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MORGAN SPURLOCK:
Everywhere you
look these days,

it seems like someone's trying
to sell you something.

On billboards,
posters, stickers,

elevators,
gas pumps, airplanes,

cups, napkins,
coffee holders,
wire hangers.

Even bathrooms.

See, it used to be
that when someone

really wanted to
sell you something,

they could rely on
the good old fashioned
30-second TV spot.

He likes it!
Hey, Mikey!

But thanks to
the invention of this...

And this...

There's a revolution going on
called "Internet."

Fewer and fewer of us
are actually
sitting through these.

Anything is possible

when your man
smells like Old Spice
and not a lady.

So how's a poor, struggling
multimillion-dollar
corporation

supposed to let you know
they even exist?

Hey, welcome to Morning Joe,
brewed by Starbucks!

We do have
a special guest.

Excuse me, I'm just
going to have a sip here
of my Starbucks.

Mmm.
Mmm. There you go.

Welcome to
the brave new world
of brand integration.

But you may know it by
its old school name...

Converse All Stars,
vintage 2004.

...product placement.

MAN:
You can use a Guinness.

SPURLOCK:
Today product placement is
a multibillion dollar industry

that generates
hard cash for movies,

creates new
identities for brands,

but most importantly, delivers
the holy grail of marketing,
co-promotion.

You see, co-promotion
is what takes a regular movie

and turns it
into a blockbuster.

Take Iron Man.

That movie had more
than 14 brand partners.

Everything from
a Whiplash Whopper,
to Iron Man Dr. Pepper cans,

to Tony Stark himself
driving off in
an Audi commercial.

These types of partnerships

deliver millions of dollars
of free advertising
for the movie

while also raising visibility
for the companies themselves.

But do all these
co-promotions
actually work?

Do they have
that much influence
over the choices we make?

Does Shrek make me want to
take a Royal Caribbean Cruise

or Burger King make me
wanna go see Twilight?

Is the only thing
missing from my movie
achieving Iron Man status

a little co-promotion?

Well, if that's true,

then I can't wait
to get some of that
sweet Hollywood ad money.

Last year more
than $412 billion were spent
on marketing and advertising.

And out of that
$412 billion,

just four companies
controlled over 75% of it.

If I'm gonna
make a doc-buster,

it seems like these companies
are a great place to start.

So what I wanna do,

is make a film
all about product placement
marketing and advertising,

where the entire film
is funded

by product placement,
marketing,
and advertising.

So the movie will be called
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

So what happens
in The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold

is that everything
from top to bottom,
start to finish,

is branded from
beginning to end.

You know, from
the above-the-title sponsor
that you'll see in the movie

which is brand X.

Now this brand,
the Qualcomm Stadium,
the Staples Center...

These people will be
married to the film
in perpetuity, forever.

Mmm.

So the film
explores this whole idea...
It's redundant.

It's what?
It's redundant.

In perpetuity forever?
I'm a redundant person.

I'm just saying...
(LAUGHS)

That was more for him.
It's in perpetuity,
period, forever.

SPURLOCK: But not only
are we going to have
the brand X title sponsor,

but we're gonna make it
so we can sell out

every category we can
in the film.

So maybe we sell a shoe,

and it becomes
"The Greatest
Shoe You Ever Wore."

"The Greatest Car
You Ever Drove"'

from The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold.

You know,
"The Greatest
Drink You've Ever Had"

courtesy,
The Greatest Movie
Ever Sold.

So the idea is
beyond just showing that
brands are part of your life,

but actually get them
to finance the film.
Is that it?

Get them to
finance the film

and actually we
show the whole process
of, "How does it work?"

The goal of
this whole film
is transparency.

You're going to
see the whole thing
take place in this movie.

So that's the whole concept.
The whole film,
start to finish.

And I would love for CEG
to help make it happen.

Hey, you know, it's funny
'cause when I first hear it,

it is the ultimate
respect for an audience.

I don't know how receptive
people are going to be
to it, though.

Do you have
a perspective, or...

I don't want to use "angle"
cause that sort of has
a negative connotation...

Do you know how
this is going to play out?

SPURLOCK: No idea.

How much money does
it take to do this?

$1.5 million.
MAN: $1.5 million.

Okay.

I think you're going to
have a hard time
meeting with them,

but I think it's
certainly worth pursuing

a couple of really
big, obvious brands.

Who knows?

Maybe, by the time
your film comes out

we look like a bunch
of blithering idiots.

What do you think
the response is going to be?

(STAMMERS)
The responses
mostly will be no.

SPURLOCK:
But is the toughest sell
because of the film

or is the toughest sell
because of me?

Uh, both.

That meeting,
not so optimistic.

So can you help me?
I need help.

I can help you.

Good.
Good.

Awesome.
(LAUGHS)

We got to figure out
which brands.

Yeah.

That's the challenge.

When you look at
the people you deal with,
or...

We've got some
places we can go.

Okay. Okay.

Turn the camera off.

SPURLOCK: I thought
"turn the camera off"
meant

"let's have an
off-the-record
conversation."

Turns out, it really means,
"We want nothing to do
with your movie."

Luckily, I've got
an old friend
in the industry

who might be
a bit more receptive.

Richard Kirshenbaum
has worked in
advertising for years

and has made
a name for himself
and his agency

by not thinking
like an agency.

If anyone out there
is going to get it,
it's him.

So ultimately what
we want to try and do,

is create what is
the Iron Man
of documentaries.

The documentary
that when it comes out,
has so many partners

has so many
brands involved...

I love the idea
that you're actually

selling out,
you're admitting
selling out...

JON BOND:
And therefore not selling out.

And therefore
not selling out.

It's genius.

And the story,
also, is talking to people

who say this is
a problem with the industry,
this is wrong.

But then there's people
who are like,
"How could it be wrong?

"It's where we
started in television.

"It's where we
started in film."

So the film is about
the marketing of movies.

And I want to be
a sponsor.

You guys can tell me
better than anyone else

what the, kind of like,
"Here's what we pay
you for these things."

And so you start
to see these things
come to fruition

over the course
of the film.
KIRSHENBAUM: Right.

So you're willing to
sell out completely,
personally, to do this?

Whatever it takes.
Great.

So what do we do now?

I think
the thing to do is
go get a client.

(LAUGHS)
Get one.

Thank you.
Great to see you.

This is going to be fun.
Yeah, thanks, guys.

SPURLOCK: To get
my first client, I need to
understand two things.

Who would actually
sponsor this movie?

And how I'm
supposed to talk to them.

Britt Johnson is
the president
of Media Placement,

one of the most successful
product placement
agencies in the country.

And David Wales
is the president of
the Ministry of Culture

and makes his living
predicting the next big
trends in advertising.

If we were going out
to sell somebody

to be
a product or brand
in the film,

what's that worth?

It depends on
how many people
you reach.

Dozens.

Dozens? (LAUGHS)

This movie is going to reach
dozens of people.

It would depend how
many people you reach.

How do I figure out
who I should go after?

I would just
go for everybody.

As long as
the check clears.

Yeah, as long as
the check clears.

The one good thing is,

you might be able
to get a lot of
the things paid for.

That's a good question.

What are the things
we should be looking for

to try and get for free?

I think you might be able
to get a beer brand.

Hotels, air service,
computers, car.

You definitely
should have a sports car.

What about clothing?

Yeah! Clothing?
Can you get clothing?

Yeah, clothing
would be easy.

How do I make a company
want to be in this movie?

You start by acknowledging
that you yourself are a brand.
Right?

What's your brand collateral?
What are you
bringing to the table?

I guess that's what
you need to figure out

in terms of making yourself
appealing to them.

How would you guys
describe your brand?

Um. My brand?

I don't know like...

I like really nice clothes.

'80s revival
meets skater punk.

Unless it's laundry day.

The brand that I am is...
I would call it "Casual Fly."

If Dan were a brand,

he might be
a classic convertible
Mercedes-Benz.

Part hippie, part yogi,
part Brooklyn girl?
I don't know.

Failed writer,
alcoholic brand?

(LAUGHS)
Is that something?

SPURLOCK:
I think most of Hollywood
has that brand covered.

For me to get any
companies on board,

I first need to understand
what I'm offering them.

That's where Olson
Zaltman comes in.

By using an intense
form of psychoanalysis,

they've helped companies
like Hallmark,
Nestlé, and Febreze

better understand
what they call
their brand personality.

You brought
your pictures, right?
I did.

The very first picture,
is a picture of my family.

So tell me
about how it relates

to your thoughts and feelings
about who you are.

These are the people who

shaped the way
I look at the world.

Tell me about this world.

I think your world
is the world that you live in.

The people that
are around you,
your friends, your family.

The way you live your life,
the job you do.

All those things
stemmed and started
from one place.

And for me,
they stemmed and started

with my family
in West Virginia.

What's the next one
you wanna talk about?

The next one...
This was the best day ever.

How does this relate to
your thoughts and feelings
about who you are?

It's like,
"Who do I wanna be?"

I like things
that are different.
I like things that are weird.

(LAUGHING)
I like weird things.

