A Quantum of Cash

[Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry]

http://www.business24-7.ae/articles/200 ... f7768.aspx

A Quantum of Cash

It has been billed as the Bond that will break with tradition. In Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig will not ask for things "shaken, not stirred", and won't announce that he is "Bond, James Bond".

But at least one 007 tradition is going strong: Quantum of Solace is expected to have more paid-for corporate product placements than the other Bond movies before it. When the film is released in early November, cinema-goers will see Bond drive his customised Aston Martin wearing his Omega watch and possibly sipping from a bottle of Coca-Cola Zero. His laptop and mobile phone will both be Sony, while even his love interest is in on the act – she's drives him around the streets of Panama in a more female-friendly Ford Ka.

Although the film's producers, Eon, are tight-lipped about exactly who pays what for the Bond endorsements the list of confirmed products to feature in the new film includes Heineken, Virgin Atlantic, Coca-Cola, Smirnoff, and of course, Ford, Omega, Sony and Aston Martin. But perhaps the biggest sponsorship deal is a new one involving a British private jet company, Ocean Sky.

It lent five of its jets, which are valued at £100 million (Dh654.2m), to Eon Productions, which were used to fly the cast and crew out to Panama for a week.

The company usually charges £5,000 per hour for the planes, putting the cost of the deal at around £600,000. In return Ocean Sky will feature eight times in the film.

The scenes will include interior and exterior shots of the planes and one will show a woman in full Ocean Sky uniform, made by the fashion designer Hugo Boss, behind an Ocean Sky-branded check–in desk.

The company's owner, Kurosh Tehranchian, 45, said: "It was a major investment for us financially and in terms of plane usage but it is something we feel will be very worthwhile in terms of the exposure it gives us.

"The James Bond brand is unique. It is known worldwide, yet it is completely non-controversial: Everyone likes it. It was something we felt we wanted to be associated with." Marketing expert Andy Payne, the Global Creative Director of the branding consultancy Interbrand, says that the chance of having a product appear in a Bond film is one that corporations positively jump at. "Companies will fight for the rights to be a partner in a James Bond film and they'll pay considerable amounts of money to get the contract.

Bond is cool and has kudos and that status rubs off on the products that he is seen to endorse. For a company like Ocean Sky this could be a very good move because even though they have given up the use of five of their jets for a week, they will view the money they will have lost as a good investment in terms of the amount of global brand identification they will achieve and the worldwide audience they will reach."

The number of placements in Quantum of Solace is expected to exceed even that of 2002's Die Another Day (with Pierce Brosnan as Bond), which featured so many products and brands that it was nicknamed Buy Another Day by critics.

In that film, 20 companies are thought to have paid £44m to have their products shown on screen or to use the Bond brand in advertising. That amount fell to six companies paying an estimated £36m in 2006's Casino Royale. Financial details of how much the companies have paid to appear in this year's Bond film have not been revealed.

In one scene, Bond meets his love interest, Camille, played by Olga Kurylenko, who drives him around the streets of Panama in a Ford Ka. A spokeswoman for Ford said it had been approached by Eon, shown the script, and asked to provide a car for the character. She said that Ford had paid for the placement, but would not confirm the amount.

But the film's producers will be keen to avoid the criticism levelled at the last film after one scene was panned for taking product placement too far. In a cringe-worthy exchange between Bond and his sultry sidekick Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, she glances at his watch and enquires: "Rolex?". "No," he replies. "Omega." (The Independent)



Product placement in the arts

Around the World in Eighty Days

Jules Verne's 1873 novel is thought to include the earliest example of product placement. The broad descriptions of some ships and rail lines indicate Verne was influenced by the firms of the time, which lobbied hard to be mentioned.

The Bulgari Connection

Product placement in books, while relatively rarer than in movies, continues. Seven years ago, in a widely reported move at the time, Italian jewellery company paid British author Fay Weldon £18,000 (Dh122,000) to mention its name at least 12 times.

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg sold the Hershey Chocolate Company on the idea of E.T. having a favourite candy. The film's success reportedly increased sales of Reese's Pieces candy by 80 per cent.

Fight Club

Amusingly, the companies who paid to feature their wares in this film saw their products used as targets for violence. In the movie, Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are shown breaking into an Apple store and smashing the headlights of a VW Beetle.

I, Robot

The Will Smith film was criticised for its use of overt product placement, particularly with regard to Converse trainers. In one scene Smith is complimented on his footwear, and replies: "Converse. Vintage 2004."

