The ABC has drawn fire from frustrated parents after dumping an episode of the smash hit kids’ cartoon Bluey from its streaming service.
The popular “Hammerbarn” episode from season two of the animated TV hit has been temporarily removed from iView because of a commercial partnership between the show and Bunnings.
The contentious episode features the Heeler family on an outing to their local hardware shop.
Last year, six Bunnings stores across Australia got Hammerbarn-themed transformations, which included Bluey-themed kids’ DIY workshops and merchandise, such as garden gnomes, hats and toys.
The campaign was such a hit that the $19 Bluey garden gnomes were reportedly being resold in eBay for inflated prices.
This week, Bunnings trumpeted the return of the campaign.
“Wackadoo, Bluey’s back at Bunnings!” the hardware giant announced, revealing it had restocked the merchandise – with gnome purchases capped at four per person.
The range is a collaboration between Bunnings and BBC Studios, which has the merchandising rights for the Australian-made series.
But the ABC, as the government-funded national broadcaster, is banned from commercial partnerships, making for a conflict with the Bunnings-Bluey collaboration.
“As the ABC cannot align with a commercial brand or partnership, the Bluey episode ‘Hammerbarn’ will temporarily be unavailable on ABC iview,” a spokesperson for the ABC said.
” ‘Hammerbarn’ will return to ABC iview at a later date. All other episodes of Bluey seasons one to three remain on ABC iview for Bluey fans to enjoy.”
Confused parents voiced their disagreement this week.
“No wonder I couldn’t find it today and it’s all my daughter wanted to watch. She asked constantly today if she could watch ‘Hammerbarn’ on the TV,” one woman said.
Another parent said the episode was a favourite with their children.
“This is just silly, taking this episode away. It’s a kids’ show. So does that mean we take the book off the shelves too? I guess we just stop watching ABC Kids until they put it back on.”
Bunnings spokeswoman Melissa O’Neill said the company was disappointed the episode had been ditched.
“We are disappointed that the broadcaster has chosen to remove the popular ‘Hammerbarn’ episode, particularly given Bluey fans can buy merchandise from a range of retailers and sites both in Australia and overseas,” she told News Corp.
“It’s been great to see so many kids and their parents enjoying the Bluey experience in our stores and, unlike last year, it’s sad to think that they can’t go home and enjoy the episode.”
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