Tell me about the "why" phase.
What does that do for us?

What is the machete?
What pupa stage
are you in now?

Why is it important to reboot?
What does the red represent...

Tell me a little bit
about that harp.

What is it about you
that's not who you are?

(ABIGAIL's SPEECH OVERLAPPING)

(MOCK SCREAMS)

Thank you.
Yeah, thanks for
your patience.

Great job.
Thanks a lot.
All right.

Yeah, I don't know
what's going to
come of this.

There was a whole lot

of crazy going on in there.

The first thing we saw

was this idea
that you had two distinct
but complementary sides

to your brand personality.

The Morgan Spurlock brand
is a mindful play brand.

Those are juxtaposed
very nicely together,

and I think there's almost
a paradox with those.

And I think some companies
will just focus on
one of their strengths

or the other,
instead of
focusing on both.

Most companies tend to,
and it's human nature,

to avoid things
that they are not sure of,
avoid fear,

those elements,
and you really
embrace those.

And you actually turn them
into positives for you.
It's a neat thing to see.

What other brands
are like that?

The first one here
is a classic, Apple.

And you can see here,
Target, Wii,

MINI from Mini Coopers,
and JetBlue.

Now there's playful brands
and mindful brands.

Those sorts of things
that have come and gone,

but a playful mindful brand
is a pretty powerful thing.

Awesome.

That's good.
That's a good thing.

Now that I know what type of
brand personality I have

it's time to figure out
what other companies

would want to be
in business with someone

as mindful and playful
as myself.

Time for
a little brand recon.

(DIALING PHONE)

Nothing like a cold call

to show exactly
how little power you have.

This movie is brought
to you by Apple Zings.

Crisco. Kenneth Cole.
Prada. Paul Smith.

OPERATOR 1: Welcome to
the Johnson & Johnson
Company's world headquarters.

OPERATOR 2:
Starbucks Coffee?

OPERATOR 3:
Thanks for calling
Target Corporation.

Ben & Jerry's.

Licefreee!

Carmex.

This film is brought
to you by B complex.

(WOMAN 1 ON PHONE)

Documentaries are not as seen
as feature films.

(WOMAN 2 ON PHONE)

I can't do it.
I'm the Director
of Public Relations for Guess.

We will never put Morgan,
your average Joe,
on a billboard, ever.

(MAN ON PHONE)

You're making
a film about that? OK.

I am.

We would love it for JetBlue
to be the official airline.

What is the greatest car
you could drive?

I think it's
got to be a Ford.

The Volkswagen.

The Lexus hybrid
being the official car.

BlackBerry phone.

Seventh Generation.

Huge fan of Fluevogs.

We got a fax
from Volkswagen.

"It is my understanding
that you discussed
with our agent,

"DDB Entertainment
International,

"the possibility
of our involvement

"in an upcoming
documentary film
directed by Morgan Spurlock

"that will explore
product placement
in the movies.

"After due consideration,

"Volkswagen Group
of America Incorporated
and DDB

"have determined
that it is not in
Volkswagen's best interest

"to be involved
in this documentary
in any manner. In any manner."

Diet Coke. Levi's.

Be stupid, Diesel.

(MAN 1 ON PHONE)

It's not something that we do.

SPURLOCK:
Think how great it would be.

The Greatest Movie
Ever Sold video game.

(WOMAN 1 ON PHONE)

We're just
unable to participate.

SPURLOCK:
What about if in the film,
we had either a cowboy

or an animated camel
smoking your brand?

(MAN 2 ON PHONE)

My... My response is,
we really don't wanna
be in the film.

(MAN 3 ON PHONE)

I mean, it doesn't sound like
a movie that I would be
excited about going to.

Right.
So why wouldn't you want
to go see this movie?

(WOMAN 2 ON PHONE)

It goes against
everything that we do.

What if we
loaded it with nudity?

(MAN 4 ON PHONE)

Yes, that would help.

Indian Vegetable Korma.

The official
grandpa slipper.

(MAN 5 ON PHONE)

I've got too many other things
to think about.

Can we please get Mane 'n Tail
to be the sponsor?

(LAUGHING)

If it's good
enough for your horse,
it's good enough for you.

Mane 'n Tail.

(LAUGHING)
I want this.
This is the best.

You gotta love
a product that says,
"Directions for human use."

And then, it says,
"Directions for animal use."

Mmm.

Smells like a pretty horse.

We're calling Mane 'n Tail.

(ON VOICEMAIL)
Hey, Morgan, it's Richard.
I've got some great news.

It looks like we have a client
who would love to
hear your pitch.

Give me a call back.

It's our first big pitch,
with a real brand.

Richard Kirshenbaum
hooked the whole thing up

with one of his clients.

So this is it. It's on!
It's real right now.

I want to
introduce you
to Morgan.

I want to
introduce you
to Morgan.

Hi.

Hi, how are you?
I'm Morgan Spurlock.
Beth Jones.

I have friends who make great,
big, giant Hollywood films

and I have friends who make
little independent films
like I make.

And the friends of mine
who make big giant
Hollywood movies

say that the reason
their films are so successful

is because of
the brand partners
that they have.

And then my friends who make
small independent films say,

"Well how are we
supposed to compete

"with these big,
giant Hollywood movies?"

And the movie is called
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

So now how specifically
will we see Ban in the film?

See anytime I'm
getting ready to go,

anytime I open
my medicine cabinet,

you will see Ban Deodorant.

While anytime I
do an interview
with someone,

I can say,
"Are you fresh enough
for this interview?

"Are you ready?
You look a little nervous.

"I want to help you calm down,
so maybe you should...

"Maybe you should put some on
before the interview."

So we'll offer one of
these fabulous scents.

Whether it's a Floral Fusion
or Paradise Winds,

they'll have their chance.

We'll have them geared
for both male or female,

solid roll-on or stick,
or whatever it may be.

That's the two-cent tour.

So now I can answer
any of your questions

and give you
the five-cent tour.

We are a smaller brand,

much like you
talked about being
a smaller movie.

We're very much
a challenger brand

so we don't have the budgets
that other brands have.

So doing things like this,
remind people about Ban,

is why we're interested in it.

What are the words
you would use to describe Ban?

Ban is blank.

That's a great question.

Uh.

Ban is superior technology.

Technology's not the way
you want to describe

something somebody's
putting in their armpit.

We talk about bold.
Fresh.

I think fresh is
a great word that really

spins this category
into the positive

versus the "fights
odor and wetness."

It keeps you fresh.

How do we keep you
fresher longer?

Better freshness,
more freshness.

Three times fresher.

Things like that that are,
you know, more of that
positive benefit.

When it comes down to
cost and things like that,

do we have to have
a sideline conversation
about that?

About what things will cost
in this film, or what?

Yeah, to participate.

No, we can
talk about it now.

Okay.
What do you project?

We're trying to sell
the above-the-title
sponsorship,

the naming rights
for a million dollars.

All the way down
to brand partners

who will come in for
anywhere from
$25,000 to $100,000.

What about concerns
that you would have,

or things that you
would be worried about?

You have a somewhat
controversial reputation.

How can you assure us
that it'll be done
in a positive light?

I think, when it comes to
all of the brand partners...

Like the way that
Ban will be portrayed
in the film will be...

There's no way
I would disparage Ban

because, again,
at the end of the day
you are my partner.

I think that was
the main concern.
JONES: Yeah.

I don't know
that we have...

We're pretty excited
about it.

Is there a number
that you guys want to hit

that's the amount you'd
want to commit
to something like this?

I think in that 50-range.
I think you were talking...

Amazing! That's great.
Great to meet you.

Great to meet you.

Great meeting you.
Great presentation.

Thank you.

We're really
looking forward to it.

One down,
about 15 to go.

But I mean, as they say,

(SNIFFING)

Smells like a brand new day.

With Ban on board,

Richard thought I should talk
to an old lawyer friend
of his.

That way,
I know exactly what I can
promise folks,

not to mention, what I can
and can't say about them.

Hey, Rick?
Yes.

Hi. I'm Morgan Spurlock.

Hi. Nice to see you.

Good to see you.
How've you been?
Good.

Richard called you,
told you about the film
we're about to make

and we need some
real legal advice.

We're making a movie called
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

The most
important question,

what's going to keep me
from getting sued
in making this movie?

I think you'll
probably be okay

because the whole
set up of the film
establishes the context.

So I can say
something's the "greatest"
and not have an issue with it?

Yes.

Film can be a documentary,
in which case
everything should be real,

and film can be
completely fiction.

And most commercials,
most advertising
is slice of life,

it's completely fictional.

The flip side of that,
we sometimes call "faction."

So wait.
What's "faction"?

Faction is when
you've combined
documentary,

or factual,
or historical information
with speculation or fiction.

Where you've got
a mix of fact

and then something
that you as a director,

or an author writing a book,

really has an obligation
to indicate to the audience

what is the historical fact
and what is the speculation

in a typical work of faction.

If I say that these are
the greatest sunglasses
anybody could ever wear,

in The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold.

Can I...
On the inverse,

can I say that
every other sunglasses

are the worst
sunglasses ever made?

