Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock has come up with a doozy for his latest feature documentary. The provocateur behind “Super Size Me“ and “Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?“ now has the advertising industry in his sights—specifically product placement. This ought to explain the full title of the new flick: “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.”
Spurlock has even leased ad space on his own body to make his point. He has walked red carpets, conducted press interviews and appears on the film’s official website wearing a suit slathered with logos for Amy’s Kitchen, Carrera Sunglasses, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, JetBlue, Merrell footwear, Mini cars, Old Navy, Seventh Generation, Sheetz and the country of Aruba, among many others.
A conversation with producing partner Jeremy Chilnick about summer blockbusters led to the idea about marketing tie-ins for lower-profile films.
“We started talking about all the big summer movies, from ‘Transformers‘ to ‘Iron Man‘ to James Bond, and about how all those product placements were more than just advertisements for products, they were tools that made these movies’ footprints and awareness even bigger. These co-promotions helped turn them into blockbusters,” Spurlock says. 
“And we wondered, if a little movie, even a documentary, had the same type of partnerships and co-promotion opportunities, could it have a bigger presence? Would it have the same influence? Could a doc reach the same level of awareness and marketability of a summer blockbuster? Would it be—a doc-buster?”
Following its premiere this past January at the Sundance Film Festival, the documentary is set to open in April via Sony Pictures Classics.
BNH asks: Do marketing tie-ins affect your decision to see a film?
Do you think copious product placement helps or hurts a movie?
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