way. But I do think you're going to start alienating
35:43audiences. Fashion is something that's so representative of who you are and how you put yourself out
35:48there, that you can't just, you know, throw AI in and take over the emotional part of
35:53what it should be at the end of the day.
35:55Hello, promises our prayers will be answered, but only if Mark Wahlberg doesn't hang up first.
36:00Hey, buddy.
36:01Hey, buddy. I noticed you seem to be hanging up on people in these ads.
36:06Yeah, you know it.
36:07Hey, father.
36:08Hey, son, I guess. I really want to talk to you about how you're hanging up on people.
36:14Sister, you're joining us again on the app this year, right?
36:16Girl, it feels like you're not listening to me.
36:19Love this.
36:19Check it out.
36:20Got to load Hallow today.
36:21Hello?
36:22Hello?
36:22Are you still there?
36:29Please thank our panel.
36:30Todd Sampson, Kieran Ferry, Caudela, Karen Ferry and Russell Howcroft.
36:38We were going to leave you tonight with something made by humans, but then we were prompted to
36:43go in a different direction. We'll see you next week.
36:47An ABC comedy panel show, like that murder one, and that museum one, and the quiz one,
36:54and these are the quiz ones, and whatever this one was, make the ads get slowly worse,
37:01and the hosts get rapidly older, at 18 seasons of heavy sexual tension, and hide it in a brand
37:08that everyone thought was already dead.
37:13Generating the wood.
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