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Commentary - Pom Wonderful presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
George: What do you mean "into the patient"?
Jerry: Into the patient, literally!
George: Into the hole?
Jerry: Yes, the hole!
George: Didn't they notice it?
Jerry: No!
George: How could they not notice it?!?
Jerry: Because it's a little mint. It's a Junior Mint.
George: What did they do?
Jerry: They sealed him up with the mint inside.
George: They left the Junior Mint in him?
Jerry: Yes!
George: I guess it can't hurt him... People eat pounds of those things.
Jerry: They eat them, they don't put them next to vital organs in their abdominal cavity!
What Seinfeld fan doesn't love this "Mulva" episode, but I have always wondered, did Junior Mints like the Seinfeld writers using their product in this way? or did they actually pay the TV show/network to have their product featured so memorably? This we may never know, but if you're interested in the inner workings of brand integration in entertainment, than you've gotta see Pom Wonderful presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.
Writer/Director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) has delivered a witty, insightful, pioneering and entertaining documentary which delves into the prevalent and ubiquitous world of product placement, cross promotion, media impressions and asks the question, is there truth in advertising?
His idea for the film actually came from an episode of the show Heroes, in which Hayden Panettiere's character receives a Nissan Rogue SUV for her birthday - the keys, the car, the name is displayed as if it were up for bid on The Price is Right. The displacement of being force fed a commercial in the middle of a favorite show, gave Spurlock one of those light bulb moments. And so, technically the Nissan Rogue can take credit for The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, even though it's not one of the 22 sponsors of the film.
Now, if I say Nissan Rogue a few more times and link to the product, can I have one?
What I like most about this documentary is Spurlock himself. One scene in the film has him going through a rigorous Q & A session with a brand specialist to come up with his own brand in order to sell himself to the brands he wants to sell the movie to. (make sense?) Anyway, what they come up with is that Spurlock's own brand is Mindful and Playful, and this is a very good assessment. He does care about this subject matter, it's affect on society, the right and wrong of it, the question of selling out or buying in? But he's able to explore the matter with great humor. And not acerbic, sarcastic humor, rather with mirth and cleverness, he's able to brings a sense of fun to the topic. And he's an excellent pitch man, he approaches each brand meeting as if he's been working on Madison Ave for years; while remaining open enough to let the film take him on a journey, and still maintain a firm hold on the reins.
And those reins include keeping creative control away from the brands and corporations. None of the sponsors got final approval of the movie, of course they did try, can't blame a company for trying, but Spurlock and his team pushed back and won. To the brands credit, they all became a real partner in the film by allowing the doc to show the inner workings of how these deals are made, including dollars and cents.
Although Pom Wonderful (pomegranate juice) gets top billing as the film's million dollar sponsor, the shampoo Mane 'n Tail got the best deal. They have a policy of not paying for product placement and did not pay to be in the film. Yet, they allowed Spurlock to have some fun with their product and the results
