The aim of the documentary is to fund a film solely about product placement, through brand sponsorship. Spurlock consults with various experts in the field of marketing and advertising to find out how to gain as many sponsors as possible to fund his film, using himself as a brand. The film also touches on how film-makers feel about product placement, an area where they appear to have very little control.
Spurlock showed a glimpse of the slightly darker side of advertising as POM (who paid $1m to be the main sponsor) rejected all of Spurlock's ideas for advertising their product (which were very imaginative). Instead they told him to make an advert disparaging a rival product which, given that it was said on camera, was probably not a great move on POM's part.
There was a interesting, but relevant detour where Spurlock took the film to São Paulo in Brazil, where they had recently banned all outdoor advertising in the city. Spurlock interviewed locals who claimed that this was beneficial to people living and working in the city and surprisingly, the local businesses also seemed to be favour of the ban as it encouraged them to focus more on quality of products and customer service.
The film held a particular interest for me as I studied advertising and marketing at degree level. Although I was aware that product placement exists, I was surprised (and a little saddened) at how much power the various brands have over films with examples given about individual film scenes being tailored to meet a sponsor's demand.
As I have already mentioned, I am a fan of Spurlock's work; I find him very engaging, knowledgeable and passionate about whichever subject he is working on. However, with this particular project, the fact that he was effectively 'bought' by the sponsors meant that he was slightly compromised and maybe wasn't able to give out the message that he wanted to. That said, it was made clear that none of the sponsors saw the final cut of the film, but Spurlock indicated that there had been horse-trading with the companies involved throughout the making of the film.
Verdict: Fans of Spurlock will enjoy this funny, entertaining and thought-provoking film. Any film or marketing student should find it fascinating and any film-goer will unfortunately be able to spot any product placement in any film, no matter how subtle.
A special mention must be made to Mane 'n Tail, a shampoo for both horses and humans which is Greatest Shampoo and Conditioner of POM Wonderful’s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold...
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