Tom Rapsas
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I just saw a preview of the new Morgan Spurlock movie Pom Wonderful® Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Spurlock is the raconteur behind the funny but frightening documentary Super Size Me, in which the protagonist ate nothing but McDonald’s food for a month—which caused him to become fat and physically ill.
This time out Spurlock demonstrates the ubiquity of branding messages in our lives, by literally selling out his new movie. In a series of filmed encounters, Spurlock urges brands to sponsor his movie for a price—and is able to entirely fund the film through product placement and sponsorships, including a cool $1 million dollars from pomegranate juice maker Pom for a spot in the title.
This got me thinking: maybe Bill Hanifin should sell out Loyalty Truth. With so many loyalty programs out there, the possibilities are limitless. Consider: Loyalty Truth sponsored by JetBlue TrueBlue or Verizon Business Link Rewards presents Loyalty Truth or how about Hilton Honors, Loyalty Truth & You.
After all, we’ve sold out our ball fields—from my beloved Mets’ Citifield to the Astro’s Minute Maid Park (formerly Enron Field) to the ridiculous sounding Pizza Hut Park, home of major league soccer’s FC Dallas. (Top overseas honors go to Germany’s pro soccer team FC Nürnberg and its Easy Credit Stadium.)
What’s more, we’re now advertising in virtually every space known to man. This includes the walls and stalls of bathrooms, corporate logo tattoos that turn people into walking advertisements, and the latest innovation in advertising space sales—entire homes turned into billboards.
With that backdrop, why shouldn’t Loyalty Truth sell out as well? I hereby declare myself Bill’s agent. Bidding starts at $100K. Any takers?
Editors Note: The answer is NO, we’re just having some fun here. But as @tomrapsas points out, product placement is trendy and even the makers of Bud Light are poking some fun at the idea in this video.
