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Product Placement


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#1 Harmsway

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 03:15 PM

For good or ill, product placement is an inextricable part of the James Bond cinematic franchise. While I suspect many of the deals made by EON are purely on the basis of how it affects the bottom line, if you were in EON's shoes, which brands would you choose to identify with 007?

For his timepiece, Bond has been associated with Omega since GoldenEye. Omega isn't an inappropriate brand for Bond, though I'd prefer see Bond identified with something a bit less ubiquitous. If he must stick with a European brand, let him go with Bremont. The Bremont Supermarine would undoubtedly look quite fine on Bond's wrist.

 

But if it were up to me, I'd see Bond don a Grand Seiko (Seiko's prestige line which has only recently become available outside of Japan). To the uninitiated, the Seiko name suggests a lower tier than the Omega and Rolex, but the Grand Seiko has more than held its own in European watch competitions, and if you speak with watch enthusiasts, you'll find a great many who will argue the finish on a Grand Seiko is superior to that of an Omega/Rolex. Less a flashy showpiece than a watch for the discerning consumer, the Grand Seiko is marked by a combination of humble elegance and horological mastery that suits James Bond to a tee.

 



#2 tdalton

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 04:19 PM

I don't particularly have a strong preference as to which brands to see Bond associated with, as I would imagine that that would require probably a lot more knowledge of British and European brands than I have.

 

Still, it would be nice if they could be a bit less obvious with the product placement at times.  I'd say that it's absolutely necessary to have product placement, both as a means of raising funds as well as lending a sense of realism to the project that one wouldn't get by using lesser known products or generics, but at the same time some of the instances of product placement are so obvious (such as Vesper's camera in Casino Royale) that they become distracting.

 

Also, and this may prove sacrilege, but I wouldn't mind seeing Bond change things up and go with a different car for a film or two.  I love the Aston Martins, especially the new one they're using for SPECTRE, but at the same time a little variety would be nice from time to time.  Maybe even just changing up the color of the Aston Martins could help.



#3 HoneyDiamond

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 04:36 PM

"When they don't have it shaken and not stirred.  I drink Dos Equis."



#4 Orion

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 05:53 PM

The more high end things certainly such as Aston Martin and Omega. I wouldn't say product placement is just linked with cinematic Bond btw, Fleming never mentioned abstract items so much as the exact brand (and often which edition) when it came to anything.



#5 Tarl_Cabot

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 06:16 PM

These movies cost a bundle so I don't begrudge them for product placements....I'm not familiar with those watches Harms but I will always associate the Rolex Submariner with Bond. I wish he'd rock it again.



#6 Harmsway

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 06:43 PM

These movies cost a bundle so I don't begrudge them for product placements....I'm not familiar with those watches Harms but I will always associate the Rolex Submariner with Bond. I wish he'd rock it again.

Rolex isn't what it once was, alas. Though better Rolex than, say, Tag Heuer or Breitling.

#7 Guy Haines

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 07:16 PM

Product placement, if you can call it that, has been with Bond from the time of the books, let alone the films. Whether it was food, drink, cars, cigarettes (Morlands) or even marmalade (Cooper's Vintage, and it tastes rather good too!), the brand was more often than not mentioned. Not that Ian Fleming would make any financial gain out of it but to lend an air of sophistication and authenticity to the books. (And, some would argue, snobbery.)



#8 Harmsway

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 07:28 PM

Product placement, if you can call it that, has been with Bond from the time of the books, let alone the films. Whether it was food, drink, cars, cigarettes (Morlands) or even marmalade (Cooper's Vintage, and it tastes rather good too!), the brand was more often than not mentioned. Not that Ian Fleming would make any financial gain out of it but to lend an air of sophistication and authenticity to the books. (And, some would argue, snobbery.)

To the extent that Fleming/Bond was a snob, it was more out of particularlity than prestige. Bond wasn't interested in status symbols (in fact, he seems to have a healthy contempt for obscene wealth all throughout Fleming; just look at his reaction to the dinner with DuPont at the beginning of Fleming's Goldfinger). Note that before Fleming definitively gave him a Rolex, Fleming wrote to an inquisitive reader that Bond actually wore relatively cheap timepieces with expandable bracelets, emphasizing the practical streak that runs through Fleming's (and, by extension, Bond's) selection of accessories and clothing.



#9 Guy Haines

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 07:39 PM

I actually agree with you, Harmsway, although the ones who always condemned Bond for "sex, sadism and snobbery" might latch on to the frequent mention of expensive products in the books to reinforce their argument. One reason for the popularity of the Fleming novels in my country, certainly in their early days, was perhaps because they afforded a glimpse of high life outside of austerity Britain, so I don't think the ordinary man on the Clapham omnibus was much vexed about Bond driving a Bentley rather than just a car.

