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...

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California Pizza Kitchen agrees to buyout offer.Continue reading...

Throughout his new documentary, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, director Morgan Spurlock contemplates the influence on advertising, product placement and what it means to "sell out," or he interchangeably calls it, "buy in."

When we first heard that POM Wonderful was the marquee brand attached to the project, we wondered if Spurlock was getting used by a brand that had already participated in nearly the exact same stunt with TIME magazine. Now that the movie is out, and POM's side of its cross-promotional bargain with Spurlock is gearing up, it's clear we were right.

POM is using Spurlock to carry its (flavored) water, helping the beverage-maker skirt any charges from the FDA and FCC about making unfounded claims about the supposed health benefits of its juice. And while Spurlock gleefully cops to "selling out" to his brand partners in order to make a point (and some cash) for his movie, he doesn't seem to understand how much he's compromising with the title sponsor of his film.Continue reading...

Just after our resident product placement tracker, Abe Sauer, posted his review of POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and interview with the film's director, Morgan Spurlock, we got word of how one of the brands that sponsored the documentary is leveraging its relationship with Spurlock.

Hyatt is inviting the public to submit their own movie trailers for a competition that will be judged by Spurlock, with prizes including two other sponsors of the movie (JetBlue and title sponsor, POM Wonderful).Continue reading...

It's hard to think of a director better matched to the high-concept task of the irreverent documentary, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. It is both "playful" and "mindful," two brand attributes that, in the course of the film, Morgan Spurlock also discovers that he himself possesses.

Largely amusing, and at times thought-provoking, the film should be seen by everyone in (or just interested in) the industry, even if just for a reference point about sentiment toward the practice of product placement.

That said, there are two fundamental issues plaguing the doc. After seeing the film, we spoke with Spurlock — it was, to say the least, enlightening.Continue reading...

Thor and its product placement is coming soon (and already huge down under), but in the meantime here's how the movie twisted the much-adored Star Wars VW Super Bowl ad in a clever made-for-viral spot.

Next week we'll be watching to see what Fast Five has to offer beyond a high-profile Dodge Charger tie-in. Given that previous installments of the franchise have averaged an impressive 47 product and brand appearances per film, we're sure to be busy.

But the product placement story of today is the release of Morgan Spurlock's Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold in San Francisco, L.A. New York, Phoenix, Austin, San Diego, Chicago and few other cities. After the break, a roundup of Greatest Movie pimping and promos and plugs. Continue reading...

Having already screened at Sundance and South by Southwest, director Morgan Spurlock's new documentary on product placement (POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold) is opening on Earth Day (April 22nd) in select US markets.Continue reading...

Love product placement? Live in New York? Coming soon, the Big Apple is one of a handful of cities that will screen Morgan Spurlock's documentary, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.

Curiously, and probably to Pom Wonderful's dismay, the deal Spurlock struck with the pomegranate-based brand to name the film Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold has not translated, so far, to theater promotions.

Does this somehow void the deal? Who knows. Maybe Spurlock will fill us in when we finally get that interview he promised us.

In the meantime, what's new in product placement in the US and beyond?Continue reading...