Freezerburns

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 it a rating based on his opinion. The show started on his website, freezerburns.com, but expanded into YouTube, and joined Next New Networks' Hungry Nation channel,[1] and could be seen on around 20 other websites.[2] With 55,000 site visitors a month and 5,000 views per show, Freezerburns attracted the attention of large food companies like Kraft and ConAgra, who sent packages of frozen food to review.[2] Freezerburns was featured on a variety of news and blogs.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Freezerburns
Freezerburns logo
GenreReviewing
Created byGregory Ng
Presented byGregory Ng
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes692
Release
Original networkYouTube, Next New Networks
Original release2008 (2008)-2014 (2014)
External links
Website

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,[2] 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.[6] Each episode ended with a "question of the day," which helped Ng interact with his followers.[2]

Cast and crew

Ng has described Freezerburns as "a one-man show" and stated that no one assisted him in making the videos.[9] He spent 25 hours a week filming, editing, and responding to emails about Freezerburns.[2] 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."[6] 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."[8]

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.

Many critics and fans have accused Ng of staging this ending. In an interview with Adweek,[12] 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,[13] 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,[14] Ng revealed that the popularity of his final episode caught him by surprise.

See also

References
  1. Sauer, Patrick J. (1 September 2010). "Next New Networks Takes Grassroots YouTube Talent to the Next Level". Fast Company. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  2. Stock, Sue (18 April 2010). "Web viewers warmed up to frozen food show". News & Observer. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  3. Martin, Timothy W. (31 March 2010). "More Ready-to-Zap Foods Showing Up in the Freezer Case". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  4. Hustvedt, Marc (9 June 2010). "'FreezerBurns', 'Cloud' Headline Latest Crop of Next New Creators". Tubefilter. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  5. Broyles, Addie (2 February 2010). "Tasters rated which freezer meals to heat and which called for retreat". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  6. Miller, Liz Shannon (23 March 2010). "Freezerburns Heats Up the Frozen Food Industry". GigaOM. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  7. Kerley, Christina (5 May 2010). "What Marketers Can Learn from the Frozen Food Aisle". MarketingProfs. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  8. Garland, David (16 December 2010). "6 Marketing Lessons Learned from a Guy Who Eats Frozen Food for a Living". Open Forum. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  9. Ng, Gregory. "About Freezerburns". Freezerburns.com. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  10. Ng, Gregory. "All Reviews". Freezerburns.com. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  11. Ng, Gregory. "Kombucha Sorbet Video Review". Freezerburns.com. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  12. "After 1,000 Meals, Here's What Made the Frozen Food Review King Call It Quits". AdWeek. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  13. http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Inside-Edition/7649902314429146112/328727107649/Frozen-Food-Critic-Walks-Off-Set/videos
  14. "Frozen food reviewer goes viral after calling it quits on camera". cbsnews.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
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