On the very first episode of Planet, we unpick the messaging around: the only leader on Earth more besieged than Gaddafi ... our Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Is there any hope for the PM? How would our Gruen communication specialists reposition her? Will an appearance on Junior Masterchef help? Or is she a Dead Woman Walking? SABMiller’s $12.3 billion purchase of Fosters. How do you sell Aussie beers that are no longer Aussie? How do you manage the public and media blacklash? Do brands really need to worry about patriotism? THE PITCH. In Grand Final week for the NRL and AFL, with the atrocities of mad Monday just around the corner, we’ve asked our agencies to come up with a campaign to convince Australians that we should stop expecting our footballers to be role models. Blackbocks (Adelaide) Vs Cooch (Perth) SPIN CYCLE. We look at three recent attempts to sell us a product, service, person or idea and nominate a winner. Who will it be?

This week, Team Gruen destructs; Crisis Management. A very recent example of what looks like a textbook PR disaster. Last week, a Melbourne woman claimed she was bullied and ridiculed in a retail store by a shop assistant. She complained to the company, who went even further in an over-the-top, abusive email. Unsurprisingly, the shopper posted the correspondence online and it went viral, trending worldwide. She ended up on current affairs shows, along with the company spokesman, who threw more fuel onto the fire by defending the company's position. As a result, the store got maximum exposure, but is all PR good PR? Pinktober. Pink lollies, pink windscreen wipers, pink copy paper, pink footies... The panel looks at the 'pinking' of products l in the name of Cause Related Marketing. Breast Cancer Awareness is a great cause, but are some cashing in on it? The Pitch. What happens when your name is your brand and that name has become, well, a little bit toxic. We've challenged our agencies to come up with a campaign to re-establish "Murdoch as a name everyone can trust."

Wil Anderson, Russel Howcroft (GPYR) and Todd Sampson (Leo Burnett) give a big Gruen welcome to two debutantes – corporate image specialist Tim Allerton (City Public Relations) who has worked with Kerry Stokes and Russell Crowe and Suzy Yates, who has 15 years experiencing working with Sydney Airport and Bing Lee. This week, in Crisis Management, we’ll ask how a death threat could possibly be good PR. Someone at Qantas thought it could be, because the airline released a story to News Ltd newspapers about death threats to senior executives. A photo shoot was done to accompany the story. Radio and television interviews followed when it broke. But what kind of strategy was behind the decision to go public? In How Do You Sell, we’ll ask the question on the lips of many markets: what will this week’s death of Steve Jobs mean to Brand Apple. And during the Spin Cycle, we’ll count down and celebrate three tragically naked attempts to grab our attention this week. The Pitch. Two competing ad agencies come up with a campaign, on behalf of the Tasmania government to convince us to move all our refugee processing and detention to the Apple Isle. We welcome ABT and Sputnik to centre stage.

In the Gruen spin class this week, Wil Anderson is joined by Todd Sampson (Leo Burnett), Russel Howcroft (Y&R Group), Anthony McClellan (AMC Media) and Anouk Darling (Moon Communications). GOD SAVE THE ROYALS As the Queen touches down on Australian soil on Wednesday, we take a gander at Brand Royal 2011. After taking a battering in recent times, William & Kate’s wedding returned some of the shine to the family. The Royals exist in an uneasy truce with commerce, seen to be above petty money-making, yet locked in a dance with all kinds of brands and charities. And with support for the monarchy drifting upwards again, what does this visit mean for the Republicans? CRISIS MANAGEMENT This week, ice-cream brand Ben & Jerry’s released a statement supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement, despite the fact that the company is owned by Unilever, the kind of multi-national corporation the protesters were demonstrating against. We look at the pros and cons of brands trying to associate themselves with social and political revolution. SPIN CYCLE A countdown of three of the dodgiest, attention-grabbing publicity stunts from around the world. THE PITCH This week, we challenge our agencies to come up with a campaign for a fictitious client, Australia’s number one airline, Kwantas: The Flying wallaby. The ad has to sell the idea that moving airline operations offshore is the patriotic thing to do. Make Vs Thinkbone.

does Joan Collins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dame Nellie Melba, Carson Kressley, Jean Shrimpton and Snoop Dog all have in common? They’ve all have been on the celebrity guest list at Flemington. How much do companies pay for their attendance? What are the responsibilities of a good tent guest? And the question of everyone’s lips, will Leo, Shane and Liz turn up this season? On the Spin Cycle this week, we look at the marriage of death and publicity. From the World of Advertising and image control, The Renovators will look at Hungry Jacks: new burgers, new slogan, new healthier repositioning. From next year, in NSW it will be mandatory to include kilojoule counts on fast food menus. Last week, Hungry Jacks got in early, the first chain to roll out the changes. What’s the value of that in PR terms? Is it possible to sell the Ultimate Double Whopper, voted the unhealthiest fast food in Australia, alongside plastic cups of raw vegetables? And on The Pitch, returning to the racing theme, a campaign to convince Australian’s to ignore the Melbourne Cup. Braincells Vs sense.

