| POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Morgan Spurlock |
| Produced by | Morgan Spurlock Jeremy Chilnick Abbie Hurewitz Keith Calder Jessica Wu |
| Cinematography | Daniel Marracino |
| Editing by | Thomas M. Vogt |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics Stage 6 Films POM Wonderful |
| Release date(s) | January 22, 2011 (Sundance) April 22, 2011 (United States (limited)) |
| Running time | 88 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | 1.5 million |
| Box office | $638,476 (USA) (28 August 2011) |
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (officially titled POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold for sponsorship reasons) is a 2011 documentary film about product placement, marketing and advertising in movies and TV shows, directed by Morgan Spurlock. The film's slogan is "He's not selling out, he's buying in".
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Besides a great number of sponsoring and non-sponsoring corporate figures appearing in the film, a number of experts also give their opinion to Morgan Spurlock including:
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. In the United States, the film had a limited release, opening on April 22, 2011 in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Phoenix, and Austin, Texas.[1] The film opened the 2011 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on April 28, 2011.[3]
On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 70% "Certified Fresh" rating, with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10.[4] On Metacritic, the film received a metascore of 66 out of 100.[5]
Stephen Holden called the film "even more amusing than Super Size Me", pointing out that "more than once the movie shows Mr. Spurlock, armed with clever storyboards, selling his ideas with an enthusiasm and skill that would put Don Draper of Mad Men to shame."[1]
Spurlock signed non-disparagement clauses with most of the companies showcased in his film but retained final cut.[2] Pom Wonderful agreed to pay one million dollars for above-the-title billing ("POM Wonderful Presents"), though the full amount was contingent on the film grossing $10 million at the box office, selling a half-million downloads and DVDs, and generate 600 million media impressions.[1] As of 26 August 2011, the film had an estimated gross of approximately US$638,476. [6][7]
Mane 'n Tail is featured prominently in the film,[1] but the film's end titles disclose that they did not pay for the promotion. Instead, Mane 'n Tail provided free product to be used in the production of the film. Many other brands only provided product or contributed to the promotion of the movie.[8]
For 60 days, beginning April 27, 2011, the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania (home of Sheetz, one of the movie's major sponsors) officially changed its name to "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Pennsylvania" to help Spurlock promote the film, and received $25,000 for doing so.[9]
Other sponsors include:
| "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" | |
|---|---|
| Single by OK Go | |
| Released | 1 April 2011 |
| Format | Digital download |
| Recorded | 2011 |
| Genre | Pop |
| Length | 3:59 |
| Label | Paracadute |
Spurlock used Brooklyn's dance-punk duo Matt and Kim music as the movie soundtrack and their song "Cameras" from the album Sidewalks for the opening credits. Band members Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino are also interviewed in the film.[11]
The film's theme song is called "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" by the rock band OK Go. The song was made available for download on 1 April 2011.[12] OK Go performed the song at the film's premiere and at promotions for the film. They also appeared live on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson performing the song.
A soundtrack album was released to digital music stores on April 26, 2011, and on CD August 23, 2011.
| The Greatest Soundtrack Ever Sold | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Performer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 1. | "CameraBuggin'" | Big Boi vs. Matt & Kim | 3:33 | ||||||
| 2. | "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" | OK Go | 3:57 | ||||||
| 3. | "I'll Never Love Again" | Taio Cruz | 3:49 | ||||||
| 4. | "Run On" | Moby | 3:43 | ||||||
| 5. | "Cameras" | Matt & Kim | 3:33 | ||||||
| 6. | "Sacramento" | Oxygen | 3:48 | ||||||
| 7. | "Greatest Spurlock Spoken Word (You Ever Heard)" | Spurlock and his People | 2:50 | ||||||
| 8. | "Brand Search" | Jonathan Spurney | 3:14 | ||||||
| 9. | "Cha Cha Cha" | Eric V. Hachikian | 3:01 | ||||||
| 10. | "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: In the Hall of the Mountain King" | Alexander Gibson & The London Festival Orchestra | 2:15 | ||||||
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