 

Bond was never a "man of the people" in his personal life and tastes any more than Ian Fleming was, and you're right it was about particularity - and sometimes a rather odd particularity at that. Nevertheless, Ian Fleming wasn't averse to name-dropping products in his novels, albeit for different reasons from the films.



#10 MajorB

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 08:29 PM

Omega's Facebook page has a post about the "SPECTRE" press announcement, which suggests that they'll likely be promo partners for Bond again.



#11 Harmsway

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 08:37 PM

Omega's Facebook page has a post about the "SPECTRE" press announcement, which suggests that they'll likely be promo partners for Bond again.

Craig was wearing an Omega at the press conference.

Omega is a great brand. It has lovely designs and a strong heritage. The Bond association is a big asset to Omega (it's arguably what made them Rolex's greatest competitor), so I doubt they'll let go of the Bond franchise if they can help it.

#12 west

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Posted 10 December 2014 - 11:57 PM

I don’t particularly mind product placement as long as it isn’t forced on the audience or becomes distracting.

An instance of distracting product placement was in Skyfall. In the pre-tile sequence there is an unnecessary three-second shot of Bond’s hand putting the truck into gear with his Omega the star of the shot. Now, this isn’t particularly a big deal, but when I first saw it, and still upon subsequent viewings, the shot took me right out of the movie and into an Omega ad. It’s the equivalent of a commercial coming on and interrupting a sports match.

 

However again, in Skyfall, product placement that didn’t particularly distract from the film was Heinekin. Much was made about Heinekin being in the film but the way it was done was subtle enough not to take me out of the narrative and I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn’t aware that it would be in the film (unlike the ‘oh hey, look- Omega!’ moment).

 

On a similar note, I can’t look at the Quantum of Solace poster without my eyes being drawn to Craig’s strange left hand with the perfectly superimposed watch sticking out, a case of product placement ruining a poster for me.

 

In the Brosnan films the Omega product placement didn’t seem so blatant. The watch was featured in shots where it was pivotal to the scene- the laser scene in Goldeneye and the detonation scene in Die Another Day come to mind. However, in the Craig films, as the watch isn’t pivotal to any plot point, it’s a distraction when attention is drawn to it.

 

I’m a big fan of Omega and (aside from the obtrusive product placement) think it’s a good match with Bond, however, I agree, I think Bremont would be a great choice for Bond, aesthetically and practically. I’m not sure that they’d be able to compete commercially with the Omega’s and Tag’s for the licence though.


Edited by west, 10 December 2014 - 11:58 PM.


#13 Harmsway

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Posted 11 December 2014 - 04:54 PM

I’m a big fan of Omega and (aside from the obtrusive product placement) think it’s a good match with Bond, however, I agree, I think Bremont would be a great choice for Bond, aesthetically and practically. I’m not sure that they’d be able to compete commercially with the Omega’s and Tag’s for the licence though.

Yeah, there's no way they'd be able to toss the substantial sum that Omega has been sending Bond's way for the past decade. Still, the Bremont Supermarine is one sharp watch:

 

RiKYh6p.jpg

 

The only irritation I have with Omega is the ways in which they artificially boosted their resale prices in order to keep their value high. It's an irritation I have with many luxury brands in general: many of them manufactured their position. Other brands achieved prestige through more organic means.



#14 hilly

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Posted 11 December 2014 - 05:23 PM

Product placement has always funded a huge chunk of most Bond films,as far back as the "GIllette commercial" in the bathroom on Goldfinger's jet. I guess it's a necessary evil. Over the years, it has become shameless at times though, as the suppliers have presumably played hardball as to how their products are shown ( I remember DAD being dubbed "Buy Another Day" when it was released)

When we went to see Skyfall, my wife and I decided, for a laugh,  to see how much product placement was rammed down our throats. The pre-title sequence alone did us proud, with blatant close-ups of Bond's watch, nice big shots of he CATERPILLAR logos and references within the script to VW and Audi 



#15 S K Y F A L L

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Posted 14 December 2014 - 05:40 PM

i think it is strange we are hearing news SPECTRE might be over badget when SF made a billion dollars and half the budget was made back with product placements.



#16 hilly

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 09:05 AM

i think it is strange we are hearing news SPECTRE might be over badget when SF made a billion dollars and half the budget was made back with product placements.

 I don't imagine double-Oscar- winning lead villains come cheap....and , after Skyfall, Mendes would have been able to name some very good terms too