Wil Anderson,Todd Sampson (Leo Burnett) and Russel Howcroft (Y&R Group) are joined again by City Public Relations’ Tim Allerton and for the first time, Rebecca Huntley (Ipsos-McKay), one of Australia’s most respected social analysts. On Crisis Management this week, we again turn our attention to the airline that stopped the nation. Qantas stranded an estimated 70,000 passengers on Saturday and upset many thousands more after management grounded its entire fleet. Even those of us who have always loved the airline are now wondering how we got into this damaging relationship. How will Qantas now rebuild its brand internationally and at home? And if this was a calculated strategy by the board, why confirm Alan Joyce’s huge pay increase two days prior? On Spin Cycle we count down this week’s shameless attention-seeking stunts. They involve a supermarket, a whale and a “celebrity”. A couple of weeks ago, we spoke about brands exploiting the Arab Spring. This week we look at the marketing and branding that has sprung up during the Occupy Wall Street protests. Millionaire celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon. How effective is that wattage of star-power to the cause? On The Pitch this week – a Twilight Zone hypothetical. It couldn’t happen ... or could it? Imagine Julia Gillard has been deposed and Kevin Rudd restored as Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party. That’s right, a guy disliked by the public, with so few friends in his own party that they ditched him. Our agencies have to come up with a convincing ad to kick off his re-election campaign... Oddfellows Vs. Convert

Group) and Todd Sampson (Leo Burnett) for a rigorous Gruen spin class this week are self-described marketing bloke and occasional propagandist Toby Ralph, and a PR veteran of 15 years, Suzy Yates. On the Renovators this week, we look at the ways mining companies try to make us love them. With the watered-down mining tax legislation expected to get through parliament this week, we ask why these companies are still trying to win our hearts and minds. Is their investment in local communities just a diversion, to distract us from their mega- profits? And as ‘global warming’ became the softer sounding ‘climate change’, can the mining companies substitute ‘fracking’ with the gentler ‘seam stimulation’? Oh, and one last thing, what do you do when Alan Jones decides to attack you? On How Do You Sell...The PR cyclone Kim Kardashian and sister Khloe whipped through Sydney last week. How has this LA reality TV family managed to create an empire that turned over $70 million last year? Everyone bitches that she’s famous for absolutely nothing, but that fame just grows and grows. What is the need in us that Kim answers? On The Pitch, we ask our agencies to help an industry under threat. If you believe Clubs Australia, new poker machine laws will ruin this country. So to help the industry, we’ve asked our agencies to come up with a campaign to convince Australians to free the pokies from restrictive club environments and let them find new markets in shops, schools, waiting rooms. wherever… Jack Watts Currie Vs DraftFCB

Wil Anderson is joined by Todd Sampson (Leo Burnett), Russel Howcroft (Y&R Group), Lauren Miller Cilento (Harry M Miller Group) and Stuart Gregor (Liquid Ideas). It’s that time of the year again. The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, the annual PR and clotheshorse race that stops the nation. What does Joan Collins, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dame Nellie Melba, Carson Kressley, Jean Shrimpton and Snoop Dog all have in common? They’ve all have been on the celebrity guest list at Flemington. How much do companies pay for their attendance? What are the responsibilities of a good tent guest? And the question of everyone’s lips, will Leo, Shane and Liz turn up this season? On the Spin Cycle this week, we look at the marriage of death and publicity. From the World of Advertising and image control, The Renovators will look at Hungry Jacks: new burgers, new slogan, new healthier repositioning. From next year, in NSW it will be mandatory to include kilojoule counts on fast food menus. Last week, Hungry Jacks got in early, the first chain to roll out the changes. What’s the value of that in PR terms? Is it possible to sell the Ultimate Double Whopper, voted the unhealthiest fast food in Australia, alongside plastic cups of raw vegetables? And on The Pitch, returning to the racing theme, a campaign to convince Australian’s to ignore the Melbourne Cup. Braincells Vs sense.