You know,
if you're saying everything

that's a sponsor
is the greatest

and everything else is trash,

people seeing the film
are going to get that
you're making a point

and that it's not
a personal endorsement.

So, you're
a very powerful attorney
here in New York City.

You're a partner
in the firm.

So how much
did this hour
just cost me?

(LAUGHING)

My rate's $770 an hour.

But, advertising has its value
so this is advertising for me.

So the question is
how much does it cost me
to be in your movie?

SPURLOCK: All the big
Hollywood blockbusters have

tie-ins with
fast food restaurants.

Cups, toys, you name it.

None of those guys
would call me back.

But I did find one
Central Pennsylvania staple

who thought
this could be right
up their alley.

They were so excited
they even flew me
to their offices

in their private plane.

As I said,
I am a fan of Sheetz.

I love Sheetz.

Are you blowing
sunshine up our ass?

I am.

Okay.
In a great way.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Shameless marketing.

More shameless plugs,
that's what we
want to do for Sheetz.

We're going to be
traveling around talking

about the impact of
product placement,
marketing and advertising,

talking to people
along the way.

And where better
to talk to people,

than at a Sheetz?
STAN: True.

At a gas pump.

I want to hear people,
what they think
about products.

What do they
think about Sheetz?

And again,
when we're going
to interview people

we wanna make sure
we interview people

right inside of
a Sheetz location.

We want to sit down
and have interviews
with someone who...

Have a sandwich.

Yeah, we'll
have a sandwich.

Here I am
enjoying a meatball sub
talking to this gentleman.

We're talking about
product placement.

And so maybe
we'll talk to somebody

who's against
product placement,

who's against advertising,
against marketing in films.

We'll talk to them
inside of a Sheetz.

While they have
the product in their hand.

Of course.
That's the best part.

Cool. All right, yeah.

And for me, what I'm
really excited about,

is to have Sheetz
be the home of
our collector cups.

Of course, the fleet truck,
(MIMICS HONKING) for
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

There's the cup
where you'll get

The Greatest
Floozie You'll Ever Drink.

Right inside there.

And of course, "Holy Sheetz,
I can't believe how
many choices there are!"

"Collect all four
at your Sheetz."

See? First time ever,
documentary with
collector cups.

They're going to be
on that like a wet T-shirt.

That's right.
That's big right there.
That's big.

What do you think
are the probability
of negative press is?

Is that, like, "Here's
this jerk who's making

"this horrible,
horrible marketing movie

"with the assumption
that Americans are idiots."

Okay? And then that's
what they talk about on E!
or something.

"Morgan is an idiot
and he thinks all of
Americans are idiots

"and all the people
who sponsored this film
are idiots.

"They're bigger idiots."
What does that
do to our brand?

This film will literally
talk about this thing that
is in front of all of us.

That is, literally,
right there every day

and bring it home
in a way that just
makes us think about it,

recognize it. I don't think
people will look at you
like you're stupid.

I think people
will look at you like,

"These people
were brave enough

"to be a part of this
because they're not
afraid of their brand."

Is there a plot?

Or is it just
shameless marketing?

No. The plot is literally
me trying to find the people
to support a film like this,

that talks about the topic.
This is the...
This is the movie right now.

This is it.
It's happening.

Is there a base number,
though,

of what you guys
are comfortable saying,

"We'll commit to this"?
Yes.

A hundred.
We had said we'd commit
to 100 as a base.

Thank you.
It was a pleasure.

It was a pleasure
to meet you.

STAN: Can we take
these mics off?

Couldn't have gone
any better than that
I don't think.

Or maybe it could have.

I don't know
if he's blowing
sunshine up our ass

trying to get
money out of us, or...

You know, I mean,
what's going on here?

This is all about marketing,
you know what I mean?

Are we really friends yet?

I don't know
if we're friends yet.

SPURLOCK: Meanwhile,
on the other side
of the country,

I think I may have finally
found a drink sponsor.

It's not Coke or Pepsi.
They wouldn't
call me back either.

It turns out,
though, that POM Wonderful
100% Pomegranate Juice

is filled with antioxidants,
is apparently 40%
as effective as Viagra,

and is a multimillion
dollar corporation

that takes a unique
approach to marketing.

The way that I wanna see POM,
or when we first
see POM in the movie,

or find out you are on,
is we get the call.

Maybe you guys
are gonna be in,
"We're gonna do it.

"We wanna be
the official beverage."

And so then
every other beverage
in the movie is blurred out.

(LAUGHING)

We will never see
another beverage
in the movie.

Every other thing will
start to become blurry
except for POM.

There's been
all those times where

there's been product
placement in movies

and integration.
We want to take
it one step further

where we want to be
the first movie ever

to actually have
30-second commercials

right in
the middle of the film.

(ALL LAUGHING)

So we're gonna
shoot commercial spots.

There'll be three spots
throughout the film,

as I said,
our top three sponsors.

The above-the-title sponsors

and the other two which
will have 30 second spots

of which POM would
be a great commercial.

We have some really good ideas
that we could do something
with that.

There's no better
marketer than NASCAR.

NASCAR does
a great job about showing
their loyalty to brands,

showing their partners
with brand sponsorships,

and one of the things
they do so well
is the NASCAR suit.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
needs to have a suit.

So then, when I go out and go
on the late night programs,

of course I'll be wearing
my Greatest
Movie Ever Sold suit,

which of course will have
a giant POM
Wonderful logo on it.

Other sponsor logos, you know,
covering it throughout.

And so that's the end.

As you can see
I'm at the end
of my POM bottle.

Look how happy I am.

And so we would love
to have you guys be
the official beverage.

What questions do
you have for me?
What can I answer for you?

We're an extremely
high quality product

with a real brand image
to uphold.

How do we know that
the other sponsors
you're gonna put in the film

are compatible with that?

The brands we wanna go after
are the brands
that really reflect

what I think
the movie stands for,
what I stand for.

Doing something different,
doing something innovative.

We think that you
represent POM in a way,
and POM represents you.

We're compatible together.

So that's why I'm
attracted to it.

The other thing is
full transparency
is very important to us.

I think it's
important that people
know how much we spent

to get in this movie
and that we actually
paid for it, because...

Why not?
Do you have any concerns?

Of course.
(SPURLOCK LAUGHS)

I wouldn't be a Jewish mother
if I didn't have concerns.

But part of
being out there and being
successful is taking chances.

You know?

So this is
uncharted territory,
which is exciting for us.

POM was uncharted territory.
Right.

So on your title card, it said
"Brand X - The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold."

Is Brand X what you're
going to put on there
or are you open to...

No, it's going to
be POM Wonderful.

Is it gonna be
POM Wonderful?

Well, I mean,
it could be.

If we make a deal.

Now we're getting
down to brass tacks.

If you want to be Brand X,
which I would love
for POM to be Brand X...

POM Wonderful presents
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

We wanna sell the
above-the-title sponsorship
for a million dollars.

Does a million dollars
come with 100% complete
satisfaction guarantee?

For me? Yes.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Talk about the amenities
that the Hyatt has to offer.

(INAUDIBLE)

In the film,
I'll come visit you guys

and pitch you about
being in the film.

Have you ever done
any product placement
or anything like this?

No.

And now I'd rather
know what we get?
What do we get?

So, are you in?
We're in.

(LAUGHS)

Mini Cooper,
official car of
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Are we getting seven?

(GURGLING)

Maybe I shouldn't be
celebrating just yet.

Even with all
these brands signed on
to the movie,

believe it or not
POM just won't give me
the million dollars.

For that to happen,
I have to accomplish
a lot of other things.

Like show on over
250 screens worldwide,

sell 500,000
downloads and DVDs,

generate more than 600 million
media impressions,

and make more than $10 million
at the box office.

And then there's
what's in all
the other contracts!

I can only stay at a Hyatt,
I have to pump gas
at a Sheetz,

I can only eat Amy's Pizza,

I can't disparage
the entire country of Germany,

and I have to
conduct an interview
in one of JetBlue's aircraft.

And that's just
the tip of the iceberg.

As all these
contracts are coming in,

I'm just a bit overwhelmed,
at a loss, confused.

So with POM,
based on this contract,

can I drink anything else
in the movie?

I don't think you can.

And I would certainly
recommend against it

because,
I think it sort of goes...

Even if there's not
an explicit prohibition,

you've got to
show some deference

to this sponsor
and this product.

It says here we're
gonna give them the right

to use content of the film.

Do we get to decide
what content that is?

Most of these sponsors
are looking for sort of

a reciprocal
quid pro quo thing

where you're gonna
use their brands,

but they do want
a piece of this movie

and to be able to
associate themselves
with the movie

and with the valuable
name and image
of Morgan Spurlock.

They're asking for
final approval of the film.

Do we have to show them
the whole movie?

If they have final approval
of the whole film,

yes, you'd have to show them
the whole movie.

(STAMMERS) But do...
We don't have to...

Do we have to do that

or can we just show them
pieces of the film?

This is
a multi-national brand,

and they're very protective
about how they're
going to be perceived,

and how their brand is
going to be perceived.

