The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

In theaters today: The Debt

In theaters Friday: Apollo 18, Shark Night 3D

New on DVD/Blu-ray: The Prom

Three years ago I met Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock after he screened his documentary Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? at the SouthBySouthWest film festival in Austin, Texas. Driving back to my sister’s house after the screening, I took Bee Cave Road, a stretch of which is uncluttered by the advertisements that become such a distraction in our modern lives. Because of local ordinances, the business signs along Bee Cave are low to the horizon, and billboards are non-existent. It makes for a beautiful, calm and relaxing commute. Returning to Baton Rouge, College Drive never looked so loud, so depressing.

For his latest documentary, POM Wonderful presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Spurlock finds and even grander, ad-free paradise in Sao Paulo where its citizens are privileged to see the architecture and the green spaces of the city instead of having their eyes drawn to reading constant advertising (called “visual pollution” by the Brazilian city’s mayor) wherever they look. It’s a curious respite, a breather, in the middle of the film before Spurlock dives back into the heart of his quest: to make a documentary about advertising, marketing and product placement that is funded completely by advertising, marketing and product placement.

Part expose, part satire, this documentary is, if nothing else, an entertaining triumph of transparency. For the first time, mass audiences get to see the process behind big money ad buys and product placement negotiations, and the results are thoroughly engrossing and educational. Inspired by an episode of Heroes where the product placement for Nissan was so egregious it ruined what had previously been one of Spurlock’s favorite series, the filmmaker decided then and there to investigate the hidden and not-so-hidden ads we are bombarded with every day.

Is this art I am watching or a commercial? That’s the question everyone should ask themselves, because product placement is more rampant than ever. Someone is always trying to sell us something. Always. To know this and to make better-informed (or at least more well-thought-out) decisions online, at the mall or in the grocery store, is a major part of Spurlock’s message here.

Much of the film takes place in boardrooms as Spurlock makes sponsorship pitches to CEOs. Angling for a total of $1.5 million to fund the documentary, Spurlock starts off with a few swings and misses before major sponsors bite on his concept and start piling up: JetBlu, Hyatt, Old Navy, Mini Cooper and more. As his sponsors mount, the filmmaker realizes he’s on the hook to do their bidding. He shoots commercials for JetBlu with his son. He can only drink POM on camera. He switches deodorant and household cleaners and more. He also gets a whole new wardrobe, sunglasses to shoes.

By doing so, Spurlock puts himself in the same crucible facing creative content providers everywhere. Advertisers do influence the content of TV shows (especially reality ones) and movies, and even some newscasts where anchors are shown taking time for a dramatic pause and a chug from their Starbucks cup—the label always visible and the name spoken on air. Can Spurlock still make the film he wants when corporations are footing the bill? Is he really selling out or simply “buying in?”

It’s not completely clear whether Spurlock intends the film to be a Trojan horse or just a piece of pop culture infotainment. Maybe it is a sneak attack on the advertising industry, but if so, the catch is that we, the viewers, are the Greeks charged with piling out of the equine and overtaking Troy. And Troy is powerful.

One shocking passage in the film shows Spurlock receiving an MRI while being blasted with commercials. That’s right, at the highest levels of marketing and advertising, corporations spend millions on MRI and other medical tests to study how best to manipulate the desire centers of the brain for the intended affect. This data is employed in the latest commercials, print advertising and movie trailers to deliver an almost science-guaranteed responsive action.

From Hollywood directors to school teachers to marketing experts, and to truth-in-advertising crusaders to Madison Avenue players to and men and women on the streets of New York City, Spurlock gets input from all sides to give a well-rounded, thought-provoking view of the entire industry and its permeating effect on culture. It is perhaps Spurlock’s best-realized piece since Super Size Me, and it may be even more relevant. As consumer activist Ralph Nader says in his interview, the only place you can go to avoid all advertising is “to sleep.”