Why don’t the new ads for Crown want to mention the C word? How come James Packer’s everywhere in the media these days? Did Pussy Riot’s message get lost in the media coverage? And can two agencies come up with an ad campaign to convince Australians that Gina Rinehart would be the right person to run Fairfax Media.

This week on Gruen Planet, we hang out with Brad Pitt’s younger brother Doug. Virgin Mobile has made him the face of its latest ad campaign. But is Doug really Doug or is he “Doug”? And why did so many Australian news outlets jump at the story when he was in town last week? We also look at the tactics Qantas employed to pave the way for some bad news it knew it had to deliver last week: a $245 million full year loss, its first since it was privatised in the 1990s. And a Pitch challenge to do what the government has struggled to do, sell us the carbon tax.

move? How much immunity does a cancer charity buy you? Why are his sponsors standing by their cycling-man? We also examine AAMI’ Rhonda and Ketut love story, a simple ad about insurance that has become a phenomenon. Why would we take advice from a woman who doesn’t even know about sunscreen? And in the week that TV show The Shire breathes its last, we have a special Pitch challenge. Two agencies compete to come up with a campaign that makes up for the damage done to Cronulla’s reputation by Lara Bingle, the race riots and The Shire.

The Gruen team looks at Gina Rinehart’s video address to her loyal subjects, asking the question: if money talks, then why is Gina? And can a woman who earned $20billion last year really argue our economy isn’t working? We also look at kids with webcams, another of marketing’s bold, new frontiers. Spin Cycle counts down three of our favourite recent attempts to catch a headline. This week’s nominees: Channel Nine, the Paralympics and the Australian Christian Lobby’s Jim Wallace.

You may not know it, but one of the methods used by the Australian government to stop the boats is advertising. The Gruen team looks at the No To People Smuggling YouTube channel, which has been aiming ads at smugglers and refugees for two years. In the wake of Victoria Bitter's apology to the nation, we ask, is saying sorry just a clever form of marketing? And Spin Cycle may be the only place this week that draws a line between AAMI's Ketut, the Free Syria Army and Woolworths' Wallace.

The Gruen team looks at Apple, the world’s biggest brand, unpicking the iPhone 5 launch, examining the ways buying frenzy is created through headlines and hype, and how its competitor Samsung has ambushed at every step. We also examine the Pink dollar. Same Sex marriage can’t get through parliament, but it is gradually weaving its way into advertising. Tonight we look at brands taking a stand and joining the debate.

This week, one of Australia's most powerful and successful communicators, Alan Jones, showed he could also be pretty bad at it. The panel picks apart Sunday's press conference, examining the spin tactics of distraction and deflection, apology and blame-shifting, and how 2GB advertising clients reacted to all of it. It also examines Advertising Crimes Against Music. Coles employees have written to the Gruen team to say that working in a store where Down Down is on high rotation is workplace torture. Tonight the panel investigates the process of turning popular songs into ear-bleeding company jingles. And if you thought Down Down was bad, you ain't heard nothing yet.

In tonight’s episode, Scientology, Movies and Spin – The Master, a movie with Oscar buzz based on the life of L Ron Hubbard, is heading to our shores. The panel looks at Scientology’s public image and its PR strategy. Also: in the 12 months that followed the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the area’s second in six months, Australian visitors dropped by 43 per cent. So can advertising turn a city associated with devastating earthquakes into a fun family holiday destination? The Gruen team looks at Christchurch’s attempt to lure us across the ditch.

How Do You Sell Newspapers – The panel looks at the challenges involved in selling a product many people think is dying. What were the values of the newspaper brand in earlier decades and what do they have left to sell? We also look at Shoppable Movies – Target USA has just released Falling For You, an online romantic comedy starring Kristen Bell, written and directed by Mad Men alumni. Viewers can click on hundreds of products in the movie, ordering them while they watch. What does this mean for advertising? And retail?

Fearless Felix – Last week, Felix Baumgartner jumped from 39 kilometres above the earth, breaking the speed of sound and various records on his way down. For sponsor Red Bull, it was the culmination of a seven year project. Why does Red Bull want to own the extreme? And what if Felix had died? Also, ABC Promos – are TV networks brands or just buttons on the remote? What do all those ABC bubbles mean? Ten, seriously?