In the greatest coup of all time, boundary-pushing Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock announces POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice as the official title sponsor and Greatest Beverage for his feature “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” which had its world premiere Friday at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Now officially titled “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” the film, which will be released by Sony Pictures Classics April 2011, explores the world of product placement, marketing and advertising, and was fully financed through product placement from various brands, all of which are integrated transparently into the film.
“I felt the best way to examine the ever-growing debate of brand integration in film and television was to make a non-fiction film that openly uses brand integration to tell the story,” said Spurlock. “The idea was to do the same type of advertising, giveaways and cross-promotion for a documentary that big summer blockbusters do, to create a ‘docbuster,’ and to try to retain total creative control along the away.”
“POM is always looking for creative opportunities to deliver our unique health message in a fun and engaging way,” said Matt Tupper, president of POM Wonderful, the Greatest Juice You’ll Ever Drink. “We really respect Morgan’s work and his commitment to healthy living, as evidenced by Super Size Me. Participating in Morgan’s film is the perfect fit for POM: our brand confidence enables us to freely share our marketing process, strategy and POM Wonderful products in this exciting new forum.”
Joining POM as official sponsors are well known brands including JetBlue Airways, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Sheetz Convenience Stores, Merrell Shoes, Amy’s Kitchen, THAYERS Natural Remedies, Seventh Generation, Ban® Deodorant, MovieTickets.com, CARRERA Sunglasses/Solstice Sunglass Boutique, The Original Mane ‘n Tail and Aruba Tourism Authority, marking Aruba as the movie’s official vacation destination.
While using brands in film promotion is not new for Hollywood, it certainly is new territory for the documentary format. Spurlock exploits the phenomenon to new heights, with everything from branded pizza boxes and in-flight film promotions to branded-everything in-film.
With humor and insight, the film unmasks the marketing process to bring audiences behind closed doors directly into the pitch meetings and marketing presentations which ultimately inform our everyday entertainment decisions. Sponsors were provided with brand category exclusivity. Each of the brands represented in the film have sponsorship arrangements with Spurlock, placing him front and center in their brand campaigns and advertisements, both on and off-line. Partners have the unique right to promote themselves in association with Spurlock and the film as “The Greatest.” The agreements also stipulate that Spurlock maintains creative control of the film’s content and final edit.
“JetBlue shares Morgan’s passion for looking at things differently,” said Fiona Morrisson, director of brand and advertising for JetBlue Airways, The Greatest Airline You’ll Ever Fly. “We’ve built our brand on innovation, rooted firmly in common sense, with a dash of fun. We can’t imagine any other product placement opportunity that fits better than with Morgan and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.”
“Old marketing models are being turned upside down and Hyatt constantly challenges itself to present our brand and its values in innovative ways that make consumers take notice,” said John Wallis, global head of marketing and brand strategy at Hyatt. “Everyday, guests make Hyatt hotels an integral part of their important life events – once-in-a-lifetime trips, weddings, and make-or-break meetings – as well as everyday business travel and weekend getaways. We saw this film as an opportunity to showcase the Hyatt experience that has led people to choose Hyatt hotels for their travel for more than 50 years.”
“Sheetz is committed to reinvention and continuously trying to bring innovation to our industry,” stated Stan Sheetz, President and CEO, Sheetz Convenience Stores. “Morgan is a filmmaker who truly understands innovation, and we are thrilled to let him behind-the-scenes to see what ‘kicked-up convenience’ is all about.”
“POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” is directed by Morgan Spurlock, written by Spurlock and Jeremy Chilnick, and produced by Spurlock, Chilnick and Abbie Hurewitz through Spurlock’s production company, Warrior Poets, along with Snoot Entertainment’s Keith Calder and Jessica Wu, who produced.
In addition to filming “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Spurlock is currently in post-production on his next feature film, “Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan’s Hope,” a documentary about the iconic San Diego convention. Comic book legend Stan Lee and filmmaker Joss Whedon are executive producing with Thomas Tull and Jeremy Chilnick as producers. Recently, Spurlock completed his segment for the film adaptation of the New York Times Bestseller “Freakonomics,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released in theatres Fall 2010. Spurlock was also recently nominated for a primetime Emmy and a Writers Guild Award for “The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D! On Ice!”
