Explore the idea of 'selling out,' which is often associated with product placement. What does the film suggest about selling out? Is product placement selling out? Is Morgan Spurlock selling out?
The film is a documentary about product placement, revealing the reality behind that how a film makes profit through advertising and product placement. Many companies would like to finance the film if their products or brands are placed in the film, namely, in this way they are doing the promotions and selling out the products. While the companies help to afford the huge cost of making a film, their advertising is a hurt to art, and many people don't like the product placement. And few people will consider to buy the products appeared in the film, so despite product placement, it's a rather ineffective way to sell out. And Morgan Spurlock is more like buying in the idea of such an unique way of film-making, letting people know and think about how exactly a film made from the very beginning--an idea, to the final work. Spurlock's idea is really innovative and his purpose is more of getting sponsors from others to make such a film than selling anything.
I'd consider a company to be selling out if the product they are advertising goes against what they believe in or do. The film is against selling out. Morgan Spurlock said himself that he did not want to sell out with the juice commercial. The documentary revolves around product placement and advertising. Its purpose is to show people how big companies advertise their products, with full transparency. Morgan Spurlock shows his meetings with clients in the documentary. Product placement is not always selling out, because people often choose companies they already liked to include in their movies or tv shows, like how Morgan Spurlock asked Merrell to sponsor the documentary because he liked their shoes. If he used just the commercial that the pomegranate juice company created, then he would be selling out because the ad was not made using his ideas.
Morgan Spurlock's documentary is about exposing product placement with full transparency. The film so far suggests that some companies do sell out with their product placement. In one interview, a man explains how obvious some companies have made it that in that moment during that show they have sold out and just want that product to be advertised, that it doesn't matter how obvious it was to the audience just that it was there. But I believe product placement isn't necessarily selling out. If a company strategically places a product in a television show or movie then I don't believe that is selling out but again going back to what one man said in his interview, if a company pays lots of money to stop a television show for thirty seconds so an actor or actress can state why Dr. Pepper is so good then I believe that's selling out. In the case of Morgan Spurlock and this documentary, his goal is to get as many companies to sponsor him as possible and to settle for Pom juice rather than fight for Coca Cola or Pepsi could be selling out to some people but I believe that for the purpose of the documentary it isn't.
One way to describe selling out is to go all out and risk everything. This is associated with product placement because a situation like this one. Company X places their product alongside of something else like another product from Company Z. Company X has customers who may dislike the product of Company Z. This is a huge risk because in theory Company X could lose a massive amount of business just based on what Conpany Z does, has done, stands for, and anyone who they associate with in the future. Also, if they do anything viewed poorly by the public or any of Company X customers then that will again cost Company X, simply for being involved and thus forever associated with Company Z. Another aspect of selling out is disregarding the overall quality and integrity of an ad to ensure that your product gets its "spotlight" in the ad. This can be done very creatively and successfully, or poorly and obviously. The latter can be harmful to the ad as a whole. It all has to do with product placement and how things are arranged as to whether they workwell or need to be done differently. The film suggests that selling out is bad and Spurlock's film is designed to not sell out but rather show and bring to light how other companies advertise and in some cases sell out. The products getting involved with this film worried about simply selling out and only agreed to be part of the film when reassured that they wouldd not have their product "sold out" in the film. Effective product placement is not selling out if, but product placement that is distracting and takes away from the overall ad by putting Product X on camera simply to do it is selling out.
In the past, company made impudent commercial and advertisement in a movie, drama , and other media. Morgan Spurlock and a guy talked on the bench how company was selling products. Now people might think that the old way to sell product is ridiculous because actor, for instance, suddenly bring certain product and say "you need this". However it worked at that time. These days, company changed way to advertise product: product placement. Product placement doesn't seem to be a good idea for an advertisement. However it is more effectiveness way to sell a product because product placement make product as a common sense. Morgan Spurlock put POM product whenever he talked with others. First time, I know that he did it on purpose. However,second time, bottle of juice was just common juice but has to be there because every time it was there. Product placement is a new way to make people buy their product and I think Morgan Spurlock want to provoke us how company is selling product by showing us.