I feel like we're losing...

I'm gonna lose
the ability to actually have
control over the movie.

Mmm-hmm.
(LAUGHS)

And I just need you
to tell me...

Or you tell me if I am.

I just wanna know that
I can still make
the movie I wanna make.

How much influence are they
gonna have over the movie?

It depends on the movie
that you wanna make.

At the end of the day,
it's your voice

and it's gonna
be your reputation

as a filmmaker that
you have to protect.

You have to stand up
for what you believe
is working for the film

and what isn't
working for the film.

You have
a couple of choices.
Okay.

One choice is
to allow yourself
to be co-opted a little bit.

That's you know...
You dip your toe
in the water.

Pretty soon
you're putting your foot
in the water,

pretty soon
you're swimming.

And you don't
think you're changing.

You just say, "Okay,
I'll do a little more."

You end up swimming,
that's what
they're anticipating.

The other option
is to resist,

and maybe end up in Montana
growing your own food.

This movie is actually
documentary evidence

of how fucked up
marketing is.

It's shrill,
it's ever-present.

Whatever...

If there was ever
anything pristine

about the world we live in,

it no longer is, right?

Because you can't
go anywhere without
encountering this stuff.

First thought,
what's it gonna do
to Morgan Spurlock?

And what's it going to do
to the satire and the spoof?

Because you can
satirize and spoof yourself
out of your objective.

But out of this film
might come a transformed,

commercialized,

corporatized Morgan Spurlock.

And you'll never be able

to shake the identity.

That's your peril.

That's your challenge.

Well, have you got
a pair of these?

(BOTH LAUGHING)

They're giving you
products, too?

These are Merrells.

You're gonna be
completely clothed
with their products?

Absolutely.
And this is
a fantastic shoe.

What is it?
This is a Merrell.

Merrell?
Merrell, yeah.

Where is it made?

Merrell,
they're made in America.

Wow.
Yeah.

Right here
in the US of A.

Is it new?

They've been out
a few years.

I've had a pair
of these before,

and so we called them
because actually,
I'm a fan.

Yeah, how's
the arch support?

It's great.

And the water?
The water's good.

They make boots that
are waterproof as well.

So where are they sold?

They're sold in
outdoor stores and...

Catalogs?
And catalogs.

Merrell.com,
at their website.

(BELL DINGS)

I'll have to look at that.
Yeah.

Yeah.
This is a good shoe.

Yeah.

Tell you one thing
I'm glad of,

is that I'm not driving
some piece of shit Volkswagen
right now.

Like, this car
runs so good.

It is,
like, the greatest machine
you could have on the road.

Gets the best gas mileage.
It looks amazing.

How good do these cars look?
They look incredible.

Everybody seems to have
a differing opinion.

Can you still have credibility
once a brand gets involved?

I would argue it depends
on what kind of show it is.

If it's like a GRAMMY...
An Emmy Award winning drama,

like, I don't know, E.R...

Law & Order.

Law & Order,
I would say that's
a little more foreign.

If it's more of
a breezy show,
or a reality show...

Reality and sports,
all bets are off already.

It's already off.
Another question is
comedies and dramas.

That's the prime
real-estate of network TV.

What is the most egregious
product placement
you've ever seen?

In the last two years,
we're seeing people
say things in dialog

that was
intended for the show.

"I couldn't have been here
without Dr. Pepper!"

Maybe if you stopped drinking
so much Dr. Pepper.

We're on a road trip.

Drinking Dr. Pepper
is practically a requirement.

"I love that
Subway $5 Footlong!"

What can I
do for you, son?

I got an extra
Chicken Teriyaki Footlong.

I thought someone
would be interested in.

I think that's really...

That's fantastic.

Holy mother,
what's going on there?

No one says that,
no one acts that way...

Nobody acts that way.

No one acts that way.
It's always unnatural
and it's forced.

It's so forced that you go,
"I'm not watching a show.

"I'm watching a commercial."
And that ruins
the whole experience.

SPURLOCK: Brian Steinberg
may hate it when product
placement is too obvious,

but since I'm
contractually obligated,

to do an interview
in JetBlue's new
state-of-the-art Terminal 5,

I thought this
would be a great place

to talk to someone who thinks
the bigger problem

is that people don't know
they're being advertised to.

Robert Weissman
is the president

of the consumer advocacy group
Public Citizen,

and he's
championing a radical way

to differentiate
advertisements from
entertainment.

With product placement,
what do you think
should be done?

In films and
television...

The most important thing,
especially for television,

is to have
simultaneous labeling

that people are being
hit with an advertisement
at the moment they are.

Right.
There should be
some little pop-up

that comes on and says,
"Advertisement."

It could be
a scroll at the bottom,
a little pop-up, whatever.

At the moment that people
are being advertised to

they should know
they're being advertised to.

The advertisers in
the television industry say,

"The horror!
That'd be terrible."

Because it
would create clutter
on the screen.

Right.
But anyone who's
watched television

for between
three and 10 seconds

knows there's tons of
clutter on the screen
almost all the time.

There's the logo
for the network,

there's pop-up advertisements,

there's emergency
things going across...

Yeah.

...different programs,
there's two streams
going across,

and other stuff
on the side,

so there's
already tons of clutter.

If they can do clutter
for advertisement,

they can do
a little additional piece

to tell people that
even in the core program,

they're being exposed
to an advertisement.

(WOMAN ON PA)

Robert Weissman
loooves JetBlue!
Happy Jetting!

Wow, gosh, Morgan.

Pretty clever.
Thanks for flying
me here for that.

I guess you have more
power than I thought.

SPURLOCK:
While Robert may be
leading the charge

to get rid of
product placement,

another guy
practically invented it.

In Hollywood,
if you need a car,
you call Norm.

If you need a beer,
you call Norm.

In fact, if you need
just about anything,
you call one man,

Norm Marshall.

If anyone can tell me
how much influence

brands are going to have
over my movie, it's him.

Years ago,
we represented Alka-Seltzer.

Mmm-hmm.

And we got a call
from one of our friends
and he said,

"Hey, the director
just called a shot

"and he wants the character,
it's a comedy...

"And he wants the character
to chew an Alka-Seltzer tablet

"and then foam at the mouth."

We immediately
jumped in the middle of it

and had a direct call
to the director

who immediately started
giving me some push-back
and I, you know...

We couldn't resolve it,

so I called
the transportation coordinator

and said, "Billy,
bring all the cars back."

So Billy went to
the producer and said,

"How'd you piss off
Norm Marshall?"

"Well, I just was
talking to him about
this Alka-Seltzer thing"

"Well, he wants
all his cars back."

And then he
calls back and says,

"We've changed
the Alka-Seltzer scene."

So those are
the kinds of things

that you can't do
from Madison Avenue,

or whatever,
and that's how fluid
the industry is,

it changes very...

On a moment.
Yeah.

Who has more
power and influence
in Hollywood,

writers or brands?

The individual writer
on the individual show,
if that show is successful,

has more power than
the individual brand,

but overall there is
going to be a moment,

and I don't think
it's very far off,

where the larger brands,
meaning the larger
advertisers,

can dictate to
the network the conditions

under which they're
prepared to advertise.

Do you guys ever
recommend script changes?

Absolutely.
Yeah.

Doesn't always
happen, but...
Right.

(DIALING PHONE)

(PHONE RINGING)

WOMAN:
Thank you for calling
Straight Arrow Products.

(LAUGHING)

(WHISPERING)

I've gotta try to
keep a straight face.

Are you there? Hello?

Hello.
Hey.

KATZEV:
We just wanted to get a feel
for the idea of the scene

and how you were
gonna position...

For us, the whole goal

is to try and put
something in there...

Products that we think
that are interesting,

that could be fun,
that at the same time
represent an extension...

The extension
of what we're trying
to make with this film.

That's good,
'cause that's what
we liked about it.

Because again, the image
is to keep Mane 'n Tail fun.

Yeah, I completely agree,
and so for me,
in the scene that we wanna do,

you literally start off
on a close-up of the bottle.

Like, there's the bottle.

You pull out to
see here, you know,
here we are in the bathtub.

I'm there washing my hair.

You pull out a little more,
you see me washing
my little boy's hair.

You pull out
a little bit more,
and as I turn to the left

and there I am
washing my Shetland pony
in the tub.

WOMAN: (LAUGHS)
There you go!
KATZEV: There you go!

It works for us.

We'll probably see
a shot of it
in the beginning,

maybe have
something in the middle
where we have a phone call

talking about the placement
and then have it in the end.

Perfect.

Okay.
That sounds good then.

Anything else we can answer
for you guys right now?

No, that was
just the concern.

I wanted to hear exactly
what you guys were
gonna be doing with it

in the scenes and
that's about it.

We've been
a genuine company
for the past 40 years.

Right.
And we do not...

And we do not just don't...
Hey, people have fun with us.

They enjoy us. We have
a well-rounded good will

between our equine business
and our human side.

I mean,
this is truly
a rare product

in the fact that
it's crossed-over
as successful as it has.

I completely agree.

And it still
continues to be used
by horse and people

so that will...

