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Gruen transfers conflict of interest claims

Gruen Transfer's Todd Sampson comes under fire for not disclosing a potential conflict of interest, before he criticised an ad campaign.

122Nothing like a good controversy to whip up some attention. The thing is, The Gruen Transfer doesn’t really need it. Last week it was the #1 show on the ABC. But today the ABC has been forced to defend its hit show on advertising, The Gruen Transfer, after a potential conflict of interest by one of its star panellists.

TV pin-up Todd Sampson rubbished a child abuse ad on the show but failed to disclose that his agency worked for the charity until an acrimonious split five years ago.

On the most recent episode, Sampson let rip into the ad for Adults Surviving Child Abuse, which shows the father of a bride making a humorous wedding speech, halfway through which he says: “I remember the first words that I ever said to her after sex – ‘Don’t tell Mum.'”

While other panel members questioned the charity’s ad’s strategy, Sampson said it was “insensitive rubbish” and that he was “embarrassed” by it.

He said the ad would make ASCA’s job of counselling victims harder “because now you’ve ridiculed these people in front of millions of people on national television”.

Panellists or the host Wil Anderson usually disclose any conflicts of interest on air.

ASCA chairwoman Cathy Kezelman defended the ad saying it was working and hit back at Mr Sampson.

“He appeared to have made up his mind before viewing the ad and didn’t partake in the discussion but rather sought to drive an agenda home,” she said.

“His comment about government funding [Mr Sampson said it was made as a pitch to get more government funding] came from left field, [and] implied prior and additional knowledge and had nothing to do with the ad itself at all. He sustained a scathing attack throughout, calling the ad ‘insensitive rubbish” and saying that he was embarrassed by it.

Telling the Australian, Kezelman added, “Many survivors, some in their 60s and 70s, are speaking out and seeking help. ASCA has given them a voice and the opportunity to be heard. The first call to our 1300 line after the campaign launched was from a 77-year-old lady who had never told a soul about her ‘dark secret’ – until now. This advertising campaign is breaking through the conspiracy of silence and the shame and stigma which have long prevented survivors from getting the help they need.”

Sampson said that he was unaware Leo Burnett had ever acted for ASCA and that he only found out the morning after the show went to air.

“I stand by what I said,” adding that had he known of the previous relationship between Leo Burnett and ASCA he would have disclosed it on the show. “Absolutely,” he added.

A spokesman for the ABC and Denton’s production company, Zapruder’s Other Films, said guests were required to disclose clients to avoid conflict of interest.

In a statement the ABC said: “He could hardly make a disclosure on something he didn’t know existed.

“Conflict, disclosure, criticism and review issues are considered in relation to the content of every show and specifically discussed with panelists prior to every show. In addition, all panelists are required to declare current clients relevant to any discussion.”

Source: smh.com.au, The Australian

15 Responses

  1. Anyone who thinks these guys aren’t regularly dishing out explicit and implicit “revenge” on peers, clients, suppliers, and anyone else brave enough to play the ad game doesn’t know the industry politics well. A prominent Melb ad man once characterized some colleagues as pirates, hookers, & thieves – no guesses as to how deeply held grudges would are in their world.

  2. I also totally agreed with Todd’s comments and how passionate he was about the ad. It was offensive, insensitive and didn’t offer any form of help or advice for anyone who had suffered from abuse.
    A dad at his daughters wedding bragging about abusing his child, how on earth would that help anyone?

  3. Such a non issue. Todd didn’t say anything different to the other panelists, just more forcefully.

    Charity is attacking coz they f****d up approving the vile thing.

  4. Despite the fact he works in advertising, and i may be gullible and naive for this, but i believe that he honestly didn’t know. That ad can cause some rather intense objections (otherwise it wouldn’t be notoriously controversial).

    Of course he had made up his mind before viewing the ad, he would have seen it a dozen times already i wouldn’t be surprised if most people that have seen it before have made up their minds already.

  5. Something tells me ASCA is pretty miffed about what Sampson said and are trying to muddy the waters in an effort to detract from the real issue which is that their add, however well intentioned it might have been, sends really bad messages to both victims and abusers. If Sampson wasn’t directly involved in the previous work that his company did for ASCA then there really isn’t a conflict.

  6. Very nice bit of publicity as it seems to be The Age’s most clicked story. As for the actual content, I would’ve thought that the industry is so small that if everytime the panellists had to declare an interest or a previous interest with a company then it would just be a declaration show.
    Everyone wins in this “controversy”. Good job ABC/ACSA publicists!

  7. It’s a shame the ABC’s “He could hardly make a disclosure on something he didn’t know existed.” appears right down at the bottom of the news paper articles. It’s a great story if you ignore that.

  8. I saw this add and I dont think it matters about conflict of interest what he said was dead on the add was in poor taste and totally inappropriate for people who have been abused. I dont care if they had a bad split 5 years ago but I know if I saw that particular add on tv I would be writing a serious complaint.

  9. Hehe admittedly the ad was incredibly terrible and misguided.

    That said I despise this smug jerk who thinks he knows it all. It’s awful watching him try and dominate conversation.

  10. I do recall thinking he was very passionately against it, but did not think much of it, because to be honest I agreed with him. Although I’m sure ASCA has the best of intentions, they are going about it the wrong way. Humour, even the blackest of black humour, has no place in raising abuse awareness.

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