PARK CITY, Utah – Morgan Spurlock pigged out on McDonald's chow in his documentary "Super Size Me." Now he's lining up at corporate America's cash trough.
Spurlock's "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" examines product placement and movie marketing from a unique perspective: his documentary was paid for entirely through product placement and marketing deals.
A serious yet hilarious study about balancing commerce and creative control, the film follows Spurlock's quest to create a "doc-buster," the documentary equivalent of studio flicks that become blockbusters through all-pervasive webs of co-branding and cross-promotion.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who's among those interviewed on camera, warned the filmmaker that the result could be a "commercialized, corporatized Morgan Spurlock." The director said he ceded no artistic control to any of the roughly 20 companies that signed on as financial and marketing partners, among them Hyatt Hotels, JetBlue Airways, Mini Cooper cars and Amy's Kitchen foods.
"Maintaining control. That was the hardest part of this film," Spurlock said in an interview at January's Sundance Film Festival, where the documentary premiered ahead of its theatrical release Friday. "Cutting out any kind of influence they would have over getting approval of the final cut, getting approval of how they looked in the movie.
"We did have to sign disparagement clauses where we agreed not to disparage any of the brands. Which I think we did. I think they all come off great, but with a little bit where we poke them with a finely sharp stick, not a really sharp stick."
Along with cash, companies provided cars, accommodations, air travel, food, beverages and other products to support the film's production. In exchange, Spurlock has become an unabashed pitchman for their goods and services.
He uses Ban deodorant and MovieTickets.com, wears Merrell shoes and Carrera sunglasses, relies on Seventh Generation household goods and Thayers health products, all partners on his movie. He shot a video for JetBlue flights welcoming passengers on board and did interviews for the film at Sheetz convenience stores, another sponsor.
Sheetz is featuring "Greatest Movie Ever Sold" collector's cups, while other products in the film carry tags and stickers promoting the documentary, the same sort of cross-marketing that happens with big Hollywood pictures.
Like NASCAR drivers decked out in suits bearing their sponsors' names, Spurlock has been doing publicity for the film in a Ted Baker-designed outfit plastered with his own backers' logos.
Spurlock even sold naming rights for $1 million, two-thirds of the film's budget, to the movie's main sponsor. The film's full title is "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," after the Los Angeles-based company that makes juices and other pomegranate products.
POM Wonderful owner Lynda Resnick said it was money well spent.
"It was a leap of faith, but we so loved what he did with 'Super Size Me,' and we are very transparent as a brand. We have absolutely nothing to hide. There was nothing he could say that could hurt us and a lot he could say that could help us," Resnick said.
"The publicity has been fantastic. Doing business with Morgan is like doing business with a Mexican jumping bean. It's very hard to focus on him because he's all over the place, but I think on a personal level, we love him. I think he's a friend, and he'll be a friend forever."
Spurlock and his financial backers did not always agree, though. As part of the deal, Spurlock shot 30-second commercials for his three top sponsors to include in the film.
One ad he pitched to POM was a commercial plugging research that pomegranate juice could help men with erectile dysfunction. Spurlock wanted to end the commercial with a wide shot showing a huge bulge in the groin of his pants.
POM executives shot down that idea, asking him instead to do a spot noting that the company's products are 100 percent pure, while a competitor's contains only a fraction of actual pomegranate juice.
The movie is playful to the point of absurdity in shoving its sponsor's products in viewers' faces while knocking competitors' merchandise. Yet it does so to make the point that audiences are constantly bombarded with product pitches, sometimes subtle, often not so much (the documentary includes a clip from an episode of "90210" featuring an outrageously shameless plug for Dr. Pepper).
"Being aware is half the battle, I think. Literally knowing all the time when you're being marketed to is a great thing," Spurlock said. "A lot of people don't realize it. They can't see the forest for the trees.
"For me, it's been a great thing, the fact that I now literally dissect television and even watch a show like the Super Bowl, and here's this Sportsbook line at the bottom in the middle of the TV screen. It's like you notice all of it, and noticing it is a good thing, to kind of take away any sort of subliminal factor to it."
The film features interviews with product-placement specialists, marketing consultants and filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and J.J. Abrams, who discuss how advertisers and promotional partners try to influence the content of movies and TV shows.
Spurlock also highlights the cold calls he placed to companies - Ford, Volkswagen, Guess Jeans, Nintendo, Nike, Starbucks and many others - that wanted nothing to do with his movie.
"McDonald's, they didn't call back again," Spurlock said of the fast-food chain he took on in "Super Size Me."
Most companies were simply afraid, while those that did sign on look hip and savvy for their openness and sense of humor, he said.
"There were people we started going down the path with, and once they found out they didn't have control and they didn't have the ability to come in and edit the film with us and pick the scenes they want and the shots they want, then they walked away," Spurlock explained.
"Ultimately," he continued, "that's what all of those companies want is to control this brand image and brand message, which I think is a huge mistake. I think one of the largest detriments to a lot of brands these days are their advertising agencies. I think they're misguided by a lot of their agencies, and the brands that literally are making decisions internally and on their own are ultimately doing a lot more creative and inventive stuff."
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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