Hollywood Sells Out, Big Time
Read Time:3 Minute, 39 Second
For some movie goers, the big takeaway from Ron Howard’s The Paper must have been that nervous newspaper editors drink Coke. Not Pepsi or RC, but Coke.
Coca-Cola seemed to have more screen time in the 1994 movie than some of the thespians named in the opening credits. Whenever Michael Keaton stopped for a moment in the newsroom, he hoisted a can of brown caffeinated sweetness. There was a glowing Coke machine in the newsroom so that his fix was never far away.
Product placement is an accepted part of movie making, and has been for decades. The first instance of product placement is alleged to be for Red Crown Gasoline in a 1919 Fatty Arbuckle short. The first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, 1927’s Wings, had unsubtle product placement for Hershey’s Chocolate. More than 50 years later, Hershey’s paid big bucks to put Reese’s Pieces in ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.
According to FilmDrunk.com, 2009’s Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen set a record for selling out with a whopping 47 product-placement deals. That’s yet another reason to have contempt for Michael Bay, one of the hackiest of Hollywood directors.
Morgan Spurlock, director of the groundbreaking Super Size Me (2004), has made a documentary examining this derided part of the movie business. And, cheeky bastard that he is, he financed it by selling product placement to a wide range of companies.
Spurlock says he got the idea for The Greatest Movie Ever Sold two years ago, when he noticed repeated display and mention of a certain Japanese automobile in an episode of the now-defunct TV series Heroes. “It was so completely offensive and terrible,” he said at the Sundance Film Festival. “I was, like, ‘We’ve gotta make a movie about this.'”
He gave his Sundance interviews wearing a jacket decorated with brand logos.
The new doc follows Spurlock in his quest for financial backing from companies. He has told the Park Record that he and writing partner Jeremy Chilnick had to agree not to “disparage” their sponsors but otherwise were given plenty of latitude.
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold found a buyer at Sundance and is slated for release in April.
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This is what we need to do with our congresscritters. Make them wear their sponsors proudly, on their three piece suits. The banking committee, brought to you by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.
Jess, what a wonderful idea. But, in spirit of no disclosure, it will never happen. Maybe we can get their sponsors to run ads saying, “You can trust us, We Proudly Give Money to The Speaker of The House.”
Such a good read this was! Loaded with lots of irony..Hollywood would be proud! 😉
And, cheeky bastard that he is, he financed it by selling product placement to a wide range of companies.
I’ll wager that Mcdonald’s was not a sponsor?
Wouldn’t it be hilarious if it were? I’ve read the movie has been retitled to something like “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.” POM being a pomegranate drink.
I can’t wait. I wonder if he managed to get sponsorship from Preparation-H?