I don't think that product placement can be blamed for people selling out. If the company is paying and help fianance the movie I would consider the director to be selling out. Yes, the product placement sometimes changes the movie idea to boost that product,but the story of the film doesn't really change. I don't think that Morgan is selling outninthe movie, but he is having a hard time keeping the idea he had of the movie, because of all the brand name. The movie suggest that selling out is a bad thing and can ruin the movie's story. The only way I see a product selling out is when they product goes against what they stand for to get their product name out. In the movie they talked about the too types of product placement. One is right to the point and one is more sneaky and subtle. Both the these way for product placements have their flaws with either being to direct and ruining the movie making to obvious. The other one is having the viewers not know that they being reached to by the product. In the movie Morgan is trying to show how product placement works and the process behind it.
This is the second time I'm writing this because of the stupid iPad. It sucks. I do not think that product placement is necessarily selling out. It really depends on the situation. If the product fits in with the movie, then it makes no sense not to use it. One of the filmmakers interviewed in the documentary stated that if he used a car in a scene, he had no problem placing a specific brand there. This is not compromising the integrity of the film. However, if the writer or director is forced to alter the film or show to please an advertising product, then this is selling out. Another example of selling out is blatently showing a product. The documentary had a couple of examples of shows that had done this. This is severly compromising the integrity of everyone involved with the production of the show or video. I do not believe Morgan Spurlock is selling out with this documentary. The whole film is about product placement. He is blatantly showing products, but it is done for the ironic value. However, we have not seen how much say the companies had in changing the film. If he was forced to change a lot of the film to satisfy the advertisers, then I would change my mind and consider Spurlock a sellout.
Product placement does not always mean selling out. If it makes sense to put a certain product in your movie or television show and the company is paying to do so, it is not selling out because it does not change anything about the movie or show. However, if someone is just in it for the money and they try and get several product placements for the money and allow the meaning and the integrity of their movie to be changed by the companies paying for their placements, that would be selling out. The movie addresses this topic in a couple if the interviews, one man said that product placement isn't selling out, it is business. I agree with that statement as long as there is a controllable amount of product placement going on. Technically Morgan Spurlock is selling out because he must obide by the rules of the companies that are placing their products in his movie, instead of his own. On the other hand Spurlock isn't doing it for the money he is doing it to show the people of America what product placement is about by going to the extreme with it so he is not necessarily selling out, he is just proving a point.
I agree with Evan that it is only selling out if the integrity of the movie is at stake. If you are wiling to give up your original work for money then you are literally selling your thoughts and ideas, except those ideas are being thrown in the trash. I also agree with Evan that Spurlock is not actually selling out, he uses product placement as an ironic joke. He has interviews with people against product placement, while at the same time there is product placement happening in the interview. Lastly I agree with Evan that the iPad is stupid.
I completely agree with Evan. At this point, I do not see Spurlock as someone who is selling out, but we have yet to see the rest of the movie and he did have a talk with his lawyer about what say he would have going forward and he wondered if it he was still going to be able to make the movie he wanted to make. I also believe that selling out is situational and that if the product fits and makes sense it should be used yet when it stands out or takes away from another area of the ad or commercial then it becomes selling out.
In the movie, when they are referring to 'selling out'I think it means that they are literally selling out as in, just letting people take control and sell what they are advertising. They use this term a lot in the music industry meaning that they are selling all their music to the industry and letting producers take hold of their music. I do think that product placement is selling out, but I also think that the companies that are selling out, that is their actual purpose, they want to be sold out and get as many people to buy their product as much as possible to get their business going. I also think that Morgan Spurlock is selling out because it said in the movie that in order to get that pomegranite juice company to sponser his movie he would have to get a certain amount of dvd's sold, it'd have to get a certain amount of tickets sold at the box office etc. I don't think he wants to sell out, but in order for him to have even made the movie he would need a certain amount of things for the juice company to sponser him.
I also agree with what Pat said. Yes Spurlock is selling out but the only reason he is doing it is because he has to listen to the rules of the company, it is not really his choice unless he doesn't want to create his movie and get it out to movie theaters. Spurlock really isn't in it for the money, he is just trying to prove a point about advertising and the advertising business in general and the whole process of even getting into advertising.
