The Brands In Spectre — 007 Product Placement in James Bond’s 24th Film
What if we told you that after all the hoopla Spectre has less product placement than any James Bond film in the last 15 years?
Remember all the uproar over the “Made for Bond” Sony smartphones; the “Bond drinks Heineken and Belvedere vodka and Bollinger” brouhaha; the Aston Martin and Land Rover cars, the Tom Ford suits and other 007-ready brands? No less than The Beeb asked “Does Bond’s product placement go too far,” noting a few “shudder-worthy” examples and wondering, ominously, “Could it happen again inSpectre?” After all that fuss over product placement in Spectre, the movie visibly features fewer brands on-screen than Die Another Day,yet impressively manages to destroy $48 million worth of cars.
Below, a list of the brands that are visible (or audible) in Spectre, the second-most expensive movie of all time, which dominated the box office its opening weekend with $73 million in ticket sales, the second-highest for a Bond movie opening —
Aston Martin designed Bond’s Spectre DB10 car:
Belvedere vodka is stirred, not shaken, in Bond’s martini (also visible in the Tangier hotel bar scene).
Bollinger has now been featured in 15 Bond movies.
Today sees the launch of #SPECTRE, the 15th James Bond film to feature Bollinger since Live & Let Die in 1973. pic.twitter.com/bKCWUDDKaj
— Champagne Bollinger (@BollingerUK) October 26, 2015
A Fiat 500 interrupts the car chase scene that tears through the streets of Rome.
Globe-Trotter is 007’s preferred luggage brand in the film.
Heineken — following on Skyfall‘s landmark deal with the beer, a bottle can be spotted in the hotel room at Hotel L’Americain in Tangier, Morocco. (The related TV commercial, below):
#Spectre #OpenBondsWorld https://t.co/D5I6d5nJSI
— Heineken US (@Heineken_US) October 16, 2015
Jaguar‘s C-X75 concept (worth more than $1 million) is driven by villain Mr. Hinx in the Rome chase.
Land Rover Defender (seen with sibling Range Rover Sport SVR in the Austrian action scene)
The Macallan: A bottle of 18-year whiskey can be glimpsed (screen-shot via Rob Thompson) on the table in Bond’s apartment when Naomie Harris (as the new Moneypenney) pops by for a visit.
Mercedes-Benz is spotted at Monica Bellucci’s mansion, while G-Wagons patrol the villain Oberhauser’s (Christopher Waltz) desert base. (Production image below via Beyond James Bond.)
N.Peal‘s charcoal grey cashmere sweater is worn by Craig in the movie and its poster.
Omega‘s Seamaster 300, one of two of the brand’s timepieces inSpectre, can be yours for $7,500.
Rolls-Royce 1948 Silver Wraith picks up Bond in the desert, recalling the brand’s role in Goldfinger.
Sony‘s Xperia Z5 smartphone is in Bond’s pocket while a Sony LED TV set can be spotted in a scene. (Sony is also the studio behind the movie.)
#Bond is back! Own exclusive #SPECTRE merch when you purchase selected #Xperia smartphones: https://t.co/zLVYVbVy7s pic.twitter.com/ga2Bt8yo9o
— Sony Xperia MY (@SonyXperiaMY) November 7, 2015
Tom Ford (007’s snappy suits, eveningwear, shirts, knitwear, ties, accessories and the Snowdon and Henry sunglasses, although Vuarnet brand of sunglasses shields 007’s eyes from the snow.)
Vuarnet made the $600 shades that Bond wears in the Alps.
Other brands that can be spotted in Spectre: media brands CNN, The Guardian, The Times; gun brands SIG-Sauer (Bond gives a SIG-Sauer P226R to Madeleine) and Walther (Bond still carries a PPK, despite rumors he was dumping the brand); aircraft (MBB‘s Bo105 helicopter flies, spectacularly, upside-down, while a Britten-Norman BN-2 Defender airplane and an Aérospatiale SA 365 N2 Dauphin 2 can also be seen); two university brands in Oxford and theSorbonne in Paris; pricey Château Angélus Premier Grand Cru Classé Saint-Émilion wine is imbibed on the Moroccan train (on the table, below); and there’s a nod to the not-for-profit medical relief organization Médecins Sans Frontières (aka Doctors Without Borders).
Below, how some of the official partners and brands of Spectre are playing up their tie-in with the film with 007-approved marketing campaigns —
Aston Martin‘s “Built For Bond” DB10 video:
Belvedere is promoting its deal as the official “Shaken, not stirred” martini vodka in the film with two limited edition 007-brandedvodkas and cocktail recipes on its website, in addition to a TV commercial starring Spectre Bond Girl Stephanie Sigman:
Create @007’s classic martini with the exclusive 007 #SPECTRE Bottle. U.S. purchase: https://t.co/yf7NZWgdYP pic.twitter.com/weQC2eoSvU
— BELVEDERE (@belvederevodka) November 8, 2015
Bollinger is releasing a limited edition Spectre 007 crystal set.
Heineken‘s “The Chase” ad (below) stars Craig; there’s a Spectrebottle; and event marketing includes #SPIFYE space selfies in a partnership that dates back to 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies:
here's my funny #SPIFYE directly from space to Vegas w/ @heineken_ch – what a great experience & #SPECTRE premiere. pic.twitter.com/9pDOrdSPNt
— xenia tchoumitcheva (@xeniatchoumi) November 7, 2015
Jaguar explains its C-X75’s role in the Roman car chase scene:
Land Rover touts its Defender (and its sibling Range Rover) roles in the film:
Jaguar highlights its very sexy C-X75:
Omega‘s “It tells the time” Seamaster 300 Spectre special edition watch:
Sony promotes its presence in the film with a “Made for Bond” ad campaign starring Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, seen “delivering brand new technologies that have been Made for Bond. Set against a backdrop of London’s iconic Southbank, Moneypenny uses Sony’s RX100 IV camera to capture super slow motion surveillance of the bad guys, before a chase unfolds as she tries to deliver Bond’s Xperia smartphone.”
Tom Ford is selling Craig’s extensive Spectre menswear collection and promoting it on Facebook:
Visit Britain, back as a 007 marketing partner, is promoting Spectrewith a print, digital and video campaign inviting tourists to “Live the Bond lifestyle” because “Bond is GREAT Britain.”
For more, check out Hollywood Branded’s graphic for a look at “The Definitive Timeline of Product Placement in James Bond Films” and watch this video of the supercars of Spectre in action:
Still can’t get enough Bond branding?
For an excruciating breakdown of every product that producers may have even thought about putting onscreen in Spectre—including who made THAT dress worn by Madeleine Swann (played by Léa Seydoux) in the movie (it’s by Ghost and available at John Lewis)—check out the James Bond Lifestyle website’s “Ultimate Guide to Spectre Products and Locations.”
Fear not that the deluge of brands in Spectre (and the impending departure of Craig) will see a decline in the practice—Bond product placement will continue, as the producers aren’t shy about courting brands to help pay for its stunts, settings and stars. With a commitmentto “real stunts, real action, real explosions” Spectre just received a Guinness World Records nod for pulling off the biggest stunt film explosion ever.
Indeed, the Bond brand is stronger than ever, and The London School of Marketing has assessed its value as worth just shy of $20 billion.
