The Thousands

Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary wants to show us how branding, marketing and product placement work, and also to hawk brands and be funded by sponsors. It’s basically a film about its own making. As Spurlock says to a suit during a sponsorship pitch, “This is the movie right now.”

Some might wonder if Spurlock’s complicity with the industry diminishes his ability to critique it, but his ‘brand personality’ has never been about furious exposé, but goofy pranking that includes and flatters his audiences. Kitting himself out with sponsor merch, he interviews movie directors, musicians, academics and branding experts, and visits the billboard-free city of São Paolo, Brazil, all while hustling for his movie.

What won me over is the way Spurlock always looks delighted, from getting his cold calls KBed flat to learning he can buy ad space in schools. At times he’s very wicked – spruiking shoes to consumer advocate Ralph Nader or LOLing at the idea of a shampoo for both people and horses. The sponsors are funny too, though it’s harder to tell if they’re in on the joke. Afterwards I went to the supermarket. Man, they had totally sold out… of the title pomegranate juice.