Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

I have been at the Hot Docs festival all week and have seen such a variety of topics. I don’t write a review on those films because most will not be shown.

It is ironic that I should have come to this film. It had been the opening for the Hot Docs festival.

It is outrageous. It is amusing and also thought provoking.

At times I felt as if I was being taken. I was watching a film about product placement and how we are influenced by the display of products. There are so many product placements in films and we are often unaware of it. Does the subliminal and often overt showing of a product influence us?

Morgan Spurlock makes this film about product placement by overtly and dramatically displaying products The film is about product placement and the products introduced to the audience are also the sponsors of the film. We see him interviewing companies and trying to convince them to use their product in his film. Many companies want no part of it. Many soft drink companies and car companies avoided him.

Morgan Spurlock convinces the directors of Pom (a pomegranate drink) to use the product. You might say he overuses it. Pom is featured in many scenes. Spurlock always has a bottle in his hand. He takes it to meetings and it always seems to be on display.

The film shows how he convinces many companies to allow him to use their name. Blue Jet and the Mini car sign on.

We do learn more about product placement. It creates cash for the products and raises the visibility to the consumer.

I was most impressed with his research. He interviewed government officials and academics who explain the psychology behind the use of product placement. I found these dialogs very interesting.

There is a lot of humor. Spurlock seems to be laughing at himself throughout the film. He went on a late night talk show and wore a jacket that boldly advertised the products that were sponsoring the film.

When he attempts to sign on a product he meets with the directors. His presentations always show he has done a lot of background research and he is very creative in his presentation.

He checked with a lawyer to make sure he couldn’t be sued. I enjoyed the dialog between the lawyer and Spurlock. At the end of the session he asks the lawyer about his fee.($770.00 per hour) Spurlock jokes that it should be less because he is now part of the film.

They discuss if there is such a thing as truth in advertising. What a topic. People are interviewed on the street for their take on that controversial topic.

I was made aware that I should read labels more closely. They can be so misleading.

In some ways I was sorry I saw the film because I was now aiding and abetting product placement. On the other hand I did learn about advertising and I also was amused with the topic.