Gruen Nation: August 14

Tonight’s return of Gruen Nation will see Todd Sampson and Russel Howcroft try to wade through the multi-platform spin tornado that is Election 2013.

Tonight they are joined by

· Dr John Hewson: former leader of the Federal Liberal Party;
· Lachlan Harris: former Kevin Rudd media adviser; and
· Annabel Crabb: author and ABC political commentator.

In tonight’s episode, the Gruen team examines:

· Slogans, Jingles, Commercials – We run the x-ray machine across the opening ads of campaign 2013, the first efforts from the Labor Party, The Liberal Party, The Nationals and The Greens. Why are their slogans so bland? Why are their ads pretty much the same as last time? Why is the Greens ad so eerily familiar?

· What Would Poland Do? How do politicians from the home of the world’s most amazing election advertising get their messages across?

· The Small Picture – Where we focus on life’s little things. In tonight’s case, the obsession that Kevin Rudd, AKA Captain Selfie, has with uploading pictures of himself on Instagram and Twitter. And what he and Tony can learn about image management from global dictators?

· The Pitch: Kevin Macmillan from The Works vs Ed Berridge from Oddfellows
The Brief: We asked two agencies to write election songs, one for Rudd’s Labor and one for Abbott’s Liberals. Can they sing their way into our hearts?

· On The Trail – Would Sunday night’s leaders’ debate have been better if it was on a sloping stage? Or if it had judges with their backs turned? What’s the point of being an underdog? And why don’t Kevin’s minders tell him to stop it with the crazy hand movements?

8:30pm Tuesday ABC1.