The definition of “selling out” is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money. Many companies are paying huge amount of money to agitate the placement of their products in order to have more profits. As long as a film director is satisfied with the placement then it cannot be selling out, since the placement didn’t change director’s principles. On the other hand if there is even a small dispute between sponsors and director, then according to common definition it is selling out. The slogan of this document is, “He’s not selling out, he’s buying in.” Morgan Spurlock in the movie is not selling out the products. He tries to get as many sponsors as he can, and he continuously tries to make the movie according to his ideas but not sponsor’s ideas. Every time he interviews someone, he shows POM juice, which is one of his sponsors, but that never affected his integrity or story of the movie at all. One problem he faces frequently is to satisfy his sponsors; since sponsors want the better placement and Morgan wants to keep his idea, there are some small disagreements between them.
In the movie, I don't think the idea of the movie is considered ''selling out''. Selling out is more like an idea that the companies is pushing the movie going to the direction they want to show, that could be the idea going against the movie's initial principle or opinion. Instead of selling out, the movie uses the idea of ''product replacement'', which doesn't lose the movies true principal to make money, but could go the commercial for the companies. Therefore, product replacement doesn't necessarily mean selling out. In the movie, I don't think Morgan Spurlock is selling out, because although he is driving the Mini Cooper car, drinking certain brand of juicy, wear certain brand of shoes, but he keeps his own opinion and principal to make the movie, keeps the clients companies form destroying the basic integrity of his movie.
First of all, I agree with Patrick and Evan that Ipad sucks. I definitely agree with Hannah that the purpose of this document is to show how big companies advertise their product through placement in the movie, since meetings with clients in the document showed how some companies wanted their product to be placed in the movie. Morgan Spurlock in the movie because he chose the sponsors that he wanted to work with, and he was not dominated by sponsors ideas, he is not selling out.
I agree with Seong. Although Spurlock has many sponsors, he keeps his own original ideas in the movie. Also, having small disagreements with your sponsors is not selling out. They have a little bit of say, but not enough to overall change the direction of the film. I also agree with Seong tabout his definition of selling out. Anytime the products compromise the integrity of the film, this is selling out.
To me, selling out means that you are willing to change an idea or big part of your product in order to receive more money. An example of this would be the Subway references Evan talks about on the tv show he watches. Evan says that it changes the whole mod f the show and disrupts the story line. This is selling out to me. But, i believe that if product placement does not change anything about your movie or tv show, then it is not selling out. During an interview one director stated that "If you are going to have a sports car in a movie, why not be a sports car whose willing to pay for publicity". I agree with statement, this type of product placement does not lessen the integrity of the ad. I have not decided yet whether Morgan Spurlock is a sell out or not yet. Because this is a documentary that shows the process, including the deals with product companies, i tend to lean on the side that he is not selling out. This is because they are not trying to hide what they are trying to do like other companies. He is making money from the companies though, that is why am waiting until the end of the movie to decide whether he is a sellout or not.
Jeff made me consider another element to selling out, multiple products. Companies have to decide what products they are okay with being associated with. A company like apple would not want to pay to have their product endorsed alongside a company like Dunkin Donuts. They stand for different things and apple would probably rather be associated with a company like Starbucks. I agree with Jeff that who you are associated with can strongly effect the audiences opinion.
I don't think the film has yet to suggest anything really. I feel like it is purely showing us what goes on and we are left to decipher how we as the audience feel about "selling out." In general though i feel like with product placement there is a spectrum of "selling out." On one side there is this symbiotic relationship i feel that exists with product placement. Like that director said in the movie, "If you're going to show a car, why not let it be branded and help your budget." It makes sense, nothing about it is selling out your ideas and letting corporations take over the idea of creative freedom. On the other hand, it can get to a point, like with Morgan Spurlock's movie, where creative freedom is getting contracted and constricted to where the content of the message is at a point of being either lost or corrupted. So is Morgan Spurlock selling out? In theory, yes, but it isn't in the same context as it would usually be. He is selling out to prove a point, not so he gets more money. Overall i feel that writers, directors, producers, and movie executives have a responsibility to judge when ads are fundraising for their movies, and when their movies are fundraising for the ads.
As Seong posted: The definition of “selling out” is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money. I agree with him that although companies paying a lot of money to try to receive more profits; but if the film maker is still following his original principles and integrity, than he is not selling out, it's product replacement instead.