And this is
a worldwide product,

so we try to keep it
fun and protect it.

Well, guys,
this is gonna be great.
Thank you so much,

and I'm so glad you guys
want to be in the movie.

No, thank you for
taking the time with us.

I'm glad you
liked the product.

It's my pleasure,
thank you, guys.
All right. Bye-bye. Thanks.

Bye.
WOMAN: Bye-bye.

Awesome!

The official shampoo of
The Greatest Movie
Ever Sold, Mane 'n Tail.

My concern is storytelling,
not story-selling.

And I don't want
to be someone

who's trying shove a product
down someone's throat.

I'm trying to
make people believe
these characters are real.

I've never been told,
you know,

"Have them hold it
a little bit higher,

"and get a little bit
closer to his face."

I've never been told that.

Until I started
directing movies,

I didn't realize
how it worked.

And then two guys
in suits come down
to the set

with a product and, like,

"Yeah, you need to
use this in the scene."

I'm like, "What are you
talking about?"

I haven't done
that much product placement
in my movies

because, for the most part,
I've actually
been usually refused.

If I wanna use...

I think all my first scripts

always had some scene
that took place at a Denny's.

Because I had
many scenes in my early 20s
that took place at a Denny's.

And Reservoir Dogs,

in the original script,
the opening scene

where they're all talking,
at a Denny's.

All right, the opening
scene in Pulp Fiction,

Pumpkin and Honey Bunny
at a Denny's.

Yeah.
In both cases,
Denny's goes, "No!"

Truthfully,
I don't ever notice it
unless it's super obvious.

And then when
it's super obvious,

it becomes
ridiculously obvious

and then it can
break the reality.

Pardon me?
SPURLOCK:
Is it advertising?

Oh, fuck yeah.

It's the movie business.

And the game now is,
"How cheap can you
make that movie?"

And "How much profit
can you make?"

SPURLOCK:
For a long time,
people would say

there's a line
between art and commerce.

Is that line just
getting thinner and thinner?

There are still
very, very powerful
and very talented artists

musically and in film.

Like, bands like Radiohead,
filmmakers like
Paul Thomas Anderson,

who are clearly not
interested in this.

Artistic integrity,
whatever.

I mean, you know,
how do you tell the story
you intended to tell

without compromising?

Yes. There's a bit
of compromise,

but, like I said,
if there's a car in a movie,

why not be a car
that a brand is helping
reach your budget?

Do you think
it's selling out?

To who?
We're all selling out.

GE is my boss,
really, okay?

They build jet engines
and weapons systems

and all kinds of crazy
electronic appliances

and they don't give
a flying fuck about art.

So we have three spots
that we're gonna look at.

The first one looks at
the healthful aspects

of POM Wonderful
100% Pomegranate Juice.

Where you see me right there
in the middle of
a pomegranate field.

There's only one problem.
You can't shoot that spot

because there
are no pomegranates
on the trees.

Did we miss the season?
Isn't it in May?

Oh, yeah.
We missed it.

So, this spot is
called "POM on My Mind."

I come out of the gym,
it's hot in the city.
I rub my eyes.

As I look back out,
everything in the world has
this red tint to it.

As I walk down the street,
I pass a donut shop,

where all
the donuts are stacked
one on top of the other.

And I just look at that,
it's a little weird,
and I walk past a fruit stand

where all the apples
are all stacked
one on top of the other.

What is going on?
What alterior
universe is this?

Suddenly,
all the women
that I see...

(ALL LAUGHING)

All of their
breasts are like this
double stacked uni-boob

in the middle of their chest.
I open up the fridge,

there's what I want.

Ah!

Then, it's POM Wonderful
100% Pomegranate Juice.
Getcha Some.

Then all of a sudden
I hear "Woof"

and I look down,
and there's my dog,

looking up at me
with two heads,

as he turns his heads,
and then that's the spot.

It doesn't talk about
our product attributes
as much as the other one does.

Yeah, yeah. It plays to
the icon of the bottle,

but right,
doesn't talk about
what's inside.

This spot starts
off with me popping up
into the camera

and I tap onto the lens.

(MIMICS TAPPING SOUND)

And it's like,
literally it's a close-up
right on my face.

And the camera
starts pulling out.

And I go, "Psst!
I wanna tell you a secret.

"This is just
between me and you, okay?

"But I drink POM Wonderful
100% Pomegranate Juice.

"All right?"
Now, the camera
keeps pulling back.

"Now, not only is it
loaded with antioxidants,

"but it also
improves blood flow and
increases prostate health.

"But, get this.

"50% of men with
mild erectile dysfunction
experience stronger erections

"after drinking it
for only four weeks."

And the camera
keeps pulling back,
keeps pulling back.

And I say,
"Now who wouldn't
want that."

And there I am standing
with a giant erection.

POM Wonderful 100%
Pomegranate Juice.

We'll be running that on TV.

TUPPER: (LAUGHS) Yeah...

I'm sure the FDA
would love that one.

This is a great campaign.

This campaign on the web would
get you more attention

than you ever knew
what to do with.

It could potentially turn off
some existing customers, no?

Maybe, I don't know.

I think you could be
a little more subtle
about it.

From a commercial
standpoint,

do you want us to
come up with
other concepts?

Wouldn't it be
interesting if we
took the Minute Maid example?

Their juice has
mainly apple juice.

Ours is 100% Pomegranate juice
and theirs is one-third of 1%.

Wow.
I wonder what you could do

with the content
Lynda presented
in an advertising campaign.

Yes. We would be
very happy if you could.

Okay. I'll go back to New York
and I'll get to
work on a new spot.

All right. Great!
Okay, great.
Thanks, guys.

Thanks for your time.

So,

just had every idea
that I went in to pitch
get shot down in the room.

One, after the other,
after the other.

And then had them basically
tell me what they
want me to pitch

which is basically
their own takedown piece
of every competitor they have.

See part of this...
Part of this movie is,
which is awesome,

is getting to see
the inner-workings
of all this stuff happening.

But the other part
of it, is like...

At what part...

At what part do I let myself
completely become a foil

to do everybody
else's bidding,
you know?

Is there such a thing
as truth in advertising?

Yes.

Advertisements
that say they're lying
are telling the truth.

What are some examples
of the most
egregious offenders

of commercials or
brands or products
that mislead you?

I have a lot
in my memory,

but I lather them
with amnesia

because they're
so disgusting.

Remember how we
talked about eating better?

Well, it starts today.

What's deceptive
about advertising is
the answer that it gives

to how we can be happy.

The answer that it gives
is that somehow,

products are connected
to our sense of well-being

and to our
sense of happiness.

And I think that is
kind of, the ultimate lie.

'Cause what makes us happy
is not the products.

What makes us happy
is what the products
are seen as a conduit to.

The whole spectacle
is constantly telling you
that you're nothing.

You're nothing.
You're inadequate.

You're a loser.
You're ugly.
You're stupid.

Unless you buy this thing.

Now, how long
does the feeling
of contentment

you're supposed to
get from that thing,

how long does
that really last,

assuming it even
happens at all?

It doesn't last.
There is no
such contentment.

You can't really be happy

because of some
purchase like that.

So advertising
tells us a great deal.

Advertising tells us
something very real
about where people are.

It's just that
it's been disconnected
from how to achieve it.

The truth in advertising
is a big thing
people keep talking about.

Is there truth in advertising?
Can we trust what the ads say?

Bigger thing is,
can you trust what
regular people say?

Take that fish right there.

That fish is Nemo 2.

Nemo 1 died in
a terrible drowning accident,
apparently, in his own bowl,

a few days ago.

So while my little boy
was still asleep,
I came downstairs,

fished him out,
flushed him down the toilet,
went to the pet store,

got another one as close to
the exact color
as I could recollect...

Nemo 2.

How long can I
keep this going

until my son actually realizes
that it's not the same Nemo?

I don't know.

Truth in advertising.

Is there truth
in advertising?

Yeah, I think
there's some.

Truth to me, honesty,
integrity, character.
Just be real about it.

No robbery without a gun.

There's some honest
advertising out there.
There is.

It does exist,
and that's cool.

But I just don't
like stuff that lies.

There is definitely
truth in advertising.

You just have to
gloss it a little bit

to make people
want to hear it.

When you read the labels,
the ingredients
labels on food products

and if you have any knowledge
of what the stuff
is that's in there,

it's shocking.

When you look
at a juice bottle
that says 100%,

100% what?

They think it's
100% real juice,

and it's not,
it's only 10% juice

and they buy it and
drink it and they think

they're drinking
something healthy,

but it's not.
That's offensive to me.

SPURLOCK: Check the label.
That's what they tell us to do
when we go shopping.

But how much of
what's on the label
can we really believe?

Take this juice.
Label has a giant picture
of a pomegranate on it,

blueberries front and center.
Must be filled with
all that good stuff, right?

Well, guess again.

99% of this juice
is apple and grape.

So how much
pomegranate and blueberry
is in it?

Less than 1%.

That's why I
drink POM Wonderful.

It's 100% pomegranate juice.

