Is it any wonder that Spurlock was able to fund Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold exclusively through advertising? At first, he has some trouble, and you honestly can't blame the sponsors. There was concern over how brands would be portrayed in a movie that is about exposing product placement and advertisement. Again, this is the director of Super Size Me. Somehow, and it's not totally obvious what the tipping point was, Morgan gets companies to sign on. It seems like the deal is made in, well, a totally expected way. Pom Wonderful, for example, wants a commercial that touts the advantages of their product, and Morgan promises to drink copious amounts of Pom Wonderful beverages, and he says only nice things about the brand. Really, all the advertising deals go just about the way you'd expect.
For the majority of the movie, Morgan talks about the art of product placement and advertising. He talks to advertising experts, lawyers, writers, directors, and of course, common folks on the street. A particularly fun conversation is with Quentin Tarantino who apparently could make a fortune on advertising for Denny's (the restaurant shows up in a lot of his movies) except for the fact that Denny's flatly refuses. I don't think anyone has to wonder why.
Of course, Morgan explores the science and research that goes into marketing. There's a term called Neuromarketing. Basically, Morgan goes under a brain scanner and watches commercials. They've apparently gotten the science of marketing down so well that a Coca-Cola commercial was tracked triggering a release of dopamine in his brain. It's scary, and it definitely tells you that you've got no chance if you're trying to ignore marketing.
Another stop Morgan makes is to São Paulo, Brazil. São Paulo is a city that's actually banned all outdoor advertising such as billboards. It's actually a little strange to see. Entire buildings are painted over (where advertisments took the entire space before), looking a little bare. Although Morgan does do some interviews with residents (the consensus is generally that it's a good thing, and the lack of advertising has decluttered and calmed the landscape) and with store owners, it's a very small part of the movie. Most of the movie is spent revealing the enormous amount of advertising that is packed into just about every surface, every moment of our lives. It's kind of a shame, since it seems to be a grand experiment in city planning, but Morgan moves on quickly.
The HD quality in this movie shows, but not in a really gorgeous way. This is the kind of thing that shows that no one got a dab of makeup before going into an interview. Still, I tend to like this kind of "honest" cinematography, and in HD, everything pops. Labels are readable, little details come out, and colors look great. Sound here is crisp and clean as well, with even the street interviews sounding great.
The thing is, I don't think we needed a movie to tell us about how pervasive advertising is. Even the teenagers Morgan interviews for the movie know that it's everywhere: they know and they're just as tired of it as everyone else. They actually reject the idea of having more advertisement pushed into their school (they're in school to learn, as one student says). It is quite amazing that Morgan does seem to keep his integrity throughout the movie. Without bashing his sponsors, he does make it clear that they're here to pay for the movie. Even as he does a full commercial for Pom Wonderful mid-movie, you still feel it's only to prove a point, and it still feels funny and good-natured. Still, does this open up the world of advertising and expose a shocking underworld? I wouldn't say so. Is it interesting? Yes. It is Morgan's typical in-depth, good natured exploration of a subject.