I almost nearly agree with Karl. Surprisingly almost exactly, with nearly the same references as Karl, but there is one part that i don't agree with. I do think that Morgan Spurlock is definitely selling out, but because it is what the point of the movie is, it doesn't feel as bad. So sort of like i brought up before. I feel that selling out is more a morality issue then anything. Is it worth it to have your art be controlled by a company? Some people may need this to even get a product off its feet, who knows. And in some ways i think that was the case with Morgan Spurlock's movie. I would guess a lot of his budget was from the ad companies. Just imagine a movie like his that wasn't about selling out? I think how we view it would be much more different.
I agree with Seong on what constitutes "selling out". Morgan Spurlock wants to get money to pay for the documentary, but he is trying to do it without compromising his beliefs and ideas. I also agree with Evan about how obvious Morgan Spurlock's product placement is, like the ban deodorant sitting on the director's table. The purpose of the documentary is to show the viewers how product placement works.
I agree with Patrick. Product placement is a business creating a win-win situation if the company doesn't make any coercion on the idea of the film itself, and the film can get the financial help from the company. Under the circumstance, it's not selling out for the company's purpose is more of financing the film instead of promoting its product. Morgan Spurlock does not sell out either because he just simply showed the secret scene behind the process of film-making.
I totally agree with Patrick and Seong' s definition of selling out. However, I disagree with Patrick's idea that Morgan Spurlock is selling out the product because of Seong's thought that Morgan Spurlock has many sponsors but he insist his idea on placement so that the disagreement among Morgan Spurlock and sponsors occurred.
I agree with Melanie's definition of selling out somewhat but I disagree that product placement is selling out and that that's exactly what people people want to do. In Morgan's second meeting with Pom juice he goes to purpose three ads and is completely shot down. To me, if he might have to sell out at this point because they are telling him exactly what they want in a commercial. They want him to add the random statistics about how Pom has a certain large percent of some things while this other juice does not. Like many others said, this would threaten his integrity.
I agree with Nancy, companies who offer large amounts of funding to a film or commercial have the ability to change a script or scene if they deem it unfit for products that they produce or are associated with. However, that can negatively affect the content of the art within the film or commercial which can be a slippery slope.
The film is a documentary about product placement, revealing the reality behind that how a film makes profit through advertising and product placement. Many companies would like to finance the film if their products or brands are placed in the film, namely, in this way they are doing the promotions and selling out the products. While the companies help to afford the huge cost of making a film, their advertising is a hurt to art, and many people don't like the product placement. And few people will consider to buy the products appeared in the film, so despite product placement, it's a rather ineffective way to sell out. And Morgan Spurlock is more like buying in the idea of such an unique way of film-making, letting people know and think about how exactly a film made from the very beginning--an idea, to the final work. Spurlock's idea is really innovative and his purpose is more of getting sponsors from others to make such a film than selling anything.
ReplyDeleteI'd consider a company to be selling out if the product they are advertising goes against what they believe in or do. The film is against selling out. Morgan Spurlock said himself that he did not want to sell out with the juice commercial. The documentary revolves around product placement and advertising. Its purpose is to show people how big companies advertise their products, with full transparency. Morgan Spurlock shows his meetings with clients in the documentary.
ReplyDeleteProduct placement is not always selling out, because people often choose companies they already liked to include in their movies or tv shows, like how Morgan Spurlock asked Merrell to sponsor the documentary because he liked their shoes. If he used just the commercial that the pomegranate juice company created, then he would be selling out because the ad was not made using his ideas.
Morgan Spurlock's documentary is about exposing product placement with full transparency. The film so far suggests that some companies do sell out with their product placement. In one interview, a man explains how obvious some companies have made it that in that moment during that show they have sold out and just want that product to be advertised, that it doesn't matter how obvious it was to the audience just that it was there. But I believe product placement isn't necessarily selling out. If a company strategically places a product in a television show or movie then I don't believe that is selling out but again going back to what one man said in his interview, if a company pays lots of money to stop a television show for thirty seconds so an actor or actress can state why Dr. Pepper is so good then I believe that's selling out. In the case of Morgan Spurlock and this documentary, his goal is to get as many companies to sponsor him as possible and to settle for Pom juice rather than fight for Coca Cola or Pepsi could be selling out to some people but I believe that for the purpose of the documentary it isn't.
