Sheetz Pops Up at Sundance

PARK CITY, Utah -- Sheetz Inc. goes Hollywood, as it made its international film debut this past weekend at the annual Sundance Film Festival held here. The convenience store giant is featured in Morgan Spurlock's The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, a fun tongue-and-cheek parody of how corporate sponsorship, product placement and advertising are proliferating nearly every aspect of life in America, according to a Sheetz press release.

"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," Louie Sheetz, executive vice-president of sales & marketing at Sheetz said in the release statement. "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."

"Being from West Virginia I have been long been a fan of Sheetz," Spurlock, who specifically sought out Sheetz to be involved in the film said in the released statement. "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."

Spurlock also directed such films as Supersize Me and Freakonomics. His new film employs a classic Spurlocak approach to the subject: the film is entirely funded by overt product placement and corporate sponsorships, according to the release. Sheetz has many plans in store to coincide with the release of the new film. The company will hold a number of events at local Sheetz stores around the film's release in April of this year.

Sheetz is also launching a social media initiative where it encourages consumers to "sell out" by becoming promoters of the film. Those who create buzz about the film can win prizes provided by the film's sponsors, the release stated.

Sheetz finds itself jumping from small screens to big screens when CSNews Online recently reported its heavy promotional appearances in NBC's "The Office."