You'd have to
drink 90 of these,
that's 80,000 calories

to get the same
amount of pomegranate juice
that's in just one of these.

Check the label
on that one.

POM Wonderful. Get Real.

Hello sir. Good morning.

Welcome to Grand
Hyatt Hotel, Sao Paulo.

Thank you very much.

As a diamond member,
you have automatically

an upgrade to our
executive rooms.

After flying all night,
I'm ready for
a little sleepy time.

Sao Paulo is one of
the largest cities
in the Western Hemisphere.

And recently they've
done something radical.

Passing a bill outlawing
all outdoor advertising.

No billboards.
No banners, no posters.
Nothing.

Mayor Gilberto Kassab
passed the bill into law.

And Regina Monteiro,
the director
for urban planning of the city

was the one who originally
came up with the idea.

What was the inspiration
for the clean city law?

(IN PORTUGUESE)

People became
more and more aware

that the pollution
in Sao Paulo

was one of its main problems.

And by "pollution"
we not only mean air,
water, or sound,

but also visual pollution.

We could no
longer see the city.

We were just
reading and reading.

I try to do things
to change the city

so that Sao Paulo
can be seen in the world

as something different since
it does not have
natural beauty.

It needs something else

so that people
can sense it as
something special.

Research has shown
positive feedback
from 90% of the city.

Great.

Thank you very much.

So what was the city
like before the ban?

(IN PORTUGUESE)

There were billboards
all over the place.

It would make people confused.

The absence of outdoor
advertising has allowed us
to see more of nature.

Everything is much clearer.

We are now able to focus
on things that we
want to see and admire,

without having other
strong images deviating
our focus all the time.

So this is
the biggest shopping street
in the middle of Sao Paulo.

The question is, if suddenly
all the advertising goes away,

how has their
business been affected?

So, we're gonna find out
from some of these
shop-owners what's up.

So how do people
know about your business
if you don't advertise?

Well, by Internet,
by mouth to mouth.

Is there such a...
Yeah.

Word of mouth?
Yeah.

Word of mouth?

Word of mouth.
Yeah, that's it.

Did the way
you advertise to
get customers

change from
before the ban to now?

(IN PORTUGUESE)

You have to change
the whole structure
of the business.

Today we work
instead of investing
in advertising,

to have something that
attracts the customer.

Our job is to
look for referrals.

Not one ad on that taxi.
Did you see that?

No ads on the taxis.
No ads on the buses.

There's no ads
on the buildings.

It's amazing.

You might not need
traditional advertising
in Sao Paulo

but in this country,
I still need to generate
600 million media impressions.

To achieve that
my movie's going to need

one pretty
inspired ad campaign.

Tony Seiniger is
a Hollywood legend,

having pretty much
invented the blockbuster.

And Peter Bemis is responsible
for some of the most iconic
movie posters today.

If anyone can give me
some of that
Hollywood marketing magic,

it's these guys.

Being of
a certain age, I remember
The Greatest Story Ever Told,

the story of Jesus.

When was that movie made,
mid-60s, right?
Yeah.

The first exercise I
went through mentally
and creatively,

was to go and do
religious take-offs, right?

Which, I think,
the blasphemy at least gets
you some ink, okay?

The first comp

will be you, Morgan.

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

Only you.

I've always wanted
to rip this off.

He's always wanted to
rip off The Last Supper.

Rip off The Last Supper,
all right?

So I figure...

This would be you
and you've just got a big...

That's pretty fantastic.

SEINIGER:
There you are,
you're like this.

You put everybody
who was iconographic
of commercialism

as the disciples
coming in on you.

So, it's like the Oscar.

Yeah.

And in fact,
your legs would be posed,

but not so close that
my friends at the Academy
would sue us all.

This is you,
carrying the cross

that is covered with
stickers like a NASCAR.

(SPURLOCK LAUGHING)

That's as sick
as it gets.

Let's start with these six
and we'll trim from there.

Good, okay.
In terms of
title treatments,

these are both
good ways to go.
Yes.

You should think about it,

talk about it
and then we'll all talk.

These should be
underground, right?

That's a great...

You're talking about
wild posting, right?
Yeah.

Wild post these.

Yeah, exactly.

You put those up in New York.
Like real street art,
you know?

A studio would go, "No...way."

I'm not touching them.

I'm not going
anywhere near that.

I think everything
is so spot on.
It's awesome.

Amazing.

What a great client.

Thank you.
All right.

SPURLOCK:
As important and great
as an iconic poster is,

what's even more
vital to a film's success
is its trailer.

Using a new technique
called neuromarketing,

Martin Lindstrom believes
he's unlocked the secret

to creating
a memorable one
each time.

Trailers are now
more and more produced

in Los Angeles
based on neuromarketing.

A trailer is
deadly important for
the survival of your movie.

Now what do you do
to create the best scene?

What you have to find out
is when is the emotional peak.

The highs and the lows.

How do you create
such an engaging story

that people just
have to see it.

And that's exactly
what's happening now.

So they're typically testing
five different trailers
for each of the movies,

the larger movies,
and figuring out

which one is the most
emotionally engaging,

which one is
creating the most curiosity,

if it's a science
fiction movie,

which one is creating
the most fear,
and so forth.

Is this whole thing,
because it sounds a bit crazy,

but is neuromarketing evil?

It's like anything else.

At the end of the day,
there will be
people abusing it.

Which is the reason
why it's fantastic

that you now dare
to go through it

and experiment like this
to show what really goes on.

SPURLOCK: To show how
successful his technique is

Martin is putting me through
a typical neuromarketing test,

strapping me down to an MRI
and blasting my head
with commercials.

Remember that scene in
A Clockwork Orange?

It's kind of like that.

LINDSTROM: There is
three things we're going to
look at right now.

One is fear.

One is craving.

And one is sex.

Fear, craving, sex.

Fear, craving, sex.

Fear, craving.
Fear, craving, sex.
Fear, craving, sex.

Fear, craving.
Fear, craving, sex.
Fear, craving, sex.

You may be dizzy,
so just sit for a minute,
okay?

(GROANS) Oh!

Phew!

Like, in between
each one of the breaks,
I would doze off

and literally, I would dream,
like in a commercial.

Like, the dreams
would play out almost
in a 30 second commercial.

It was kind of weird.

This is my brain?
This is your brain.

This is my brain
on commercials.
Right.

Let's take a look
at the results.
This is your brain.

There's an amazing amount
of brain activity going on.

Did you feel like you wanted
to have a Coke after
the scanning session?

I would have liked
to have had a Coke
after the scanning session.

Because I remember,
you actually said that
as you left the studio

and I want to tell you why.
Take a look at this.

Okay.

Basically,
the red/yellow area

shows that you
are highly engaged

and there's a lot
of activity going on.

And not only that, we can
see you so emotionally engaged

that something
else is happening.

The amygdala was
also activated.

This is actually
an area responsible
for two activities.

One is fear
and the other one
is the release

of a neuro-transmitter
called Dopamine.

And guess what?

You got a release of Dopamine
when you saw the Coca-Cola ad.

You actually
wanted to have it.

This is addiction.

This is not anything else.
This is addiction.

And this is really
the reason why neuromarketing
is happening now

because there's no way
you could explain that to me

when I was interviewing
just after watching
the commercial, right?

Yeah, no way.

Do you think that
by doing stuff like this

you're manipulating consumers
to make a choice?

Let's get one thing right,
advertising, as a concept,
is manipulation.

But don't be fooled,
because if you go
into a retail store

and you think you're safe,
that's the point
where you're most volatile,

or you're the most vulnerable
in the whole process.

(EXHALES)

Where should I be able to go
where I don't see
one bit of advertising?

To sleep.

That's what
it's coming down to.

It affords no limits.

And that's the nature
of the commercial instinct.

It doesn't know boundaries.
It doesn't know limits.

It goes into areas
that should be taboo

like commercializing
childhood.

Corporations are
raising our children.

McDonalds feeds them.
And Disney and Time Warner
entertains them.

So, that's
becoming a world,

which is designed to create
conditioned responses
just like Pavlov's dog.

We're told that what makes
children happy are the things
that corporations sell.

And if we immerse
kids in that from birth,

then it becomes
what makes them happy.

And it's not
good enough to say,

"Pick up a stick and make it
into a Harry Potter wand."

You have to have
the "real wand."

From a young age,
you're buying
into this identity,

"This stuff
makes me who I am."

Right. And what that does
is take away
from creative play.

Kids are
learning about the world

based on what's
best for corporations

and they can't
be objective.

Now Boarding:
Flight 755 To Aruba.

Whoa!
Look at all the space!

BOY: I've never had
so much legroom!

Arr! Lookie here!

There's a TV
in every seat!

(MIMICS BEEPING)

I'm hungry.
I want something to eat.

Here's some
free yummy snacks!

Yummy!
Yum, yum, yum, yum!

What a nice lady.

Flight attendants,
prepare for takeoff.

(MIMICKING
PLANE ENGINE ROARING)

Prince Dastan,
have you wondered...

SPURLOCK: It's almost
impossible for a film
to become a blockbuster

without reaching kids.