ReplyDeleteOne way to describe selling out is to go all out and risk everything. This is associated with product placement because a situation like this one. Company X places their product alongside of something else like another product from Company Z. Company X has customers who may dislike the product of Company Z. This is a huge risk because in theory Company X could lose a massive amount of business just based on what Conpany Z does, has done, stands for, and anyone who they associate with in the future. Also, if they do anything viewed poorly by the public or any of Company X customers then that will again cost Company X, simply for being involved and thus forever associated with Company Z. Another aspect of selling out is disregarding the overall quality and integrity of an ad to ensure that your product gets its "spotlight" in the ad. This can be done very creatively and successfully, or poorly and obviously. The latter can be harmful to the ad as a whole. It all has to do with product placement and how things are arranged as to whether they workwell or need to be done differently. The film suggests that selling out is bad and Spurlock's film is designed to not sell out but rather show and bring to light how other companies advertise and in some cases sell out. The products getting involved with this film worried about simply selling out and only agreed to be part of the film when reassured that they wouldd not have their product "sold out" in the film. Effective product placement is not selling out if, but product placement that is distracting and takes away from the overall ad by putting Product X on camera simply to do it is selling out.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, company made impudent commercial and advertisement in a movie, drama , and other media. Morgan Spurlock and a guy talked on the bench how company was selling products. Now people might think that the old way to sell product is ridiculous because actor, for instance, suddenly bring certain product and say "you need this". However it worked at that time.
ReplyDeleteThese days, company changed way to advertise product: product placement. Product placement doesn't seem to be a good idea for an advertisement. However it is more effectiveness way to sell a product because product placement make product as a common sense. Morgan Spurlock put POM product whenever he talked with others. First time, I know that he did it on purpose. However,second time, bottle of juice was just common juice but has to be there because every time it was there. Product placement is a new way to make people buy their product and I think Morgan Spurlock want to provoke us how company is selling product by showing us.
I don't think that product placement can be blamed for people selling out. If the company is paying and help fianance the movie I would consider the director to be selling out. Yes, the product placement sometimes changes the movie idea to boost that product,but the story of the film doesn't really change. I don't think that Morgan is selling outninthe movie, but he is having a hard time keeping the idea he had of the movie, because of all the brand name. The movie suggest that selling out is a bad thing and can ruin the movie's story. The only way I see a product selling out is when they product goes against what they stand for to get their product name out. In the movie they talked about the too types of product placement. One is right to the point and one is more sneaky and subtle. Both the these way for product placements have their flaws with either being to direct and ruining the movie making to obvious. The other one is having the viewers not know that they being reached to by the product. In the movie Morgan is trying to show how product placement works and the process behind it.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time I'm writing this because of the stupid iPad. It sucks. I do not think that product placement is necessarily selling out. It really depends on the situation. If the product fits in with the movie, then it makes no sense not to use it. One of the filmmakers interviewed in the documentary stated that if he used a car in a scene, he had no problem placing a specific brand there. This is not compromising the integrity of the film. However, if the writer or director is forced to alter the film or show to please an advertising product, then this is selling out. Another example of selling out is blatently showing a product. The documentary had a couple of examples of shows that had done this. This is severly compromising the integrity of everyone involved with the production of the show or video. I do not believe Morgan Spurlock is selling out with this documentary. The whole film is about product placement. He is blatantly showing products, but it is done for the ironic value. However, we have not seen how much say the companies had in changing the film. If he was forced to change a lot of the film to satisfy the advertisers, then I would change my mind and consider Spurlock a sellout.
