POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is a 2011 documentary film about product placement, marketing and advertising directed by Morgan Spurlock. The premise behind the production is that the documentary itself would be entirely paid for by sponsors, thus being a form of metafilm. The film's slogan is "He's not selling out, he's buying in."

This article is about the movie. For the city briefly renamed for the movie, see Altoona, Pennsylvania.
POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMorgan Spurlock
Written byJeremy Chilnick
Morgan Spurlock
Produced byJeremy Chilnick
Keith Calder
Abbie Hurewitz
Morgan Spurlock
Jessica Wu
StarringMorgan Spurlock
J. J. Abrams
Jimmy Kimmel
CinematographyDaniel Marracino
Edited byThomas M. Vogt
Music byJon Spurney
Distributed bySony Pictures Classics
Stage 6 Films
Release dates
  • January 22, 2011 (2011-01-22) (Sundance)
  • April 22, 2011 (2011-04-22) (United States (limited))
Running time
88 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.5 million
Box office$700,000 approx. (USA) (28 August 2011)

People appearing in the film

Besides a great number of sponsoring and non-sponsoring corporate figures appearing in the film, others include:

Release

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]

Sponsors

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 generating 600 million media impressions.[1] As of 26 August 2011, the film had an estimated gross of approximately US$638,476.[4][5]

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 products to be used in the production of the film. Many other brands only provided products or contributed to the promotion of the movie.[6]

For 60 days, beginning April 27, 2011, the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania (home of Sheetz, one of the movie's major sponsors) ceremonially 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.[7]

Other sponsors include:

Music

Spurlock used Brooklyn dance-punk duo Matt and Kim's 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.[9]

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.[10] 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.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."CameraBuggin'"Big Boi vs. Matt & Kim3:33
2."The Greatest Song I Ever Heard"OK Go3:57
3."I'll Never Love Again"Taio Cruz3:49
4."Run On"Moby3:43
5."Cameras"Matt & Kim3:33
6."Sacramento"Oxygen3:48
7."Greatest Spurlock Spoken Word (You Ever Heard)"Spurlock and his People2:50
8."Brand Search"Jonathan Spurney3:14
9."Cha Cha Cha"Eric V. Hachikian3:01
10."Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: In the Hall of the Mountain King"Alexander Gibson & The London Festival Orchestra2:15

Reception

The film received 72% positive reviews from film critics on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.20 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold plays smartly to Spurlock's strengths, and the result is a breezy, albeit not particularly enlightening documentary."[11] On Metacritic, the film received a score of 66 out of 100.[12]

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]

References
  1. Holden, Stephen (April 21, 2011). "Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011) - NYT Critics' Pick". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  2. Carr, David (April 15, 2011). "Financing the Hand That Slaps (or Nibbles) You". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  3. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold at IMDb
  4. POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Greatest-Movie-Ever-Sold
  5. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold http://www.boxoffice.com/statistics/movies/pom-wonderfuls-greatest-movie-ever-sold-2011
  6. Ozanich, David (April 19, 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: Morgan Spurlock Talks POM Wonderful Presents the Greatest Movie Ever Sold". MovieWeb.
  7. "Altoona, Pa., changes name to Spurlock movie title". Archived from the original on May 27, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  8. "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold media kit" (PDF). Sony Pictures Classics. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  9. "This headline is brought to you by Morgan Spurlock". The Independent. April 22, 2011. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  10. "Week's new releases - The Greatest Song I Ever Heard by OK Go". HMV Digital. May 20, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
  11. "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  12. "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
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