Specifically high-school kids.

And in 1989 one of
the last barriers
to that audience was broken.

For the past 20 years,
Channel One has been piping
their news broadcasts

into more than 8,000 schools
all across the country.

First up today,
the topic of bullying.

In exchange for
providing free televisions
for each of the classrooms,

Channel One shows
their broadcasts

for 12 minutes
a day every school day

and reaches 6 million of
one of the nation's most
coveted demographics.

And because of that,
Channel One gets
to charge a premium.

Each 30 second TV spot
can cost upwards of $200,000.

As much as
a primetime TV show.

SPURLOCK: Why do you think
there are commercials
in there?

All of the commercials are
so like, of course they
would do them for teens.

Thank you so much for
that acne commercial

I don't mind it,

because they're just
pounding information

into you the whole time,
the whole news broadcast

so that's
like a break, turn,

talk to your friend
for a little bit.

Like, we're here to learn,
not to buy, in my opinion.

Some writer during
the late 1800s said

that schools should teach you
how to think,
not what to think.

But I think that advertising
is really trying to
tell you what to think,

and so I don't
think that should be
in a school environment.

I feel like the amount
of advertisement that we
already have is enough,

so if you added any more,
it would just be ridiculous.

I don't want to
have our school name
changed to "Red Bull High."

SPURLOCK:
Sure, who'd wanna go
to Red Bull High?

But The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold High?
That sounds like a winner.

You see,
these days,
every major brand

is dying to get their name
on a building or a stadium.

And I may not be able
to afford a stadium,

but in the cash-strapped
school district
of Broward County,

I may have found
the next best thing.

I've been in my job
for 12 years.

And I swear,
eight of those 12 years,
we've sat down every year

and said,
"Okay, what are we
cutting this year?"

Our school board is looking
at every way to cut costs

that doesn't affect
the classroom as they can.

And, you know,
it's very hard.

I feel bad for
what they have to

sit there and try and
figure out what to cut

because you can't
make everybody happy.

We're not allowed to do
the outside of school buses.

We were looking at providing

all of our work vehicles
with the possibility of
putting advertising on them.

What's been the reasoning
for not wanting to have it
on the outsides of buses?

That's a state law.
We would love to have it
on the outside of buses,

but it's the state of Florida
that has said "No."

It seems like with
the school bus
advertising,

you'd have to advertise
on a ton of school buses.

Otherwise you're hitting
the same kids every day.

It has to be a message.
Right.

Right, because
like a community college,
it's great, go to college.

Right. They still do
not want to do product.

Would it be more lucrative
if it was products?

If they could do
their 69 cent whatever
in a school bus...

Yeah, yeah.

(LAUGHING)

But then, you're gonna
deal with the health issues.

And with
the parents that are upset
that you're advertising...

Fast food.
...that stuff
to their kids

when they're captive
on a school bus.

Yeah.

Now, Tallahassee is
cutting and cutting
and cutting,

but you need to
implement this program,

but we're not giving
you any funding to do it.

This is a law firm.
Yeah.

Met-Rx.
Orthodontics.

Orthodontist.

Very applicable to
high school kids.

"Call us to place
your business name here
for advertising."

That would be
my number.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

That's pretty much it.
We had some other ones up...

The banner contract
is a year.

I love that it's
a high school where I can

go get the home of
the two-for-one tattoo.

Well, (CLEARS THROAT)
I am not sure about that one.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

This is truly advertising.

Someone looks at this
and they go

"Oh yeah,
I saw these guys
on the bus."

With all the banners
that are around here and on
the inside of the stadium,

how much revenue
does that generate a year?

Probably under
five-seven thousand dollars.

I think I'm gonna
have to come back
and get a banner.

All right, yeah, a couple!
On the fence line?

That's a deal,
we're gonna shake
on that right now.

All right.
It's a deal.

Good. Who do I
send the contract to?

Maybe this is as
big as the wrap gets.

That's still pretty big.
Yeah.

Really, so that's
only 75 bucks a month?

Why do you
think so many people
are against advertising

in school districts
and in high schools

and juniors highs,
elementary schools?

Well, because
school is sacred.

And school is
meant for learning.

But when you're in a school
and your budgets
are being cut...

Right. How are you
going to make ends meet

without letting people go
or cutting programs.

You gotta be creative.
Yeah.

Right there.
Yeah, right there.

As low as $75 a month.

I think it's a really
great way to advertise.

I love it.

Yeah.
Great. Done.

Look at that,
you're two for two.

We're doing great.
We're doing great.

We're on a roll now.

Now if I can
just convince them
to name our building.

Oh, the building would be
the best thing ever.
(LAUGHING)

We're gonna work
on that next.

We're really
gonna work on that.

Yeah.

So I'm David Laks
and I work with Morgan's team

and my role here
is to help
facilitate interaction

between the sponsors

and all the people
involved in helping

to promote
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

This is what we're doing.

This whole thing's
a bit layered,

because we're selling
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,

but The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold

will be selling
all your products.

What's good for you
is good for the movie,
good for Morgan, good for us.

It's all great.

Okay, so we set ourselves
some objectives.

They shouldn't be
too contentious.

They begin fairly robustly,
I think.

Build buzz, for the purpose
of selling tickets.

The audience is
no longer an audience.

It's a partner in
whatever communication
you choose to create.

The first two weeks
in a movie are crucial.

There's a lot of
reasons for this.

There's just more movies,
there's more content

there's more things
in the world now,

so the cultural decay rate
of ideas is much, much faster.

So one of the lines
we discussed

the very first time we met
with Morgan and the team
was "Don't sell out, sell up!"

I kind of like that.
Sounds good,

not sure what it meant,
but I liked it.

We wanted to extend that
kind of meta-narrative

down to
the audience themselves
and make them involved

in the construction
of the marketing.

There's a hope
that when you sit down

in a theater
to watch the movie,

you will see and
understand the flip-side
of everything we did

to get you there
because you would have
been involved with it

in some capacity.

Hopefully making
the whole experience
kind of, pleasingly circular.

Well, we wanted to
either name a building

or we saw the mural
she wanted to paint on
the back court of her school

which, to paint a mural there
would be fantastic.

The banners that
she has are amazing.

I told him my
school is for sale.

(ALL LAUGHING)

And that's her
district by the way.

We love the idea
of the Board of Ed,
wrapping something here.

It's just,
we're open to anything.

We have 12 sponsors,
and if we average
out all the sponsors

and say, "Well,
boy, each of our sponsors
reaches 15 million people"'

that is a lot of people
to reach with one
viral promotion.

Since we do have
a television station,

since I'm gonna have to
pitch our education
television station

which represents
a wonderful opportunity
for the film to co-brand,

we could maybe do
a student film festival...

WOMAN: Ooh!
A student film festival!
A student film...

I thought about that idea
on the way to the meeting

so that could be
a way to integrate and
to co-brand the film

with our school system.

So, we're putting a sticker
on our best selling pizzas

and that's gonna
be a drive-to-web,
that'll be our micro-site

and we'll link up
to the movietickets.com site
and whatever else works out.

And we're gonna have

a portion of the proceeds

of the sales of the pizzas

gonna go to feeding
people at a food bank.

It's really up to you.
If you wanna do
exposure on a building

which then locks
you into that...

SPURLOCK: I think
a building is one thing.

Okay.

To do a building
would be great.

To do, you know,
a mural and some banners
would be fantastic.

To do the film festival
would be amazing.

Morgan did film
a video for us.

For everyone who
has flown JetBlue,

you know that we
have individual TVs

in each seat-back,
so we will run
the welcome video,

I believe it's
four to six weeks
leading up to the premiere.

How did you get financing
for the production?

It's being paid for
by the companies.

It's being paid for
by sponsors.

Oh! Excellent!

Yeah. Yeah.

Can you turn us over
your sponsor list?

(ALL LAUGHING)

Maybe after the movie opens
we can talk about that.

Okay.
Yeah.

Cool.
Yeah.

What I've started to realize
over the course
of making this film

is that once you open the door
to being what one person said,

one person called me,
which is being quote unquote
"brand friendly"'

then that door is open.

The floodgates
are open and suddenly,
all of these opportunities,

different opportunities,
whether it's for
promoting the film

like we're
trying to do right now

or it's being tied to
somebody else's product,

all these
different opportunities

that represent real difficult

moral and artistic dilemmas
start popping up.

Here's a case in point.

(ON VOICEMAIL) Morgan,
it's Ben Silverman
giving you a call.

I've set up a new business
with Will Arnett
and Jason Bateman

that is focused on
advertising production.

And we've got
a really great idea
we're working on

in and around
the world of male grooming.

We want it to be
funny and capture the tone
that you do so well

and we thought of
a fantastic brand partner
to work on it with us.

Give me a call back
and we'll set something up

to introduce you
to Will and Jason.

Thanks, buddy. Bye.

How do you say no to that?

SPURLOCK:
What's a sell-out?

A sell-out is
someone that has
no honor

and does something
just for money

and doesn't take anything else
into consideration.

A sell-out is when,
to attain a certain level

you give up
some of those principles

that formed your identity
to begin with.

