Social media react on The Briefcase’: Viewers say it’s exploitative, cruel and morally bankrupt

“The Briefcase” is cruel and exploitative, according to viewers. The newest Channel Nine reality show made its debut on air on Monday, but the reactions on social media weren’t welcoming. The families featured on the program were also apparently duped into appearing in the show.

Every week, the show examines two Australian families who are struggling to make ends meet. Each family is given a briefcase with $100,000. They can decide whether to keep the money for themselves or give it to the other family. They can also just share a portion of the money. Neither family knows the other is also given the same moral dilemma.

In the debut episode, Mandy McCracken from Melbourne was left a quadruple amputee from a severe illness. Her husband Rod gave up his job to become her carer. Living only on a carer’s allowance did not allow the couple and their children to apply changes on their home that would make life easier for Mandy.

Jim and Jenny Carter’s livelihood was severely affected when a 2014 bushfire destroyed a large portion of their farm. Saddled with enormous debt and practically no income, the Carters and their two daughters struggled to rebuild their lives.

A briefcase containing $100,000 would have been an enormous help for both families. However, in a span of 72 hours, each family was given information about the other, learning how badly the other needed financial assistance, perhaps more so than they did. When they both visited the other family’s home, both mothers burst into tears, realising the enormity of need of the other.

Both families decided to donate the full $100,000 to each other in the end. It was a happy ending, one that perhaps was the best outcome of the episode. However, there are viewers who felt the show exploited poverty at its worst.

If viewers were wondering how Channel Nine was able to convince cash-strapped families to take part in the show with such concept, the answer would have been through deception.

According to Andrew Backwell, head of programming and production of Nine, the families were told they were appearing on a show that would help them solve their financial worries by using a simple plan. After they have agreed and signed, the families would then find themselves appearing on another show.

“We told people we were doing a show called ‘Making Ends Meet,’ in which we were going to come and speak to them about their financial situation and provide some financial advice,” Backwell told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The Briefcase” is based on the American reality TV series of the same name. The US show, which only lasted one season, also received the same negative reactions from critics. However, Backwell insisted that the Australian version is less cruel than its US counterpart, which, he described, “was more a freak show.”

“We’ve tried to go with average families that have fallen on hard times. Not by being slack or lazy or not giving a s---, but through no fault of their own. You’re going to look at them and feel some compassion,” he said.

YouTube/TVTonight