ReplyDeleteProduct placement does not always mean selling out. If it makes sense to put a certain product in your movie or television show and the company is paying to do so, it is not selling out because it does not change anything about the movie or show. However, if someone is just in it for the money and they try and get several product placements for the money and allow the meaning and the integrity of their movie to be changed by the companies paying for their placements, that would be selling out. The movie addresses this topic in a couple if the interviews, one man said that product placement isn't selling out, it is business. I agree with that statement as long as there is a controllable amount of product placement going on. Technically Morgan Spurlock is selling out because he must obide by the rules of the companies that are placing their products in his movie, instead of his own. On the other hand Spurlock isn't doing it for the money he is doing it to show the people of America what product placement is about by going to the extreme with it so he is not necessarily selling out, he is just proving a point.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evan that it is only selling out if the integrity of the movie is at stake. If you are wiling to give up your original work for money then you are literally selling your thoughts and ideas, except those ideas are being thrown in the trash. I also agree with Evan that Spurlock is not actually selling out, he uses product placement as an ironic joke. He has interviews with people against product placement, while at the same time there is product placement happening in the interview. Lastly I agree with Evan that the iPad is stupid.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Evan. At this point, I do not see Spurlock as someone who is selling out, but we have yet to see the rest of the movie and he did have a talk with his lawyer about what say he would have going forward and he wondered if it he was still going to be able to make the movie he wanted to make. I also believe that selling out is situational and that if the product fits and makes sense it should be used yet when it stands out or takes away from another area of the ad or commercial then it becomes selling out.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, when they are referring to 'selling out'I think it means that they are literally selling out as in, just letting people take control and sell what they are advertising. They use this term a lot in the music industry meaning that they are selling all their music to the industry and letting producers take hold of their music. I do think that product placement is selling out, but I also think that the companies that are selling out, that is their actual purpose, they want to be sold out and get as many people to buy their product as much as possible to get their business going. I also think that Morgan Spurlock is selling out because it said in the movie that in order to get that pomegranite juice company to sponser his movie he would have to get a certain amount of dvd's sold, it'd have to get a certain amount of tickets sold at the box office etc. I don't think he wants to sell out, but in order for him to have even made the movie he would need a certain amount of things for the juice company to sponser him.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what Pat said. Yes Spurlock is selling out but the only reason he is doing it is because he has to listen to the rules of the company, it is not really his choice unless he doesn't want to create his movie and get it out to movie theaters. Spurlock really isn't in it for the money, he is just trying to prove a point about advertising and the advertising business in general and the whole process of even getting into advertising.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of “selling out” is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money. Many companies are paying huge amount of money to agitate the placement of their products in order to have more profits. As long as a film director is satisfied with the placement then it cannot be selling out, since the placement didn’t change director’s principles. On the other hand if there is even a small dispute between sponsors and director, then according to common definition it is selling out. The slogan of this document is, “He’s not selling out, he’s buying in.” Morgan Spurlock in the movie is not selling out the products. He tries to get as many sponsors as he can, and he continuously tries to make the movie according to his ideas but not sponsor’s ideas. Every time he interviews someone, he shows POM juice, which is one of his sponsors, but that never affected his integrity or story of the movie at all. One problem he faces frequently is to satisfy his sponsors; since sponsors want the better placement and Morgan wants to keep his idea, there are some small disagreements between them.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, I don't think the idea of the movie is considered ''selling out''. Selling out is more like an idea that the companies is pushing the movie going to the direction they want to show, that could be the idea going against the movie's initial principle or opinion. Instead of selling out, the movie uses the idea of ''product replacement'', which doesn't lose the movies true principal to make money, but could go the commercial for the companies. Therefore, product replacement doesn't necessarily mean selling out. In the movie, I don't think Morgan Spurlock is selling out, because although he is driving the Mini Cooper car, drinking certain brand of juicy, wear certain brand of shoes, but he keeps his own opinion and principal to make the movie, keeps the clients companies form destroying the basic integrity of his movie.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I agree with Patrick and Evan that Ipad sucks. I definitely agree with Hannah that the purpose of this document is to show how big companies advertise their product through placement in the movie, since meetings with clients in the document showed how some companies wanted their product to be placed in the movie. Morgan Spurlock in the movie because he chose the sponsors that he wanted to work with, and he was not dominated by sponsors ideas, he is not selling out.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Seong. Although Spurlock has many sponsors, he keeps his own original ideas in the movie. Also, having small disagreements with your sponsors is not selling out. They have a little bit of say, but not enough to overall change the direction of the film. I also agree with Seong tabout his definition of selling out. Anytime the products compromise the integrity of the film, this is selling out.