So I'm making this film
that's actually being paid for
by advertisers,

by companies,
about advertising.

Right.

Yeah.
So am I selling out
by doing that?

I don't think so.

I mean, unless
the point you're making is

that advertising is
a bad thing.

Are you doing it
with integrity?

I hope so. (LAUGHS)

And with a viewpoint
of being objective?

Or are you doing it slanted,
for the side of the advertiser

as a puppet,
doing whatever the
advertisement wants you to do?

As long as you do
better than they do on it

then you're not...
Then you're buying in.

SPURLOCK:
Is that right?

Am I really not selling out?

Or am I finally
just buying in?

(R&B MUSIC PLAYING)

MALE ANNOUNCER:
Every sip gets you closer
to Justin Timberlake mp3s.

Hey.
Hey to you.

SPURLOCK: Seems like pushing
a product is the new standard
for gauging success.

Today's superstar
singers pitch for perfume,
action stars vouch for vodka.

Even America's Sweetheart
is the new face
for a make-up company.

For a filmmaker like me,
this is pretty
uncharted territory.

And to navigate these waters,
who better to turn to

than one of the most
successful celebrity
spokesmen himself,

The Donald.

Is there a difference between
selling out and being
a celebrity spokesperson?

Well, the question's
been asked because I do
a lot of different things.

I'll do commercials
for different companies,
good companies.

I did Oreo's cookies
with the Manning brothers

Peyton Manning
and Eli Manning.

Trump!

And we're gonna be huge.

I feel if the commercial
is done properly,

if you watch
what you're doing,

it actually
enhances your brand.
It doesn't hurt your brand.

There are some people,
that, as an example there
are certain singers,

entertainers that
would never, ever
do a commercial.

I could name names,
but I don't want to

because I've tried
to get certain songs

and I could
offer them $10 million
to play a song once

and they would turn it down.

I mean, I think they're crazy,
but they'd turn it down.

But there are
people like that,

that would never
partake in a commercial.

I don't think
they're helped or hurt,

but I think they should
take the money and run.

You take care of yourself.
I really appreciate it.

Thanks.

SPURLOCK:
But some musicians
have done just that.

You see,
brands have always known
that one of the fastest ways

to make their
products seem cool

was to pair them with
the hottest artists.

(VERTIGO PLAYING)

(BACK IN BLACK PLAYING)

(SPACE ODDITY PLAYING)

SPURLOCK: And today,
more and more musicians

are finding out just
how important it can be

to get their music
supported by brands.

What you have now
is artists partner up
with different brands

to kind of,
get that extra push,

and you do anything
from liquor sponsors

to cell phone companies
to car companies
all the way around,

to, kind of,
round out the promotion
of your project.

The artists are
competing for impressions.

If they can do commercials,
if they can endorse a product,

anything that they can do
to get more impressions,
the better.

After the Bacardi ad came out,
I don't know how
quickly it happened,

you could physically see
one step away

from having
a line chart of like,

"This is how many more people
are starting to
listen to your music."

Licensing to
the commercials and stuff

now I know, just is a good way
for a lot of people
to hear you.

And I just want everyone
to hear our music,
that's all I want.

What would you
never put your music in?

If somebody said,
"We've got a commercial,
we're selling blank."

Our sniff test for
whether or not

it's all right to put
a song in a commercial

is whether or not
that commercial

is likely to make you
feel worse about yourself.

Is it honoring the music?

And I gotta say,
we have not always done this.

There were times,
especially early in our career

where we just needed the cash

and our songs were in

some pretty gross commercials.

They had the "Got milk?" ads,
and we never did
a "Got milk" ad

because Dre
doesn't drink milk,

you know what I'm saying?

It was as simple as that.
It was a big check
and everything

you know,
but Dre didn't drink milk,
so we never did it.

I was going through
all kinds of ideas

with the manager
and were like,

"Well, maybe it can be
soy milk."

You know, I mean,
they were like
"No, it's gotta be milk."

So we didn't do it

because that maintains
our artistic integrity
of what we stand for.

Are you trying
to establish OK Go
as a brand?

Every band ever
has had an identity.

Every person has an identity

and, it's cool
to have your own identity,

but when you call it a brand,

it's suddenly cheesy.

Would you guys be
willing to do a song,

create an original
identity anthem
for the movie?

I'd love to.

That sounds amazing.
Yeah, awesome.

Does that...
Wait, hold on.

If we make the theme for
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,

does that mean that we're
the greatest rock band ever
to write a theme song?

Absolutely.

I started this PR
firm back in 1983

and something occurred to me:
that we were living
in wacky times.

Right.

And here is what
was wacky about them.

In the world we live,
there's this umbilical cord

between fame
and credibility.

So, visibility
equals credibility.

In the world we live in,
you cannot be credible
unless you're visible.

And so you see
what we're doing here.

Yeah, I do.

What do we do?

Well...

What do I do to
get the message out?

Sell, sell, sell!

That's it?

What the hell do
you think you do, son?
(LAUGHS)

Sell! You're in America!

The path to salvation is
not through being quiet.

Okay.
And being subtle.

Not in today's world.
You gotta sell.

SPURLOCK:
This is where you really
start to see cause and effect.

It's pretty amazing to
see behind the curtain

like we've gotten
to on this film.

Now, what happens
from this point on,
that's the real question.

Now the movie's gonna
go out in the world.

And now's the point

where I start to wonder
exactly how affected
I'll be by everything.

This is it.
This is the start.

This is the beginning
of the whole thing.

As much as
the beginning of the process
was the beginning of this,

with what our movie is about,
like, this is the beginning.

This is literally
where it really starts.

You know our
next guest from his

You know our
next guest from his

prize-winning documentary,
Super Size Me.

His latest is called
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

It is brought to you
by Hyatt, POM Wonderful,
JetBlue,

Mini Cooper,
Mane 'n Tail Shampoo,
the island of Aruba

and Amy's Frozen Pizza.
It opens in theaters Friday.

Please say hello
to Morgan Spurlock!

(THE GREATEST SONG
I EVER HEARD PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

What's happening right now
is in the movie?

Is actually in
the film right now.

So we've actually in a way,
gone back in time.

We have.
The space-time continuum
has shifted completely.

This is like the Inception
of documentaries.

Man, these Old Navy clothes
look so good!

So here's
the trailers you've done.

We did Avatar,
Alice in Wonderland,
Toy Story 3

and this is you, right here,
that we're doing today.

And now
The Greatest Movie.

So you have
a key to their brain.

Here we go,
three, two...

And I'd like to welcome you
aboard JetBlue Airways,

the greatest airline
you'll ever fly.

Now that we're in the air
I'd like to tell you a little
more about your flight.

ALL: The Greatest
Movie Ever Sold!

You are a shameless whore
if ever I've met one,
Morgan Spurlock.

Yes, I am.

Morgan Spurlock, everyone.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
opens Friday!
We'll be right back.

SPURLOCK: Yep,
everywhere you look
these days

it seems like someone's
trying to sell you something.

Best I can do
is just show you
that it's out there.

Because at
the end of the day,
marketing works.

But maybe we all
don't have to buy in.

Maybe there's still a place
free from all the advertising

where we can actually
think for ourselves.

So go outside!
Take a nice long walk.
Find that place.

And when you do it,
do it in a nice
comfortable pair of Merrells.

Let's throw some rocks.

(SHUTTERBUG PLAYING)

NADER: Oh, boy. Look at this.

Oh, man! Payola!

Not only that,

but I'll never be
able to forget it.

After a million steps,
"Morgan gave me this."

Morgan Spurlock
on the march!

Thank you very much, Morgan.
Really, it's very thoughtful
of you.

It's hard to get
shoes that fit.

(SHUTTERBUG PLAYING)

(PHONE RINGING)

(ON PHONE)
Yeah. Ron.

SPURLOCK:
Hey, man, how are you?

I'm good. What's up?
I'm good.

I just wanted to
call you back,

touch base with you and hear
what you were thinking.

Okay, it's a little weird.
I'm still talking
about it with Tarssa,

and she's not quite
ready to respond yet,
I don't think.

Okay.
Cool, man.

'Cause the last
couple of paintings I sold,
sold for a $120.

So, I don't know...
I know you're big time.

I know that.

Can I put you on
the phone with her?

'Cause I wanna make
a decision and
it's getting harder.

Do you have like
10 more seconds?

Sure.
Hold on.

TARSSA:
Hey, Morgan.

Hey, Tarssa,
how are you?

Good. How are you?
Good.

So, I just wanted
to talk to you guys

about the placement
in the film...

I was telling Ron,
we could have a card
with his photograph

of him painting
the painting.

So he could,
so Ron English could be

"The Greatest
Artist to Ever Paint."

Um.

Yeah, I mean,
the greatest artist

that ever lived or
the greatest artist...

Yeah, he wants to be
the greatest living artist.

The greatest
living artist.

Okay, done, so we'll say,
"Ron English,
The Greatest Living Artist."

And he'll be the only
person in the credits,

that'll actually have
a photograph of him.

Cool.