Sometimes I think that films are made for the sole purpose of selling something else. Oh, who am I kidding? Most films are probably made to sell something else. Or at the very least, they include tons of product placement by companies financing the film.
I reviewed ‘Open Season 3’ for my syndicated family review this week, and the movie started with a giant ad for Sony, the production company and distributor of the film. Only it didn’t look like an ad. It looked like the beginning of the movie.
Boog and Elliot, the two main characters, are sitting down to watch something on their fabulous new Sony 3D entertainment system. In fact, they’re watching a golf show – again, sponsored by Sony – and raving about how wonderful it is in 3D and how great the system is.
Boog is a Grizzly bear and Elliot is his sidekick mule deer friend. They’re both animated cartoon characters, so I ended my review by saying if your 5-year-old starts hounding you for a Sony 3D system, that’s the reason why.
I kept thinking about Morgan Spurlock’s new movie, ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,’ a documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement. It premiered at Sundance this month, and will hit theaters in April.
I understand that times are tough, and filmmakers have to resort to product placement to get their film made. Still, you do start to wonder if any films are made solely for the reason of making a great film, or are they mostly made to sell something else?
Here’s a clip straight from Sundance of Spurlock talking about ‘The Greatest Movie Ever Sold’:
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