Morgan Spurlock’s New Movie, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, puts Sheetz in the spotlight.
Sheetz Inc. made its international film debut Saturday in Morgan Spurlock’s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, a parody of how corporate sponsorship, product placement and advertising are proliferating nearly every aspect of life in America.
Sheetz was one of 15 companies featured in the premiere of the film at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Spurlock, best known for directing such films as Supersize Me and Freakonomics, employs a classic Spurlock approach to the subject: the film is entirely funded by overt product placement and corporate sponsorships.
“We loved the approach that Spurlock takes in the film. He cleverly jabs at the world of product placement and being in on the joke is exactly where we wanted to be,” said Louie Sheetz, executive vice-president of sales and marketing at Sheetz. “Sheetz has a well-known reputation for being real and unexpected. Morgan takes that same approach with his films. The chance to team up with him for this type of movie is a great way for our fans to enjoy Sheetz in an entirely different arena than they are used to.”
Sheetz plans to hold a number of special events at local Sheetz stores around the film’s release scheduled for April of this year. The film is being promoted using a unique social media approach to encourage consumers to “sell out” by becoming promoters of the film. Those who create the most buzz about the film can win a prizes provided by the film’s sponsors.
“Being from West Virginia I have been long been a fan of Sheetz,” said Spurlock, who specifically sought out Sheetz to be involved in the film. “They really got it from the beginning and were a great company to include in the film. Everywhere we filmed their employees had an incredible attitude and went all out to make their part the best it could be. And have you seen how clean those Sheetz bathrooms are? Amazing.”
Sheetz operates more than 385 locations across six states — Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.
