the greatest movie ever sold

I went to see this film at the DCA yesterday as it's all about brand placement, which is relative to the Advertising and Branding module I am studying at the moment. The movie is really a movie about making a movie, if that makes any sense. Morgan Spurlock (the guy in supersize me) goes on a quest to get as many brands on board to pay for their rights to be in this movie. The main brand that latched onto this idea was "POM" (a soft drink made from purepomegranate juice). The idea was that their bottles of juice would pop up all throughout the movie. Spurlock would be drinking a bottle of pom while he was interviewing people in the advertising field about product placement and its effectiveness. Also, one thing that kept popping up in the movie was this idea of "selling out". Were brands selling out if they paid to have their products put out there in big blockbusters, on billboards, bus stations, on buildings etc? The general response from the public was- no, only if they are telling the truth about their product.

An interesting place that was shown in this movie was San Paulo. There were laws that were put in place for this city that prohibit any advertisement. For instance, there were no posters on buildings, no posters in bus stations or in shops. This is what it looks like

Personally, I think the film could have been a lot better. However, I do think that some of the points Spurlock made about brand placement are very useful. I have to say that I have been effected by brand placement before when I was younger. I bought a phone that was used in a movie because the way they used it and because it was related to the stars in it. The good thing about brand placement is that it embeds itself in your subconscious, so that you don't even realised that you have been influenced by it. That's why adverts are so great for brands. If I see a KFC advert on the television, I will end up wanting one by the time my program finishes. There is lots of money to be made in brand placement and I am interested to see where it will lead us in the future.