Freezerburns Explained

Genre:Reviewing
Creator:Gregory Ng
Presenter:Gregory Ng
Country:United States
Language:English
Num Episodes:692
Channel:YouTube, Next New Networks
First Aired:

Freezerburns was a frozen food review web show hosted by Gregory Ng. Calling himself the "Frozen Food Master", Ng ate and reviewed various brands of frozen food and assigned them a rating based on his opinion. The show started on his website, freezerburns.com, but expanded onto YouTube and joined Next New Networks' Hungry Nation channel,[1] and could be seen on around twenty other websites.[2] With 55,000 site visitors per month and 5,000 views per show, Freezerburns attracted the attention of large food companies like Kraft and ConAgra, who sent Ng packages of frozen food to review. Freezerburns was also featured on a variety of news and blogs.[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Format

Gregory Ng, the self-proclaimed "Frozen Food Master," served as the host for each episode of Freezerburns. Each episode began with the Freezerburns theme song written and sung by independent artist Skyrmish.[9] Along with written reviews available on the Freezerburns website, Greg hosted different types of reviews, among them full length reviews, one word reviews, "Fro-Down" reviews, which featured a comparison between two similar items, and Live reviews.[10] Ng's style was relaxed, speaking casually to the audience. He displayed the frozen dish, and, after cooking, commented on its taste, sometimes upon the first bite. Each episode ended with a "question of the day," which helped Ng interact with his followers.

Cast and crew

Ng has described Freezerburns as "a one-man show" and stated that no one assisted him in making the videos. He spent 25 hours a week filming, editing, and responding to emails about Freezerburns. On special occasions, such as Live reviews, Greg was joined by co-hosts.[11]

Reception

Reaction to Freezerburns was mostly positive, praising the content as well as the idea. Liz Shannon Miller of GigaOM has said Ng produced "exceptionally thorough reviews" that "also manage[d] to be quite entertaining." David Garland of Open Forum praised Ng's concept and marketing strategy, stating the webshow was "a fantastic example of creative marketing and putting ideas into action."

Cancellation

On August 31, 2014, Ng published his review of Kid Cuisine's How to Train Your Dragon Chicken Nuggets. In the middle of the video, Ng appears to be fed up with the quality of the meal and abruptly walks off camera, declaring he was quitting the show.[12]

Many critics and fans have accused Ng of staging this ending. In an interview with Adweek,[13] Ng explained ending the show was in the works, but the timing was spontaneous, "I reviewed this particular Kid Cuisine meal and I just got very angry during the review. It is geared at kids, and it just isn't anything I would serve to them. It was also a meal that has a commercial tie-in with the How to Train Your Dragon 2 movie, and the commercialization of the meal made me upset. I record every episode in one take, and it just happened. So it wasn't staged, but there was certainly a buildup to this moment."

Additional coverage pointed to the unhealthiness of frozen food and applauded Ng for taking a stand against processed foods. In an interview with Inside Edition,[14] Ng revealed he had been in contact with representatives from ConAgra, the manufacturer of the Kid Cuisine frozen food line.

In an interview with CBS This Morning,[15] Ng revealed that even though across all video channels, he was receiving upwards of 200,000 views per episode, the popularity of his final episode caught him by surprise.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Next New Networks Takes Grassroots YouTube Talent to the Next Level. Patrick J.. Sauer. Fast Company. 1 September 2010. 10 July 2011.
  2. News: Web viewers warmed up to frozen food show. Sue. Stock. News & Observer. 18 April 2010. 10 July 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120822204614/http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/18/440825/web-viewers-warm-up-to-frozen.html?storylink=misearch. 22 August 2012.
  3. News: More Ready-to-Zap Foods Showing Up in the Freezer Case. Timothy W.. Martin. Wall Street Journal. 31 March 2010. 11 July 2011.
  4. News: 'FreezerBurns', 'Cloud' Headline Latest Crop of Next New Creators. Marc. Hustvedt. Tubefilter. 9 June 2010. 11 July 2011. 14 August 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100814135727/http://news.tubefilter.tv/2010/06/09/freezerburns-cloud-headline-latest-crop-of-next-new-creators/. dead.
  5. News: Tasters rated which freezer meals to heat and which called for retreat. Addie. Broyles. Austin American-Statesman. 2 February 2010. 11 July 2011.
  6. News: Freezerburns Heats Up the Frozen Food Industry. Liz Shannon. Miller. GigaOM. 23 March 2010. 11 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20121012185831/http://gigaom.com/video/freezerburns-heats-up-the-frozen-food-industry/. 12 October 2012. dead.
  7. News: What Marketers Can Learn from the Frozen Food Aisle. Christina. Kerley. MarketingProfs. 5 May 2010. 11 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110929112844/http://www.mpdailyfix.com/what-marketers-can-learn-from-the-frozen-food-aisle/. 29 September 2011. dead.
  8. News: 6 Marketing Lessons Learned from a Guy Who Eats Frozen Food for a Living. David. Garland. Open Forum. 16 December 2010. 11 July 2011. 26 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120626145213/http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/6-marketing-lessons-learned-from-a-guy-who-eats-frozen-food-for-a-living-david-garland. dead.
  9. Web site: About Freezerburns. Ng, Gregory. Freezerburns.com. 10 July 2011. 23 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170823092119/http://www.freezerburns.com/wordpress/about/. dead.
  10. Web site: All Reviews. Ng, Gregory. Freezerburns.com. 10 July 2011. 25 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170925054756/http://www.freezerburns.com/wordpress/video_frozen_food_review_archive/. dead.
  11. Web site: Kombucha Sorbet Video Review. Ng, Gregory. Freezerburns.com. 16 July 2011. 12 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110712163012/http://www.freezerburns.com/wordpress/2011/07/05/kombucha-sorbet-video-review-ep437/. dead.
  12. Web site: Breaking News English - Mini Lessons . 2023-10-07 . www.breakingnewsenglish.com . en.
  13. Web site: After 1,000 Meals, Here's What Made the Frozen Food Review King Call It Quits. AdWeek. 14 February 2015.
  14. http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Inside-Edition/7649902314429146112/328727107649/Frozen-Food-Critic-Walks-Off-Set/videos Watch TV Online, Stream Episodes and Movies | Xfinity Stream
  15. Web site: Frozen food reviewer goes viral after calling it quits on camera. cbsnews.com. 14 February 2015.