One thing can be said for Lynda and Stewart Resnick, the owners of Paramount Farms and the POM Wonderful and Wonderful Pistachios brands: They're certainly aggressive. Wonderful Pistachios is taking on Frito-Lay with its first Super Bowl commercial next month, for instance. And the Resnicks signed on as title sponsor for director Morgan Spurlock's 2011 film about product placement.

So it isn’t surprising that the billionaire philanthropists behind the two highly successful brands aren't backing down in their fight with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over whether their advertising can claim significant health benefits tied to POM.

After more than two years of wrangling, Federal regulators this week released their final ruling against POM and its pomegranate juice, saying advertising for the juice — such as a 2012 print ad headlined “Cheat Death” that aimed to rebut the FTC's case against the brand — made misleading claims about the drink’s health benefits. Continue reading...

One Direction stormed the Today Show this morning, with a concert in NBC's New York digs in Rockefeller Square and news of a 3D concert film slated for next year (directed by product placement foe-turned-champion Morgan Spurlock). Hot on the Heelys of its Pepsi "Live for Now" US TV campaign with NFL star Drew Brees, the band is extending its brand to Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste: 1D Colgate Max Fresh. The collection of three oral care products, available in the U.S. only, is designed "to add some fun to teens' and tweens' brushing regimens," said Philip Durocher, VP and GM of U.S. Oral Care for Colgate-Palmolive. Hopefully fans will be inspired to brush their teeth in one direction (roll that brush, kids!) too.

While Taylor Swift is slightly older, at the ripe old age of 22, she's also quick to embrace novel ways to promote her albums, including partnering with Keds and Papa John's for her latest release, Red. Next up: her mobile app (available in iTunes and Google Play) is incorporating augmented reality so fans can access exclusive content related to Red. By opening the app's AR feature and pointing the device's viewfinder at a still image on the "Red" album cover (and on in-store displays at select Walmart stores), fans will see the images come to life. The app also works on the Taylor Swift Wonderstruck fragrance packaging from Elizabeth Arden.Continue reading...

There is something wonderfully ironic about a movie that attempts to expose the dark world of manipulating consumers by using QR codes. But then, even the creators of the new film Branded (opening Sept. 7) openly admit "that meta irony is a big part of the film, for sure."

The question is, how to market a film whose message is explicitly about exposing the malicious intent of marketing strategies? QR codes, of course.Continue reading...

Trailer from This space available on Vimeo.

In the 2011 rumination on advertising's creep into our life, Morgan Spurlock's POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, we visit São Paulo, Brazil. In 2007, the mayor passed a "clean city" law that banned outdoor advertising. The city's 8,000 billboards were determined to be causing "visual pollution."

Fast forward to today, and the Dutch head of the Infrastructure and Environment Dept. is calling for a ban of all QR codes on billboards.

Now, another documentary is looking at "New Yorkers and others around the world who want to reclaim the integrity of their cities against an onslaught of visual pollution." Is this the beginning of a global movement?Continue reading...

Six months after buying in to art of selling out with his film Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Morgan Spurlock is using his newfound expertise to help other filmmakers get in on the action.

Spurlock has partnered with the Grey New York agency on a new service called Launch PAD, which aims to match filmmakers with sponsors and product placement deals.

The media-savvy filmmaker called Launch PAD, featured on a panel taking place Wednesday at the Doc NYC festival, "a unique opportunity for both brands and filmmakers to benefit from the other's expertise."

It might revolutionize independent filmmaking, or it might crash and burn… like the numerous other product placement matchmaker services that came before it. But one thing is for sure, Morgan Spurlock will get paid.Continue reading...

Director Morgan Spurlock is on Sunday night's episode of Discovery Channel's Curiosity series (leading a team in a challenge called "I, Caveman") and has another project, a reality-based web series for Yahoo called The Failure Club, in the works.

But he is also still on a global publicity tour for his recent film, Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, in which the documentarian "sells out."

In the film, iconic consumer advocate Ralph Nader speculates about what might become of the director as he embarks on his commercial adventure. Nader envisions the possibility of a “commercialized, corporatized Morgan Spurlock."

It appears from the new Ally Bank commercial directed by Spurlock, Nader was more right than he knew.Continue reading...

AT&T challenges ESPN on 3DTV claims.

Audi signs on as Emmys sponsor.

Budweiser rebrands its can.

Burger King, Wendy's, Subway, Taco Bell, Carl's Jr. lead US fast food brands expanding in Russia.

Coca-Cola tests "FaceLook" facial recognition Facebook app in Israel.

Dunkin' Brands quarterly profits slip.

Facebook marketing director (and sister-of-Mark) Randi Zuckerberg quits to launch a start-up.

Google accuses Apple, Oracle and Microsoft of "patent bullying."Continue reading...

POM Wonderful executives may be enjoying all the attention spawned by buying the title sponsorship of Morgan Spurlock's product-placement documentary, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. But there’s another show going on, in Washington, D.C., that actually may have more to say about the long-term fate of the brand.

And this one could be called The Obama Administration Presents: Watch What You Say. After first clamping down on the brand's ad claims last year, the Federal Trade Commission is still squeezing the pomegranate juice giant as part of the agency’s campaign to get food and beverage companies to throttle health-benefit claims in their marketing and advertising.Continue reading...