ReplyDeleteTo me, selling out means that you are willing to change an idea or big part of your product in order to receive more money. An example of this would be the Subway references Evan talks about on the tv show he watches. Evan says that it changes the whole mod f the show and disrupts the story line. This is selling out to me. But, i believe that if product placement does not change anything about your movie or tv show, then it is not selling out. During an interview one director stated that "If you are going to have a sports car in a movie, why not be a sports car whose willing to pay for publicity". I agree with statement, this type of product placement does not lessen the integrity of the ad. I have not decided yet whether Morgan Spurlock is a sell out or not yet. Because this is a documentary that shows the process, including the deals with product companies, i tend to lean on the side that he is not selling out. This is because they are not trying to hide what they are trying to do like other companies. He is making money from the companies though, that is why am waiting until the end of the movie to decide whether he is a sellout or not.
ReplyDeleteJeff made me consider another element to selling out, multiple products. Companies have to decide what products they are okay with being associated with. A company like apple would not want to pay to have their product endorsed alongside a company like Dunkin Donuts. They stand for different things and apple would probably rather be associated with a company like Starbucks. I agree with Jeff that who you are associated with can strongly effect the audiences opinion.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the film has yet to suggest anything really. I feel like it is purely showing us what goes on and we are left to decipher how we as the audience feel about "selling out." In general though i feel like with product placement there is a spectrum of "selling out." On one side there is this symbiotic relationship i feel that exists with product placement. Like that director said in the movie, "If you're going to show a car, why not let it be branded and help your budget." It makes sense, nothing about it is selling out your ideas and letting corporations take over the idea of creative freedom. On the other hand, it can get to a point, like with Morgan Spurlock's movie, where creative freedom is getting contracted and constricted to where the content of the message is at a point of being either lost or corrupted. So is Morgan Spurlock selling out? In theory, yes, but it isn't in the same context as it would usually be. He is selling out to prove a point, not so he gets more money. Overall i feel that writers, directors, producers, and movie executives have a responsibility to judge when ads are fundraising for their movies, and when their movies are fundraising for the ads.
ReplyDeleteAs Seong posted: The definition of “selling out” is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money. I agree with him that although companies paying a lot of money to try to receive more profits; but if the film maker is still following his original principles and integrity, than he is not selling out, it's product replacement instead.
ReplyDeleteI almost nearly agree with Karl. Surprisingly almost exactly, with nearly the same references as Karl, but there is one part that i don't agree with. I do think that Morgan Spurlock is definitely selling out, but because it is what the point of the movie is, it doesn't feel as bad. So sort of like i brought up before. I feel that selling out is more a morality issue then anything. Is it worth it to have your art be controlled by a company? Some people may need this to even get a product off its feet, who knows. And in some ways i think that was the case with Morgan Spurlock's movie. I would guess a lot of his budget was from the ad companies. Just imagine a movie like his that wasn't about selling out? I think how we view it would be much more different.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Seong on what constitutes "selling out". Morgan Spurlock wants to get money to pay for the documentary, but he is trying to do it without compromising his beliefs and ideas. I also agree with Evan about how obvious Morgan Spurlock's product placement is, like the ban deodorant sitting on the director's table. The purpose of the documentary is to show the viewers how product placement works.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Patrick. Product placement is a business creating a win-win situation if the company doesn't make any coercion on the idea of the film itself, and the film can get the financial help from the company. Under the circumstance, it's not selling out for the company's purpose is more of financing the film instead of promoting its product. Morgan Spurlock does not sell out either because he just simply showed the secret scene behind the process of film-making.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Patrick and Seong' s definition of selling out. However, I disagree with Patrick's idea that Morgan Spurlock is selling out the product because of Seong's thought that Morgan Spurlock has many sponsors but he insist his idea on placement so that the disagreement among Morgan Spurlock and sponsors occurred.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Melanie's definition of selling out somewhat but I disagree that product placement is selling out and that that's exactly what people people want to do. In Morgan's second meeting with Pom juice he goes to purpose three ads and is completely shot down. To me, if he might have to sell out at this point because they are telling him exactly what they want in a commercial. They want him to add the random statistics about how Pom has a certain large percent of some things while this other juice does not. Like many others said, this would threaten his integrity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nancy, companies who offer large amounts of funding to a film or commercial have the ability to change a script or scene if they deem it unfit for products that they produce or are associated with. However, that can negatively affect the content of the art within the film or commercial which can be a slippery slope.
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