The greatest movie ever sold, 2011

The greatest movie ever sold, 2011
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Cast: Morgan Spurlock, Jeremy Chilnick



Stage: home theatre

Greatest movie in short: A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement.


Preps: Recommended by various individuals. Some difficulties at download. Still, am curious, though I don't have a clue about the piece. I love the title and makes me expect more.



Reality: Ever thought about all the brands you see in movies? How do the directors choose them. Are they influenced by brands giving them money to have them in movies or vice versa? How much money are we talking about? And what do viewers get besides brand washing from pushing the brands?

Spurlock takes a deep breath to get into this world and dares to challenge major brands to take a part in his greatest movie. Everything the viewers will see will be their brands and it could be a great marketing opportunity for them. As a challenge, the major brands don't want to take the challenge. The interesting part is that the brands that are on the edge welcome the challenge, whereas major brands don't dare to. Spurlock gets the funds in a spectacularly quick manner and most impressive way (a good way to learn from indeed!). Also the way he mocks the brands that don't want to be in the movie, is truly excellent. We can learn a lot from the moves he is making and the way he exploits the shots he made while he had the meetings, to make his documentary. The complete pitch to acquire the brands becomes the movie.

The idea of pursuing the brands in a movie was already taken. Just remember Truman show. However, there we didn't know much about branding and how it's done in the movies. In this piece we have a transparent insight, where the money is coming from and how slick the directors can be. Spurlock in some scenes shows a variety of brilliant ideas that the people that are paying are not willing to take, but he delivers them anyway somewhere in the movie.

I adored it. As a marketing person I am very delighted to see a documentary talking about the added value branding can give to a movie I am watching. Moreover, I was more than satisfied to see major brands getting their asses kicked in this piece.




My personal rate:9,5 (I need to see the real movie :) joking. Loved the intro, loved the outro, the content is accurate and makes another perspective in ways how we look at the movies and the brands within).


The greatest movie on IMDB