This week’s Pitch on Gruen Planet: If Gillard is deposed convincing Aussies to re-elect Rudd – and on Crisis Management? Guess what, Qantas!

This week on Gruen Planet (ABC1, 9pm tomorrow night), 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, Gruen again turns its 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 Gruen counts down this week’s shameless attention-seeking stunts. They involve a supermarket, a whale and a “celebrity”. A couple of weeks ago, they spoke about brands exploiting the Arab Spring. This week Gruen 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.