Somers Town

The recent Shane Meadows film was conceived and funded by Eurostar to the tune of £500,000. It is shot against the background of the St Pancras Eurostar terminal in London, the father of one of the main characters works on a rail link and the film ends with a Eurostar trip to Paris.

Sex and the City

Besides the ubiquitous designer wear and luxury brand placement, the year's big summer film came under fire for media advertising with a now infamous Vogue photoshoot.

[Dr. No]

Wait a minute. Wasn't there a news item recently about how they scaled back on the corporate whoring?

[katied]

Seems like the corporate whoring is going to be in there just as much as it was with CR

[Kristatos]

Wot, no mention of the "curse of Blade Runner"?

[Omega]

Buy Another Day.I'll confess is apt.Funny and apt.

But the film's producers will be keen to avoid the criticism levelled at the last film after one scene was panned for taking product placement too far. In a cringe-worthy exchange between Bond and his sultry sidekick Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green, she glances at his watch and enquires: "Rolex?". "No," he replies. "Omega."

That one was one was of the worst in the history of product placement. No style no art to it.
Why not try to weave a thinly disguised story around it

I felt they owed me money after CR. So many placements so badly placed. I shouldn't have to pay they should pay me for making their who's watched it numbers go up by 1 so they can get paid by Coke this time around.

[Gary Seven]

The commercial aspect is very important. It could be argued that product placement is very Flemingesque.

I'm surprised that Daniel Craig was cast as Bond. That was a big risk. He succeeded in the end. I'm surprised that Barbara Broccoli was not forced to compromise and make a safer choice.

[Kristatos]

The commercial aspect is very important. It could be argued that product placement is very Flemingesque.

Product placement for Aston Martins and Omega watches maybe. Product placement for Coke Zero and Heineken not so much.

[katied]

As I said on another thread..Coke Zero? NOT a Bond-esque drink, IMO

[Captain Nash]

The remington shavers as seen and used by Bond in Buy Another Day or BAD (got that right) were the worst product placement in a Bond film imo.
I cringe everytime I see that scene...or the film for that matter. The sony pp in CR isn't much better.
I understand that it's going to happen, and that is worth mega bucks for the film. But in small doses. Please.
Sounds like QOS is going to be no different than any of the other recent Bond entries.

[Blowfeld]

I always considered 'Castaway', 'The Island', 'Transformers' & 'Home Alone' near the top of worst offenders.

James Bond reaches http://www.movie-moron.com 's number two spot.

I thought Royale's placements were particularly bad. Without 'Q' or 'R' to cushion them, soften the glaring QVC buy now styled adverts the placements were more obvious.

Top Ten: Most Shameless Uses Of Product Placement In Film

2. James Bond (practically everything)

The name’s Bond. James Bond. James Bond Inc, in fact. At least it might as well be, because as time goes on James Bond becomes more and more close to becoming a corporation in his own right. In his past he has sported products on behalf of Rolex, Aston Martin, BMW, Heineken, Ford, Larks Cigarettes, Coca-Cola, Sony, TiVo, and Rupert Murdoch’s infamous News Corp. We’ve all seen the adverts in any magazine during the release of a bond film; Rolex watches, Laptops, Cars, you name it, Bond’s got it, and now he wants you to have it too. Product companies are simply fighting with each other to get airtime in Bond films as he’s the Mecca of audience attraction; Women love him, men want to be him, kids want to grow up to be like him, heck, the gay community want him too!

As movie finance grows beyond the realms of human arithmetic, product placement grows in parallel; and with this, we notice the bond films making slight changes. In the latest Bond film “Casino Royale”, a traditional Vodka Martini wasn’t good enough for Bond. He has a new brand, a Vodka Martini – Smirnoff. There was no quirky scene with Q (or now, R) with which to subtly do a bit of product placement under the cover of fun gadgets, so the product placement was left to the smallest parts of the imagination. Daniel Craig’s Bond is rarely seen without his sexy Sony Vaio laptop computer, and has now swapped from a Rolex, to an Omega, which of course Bond feels the need to announce during a conversation on a train with his live Vesper. The following video is an interesting little montage of highlighted placement from the most recent Bond film, Casino Royale.

I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Quantum Of Solace’ turns out to be the latest laptop in the Sony Vaio series.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naBRz1Y0cc8[/video]

[katied]

I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘Quantum Of Solace’ turns out to be the latest laptop in the Sony Vaio series.[/i]
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naBRz1Y0cc8[/video]

And a bunch of Bond nerd(excuse me, *rich* Bond nerds ) will shell out for it.

[oscartheman]

CR was a 2hr sony ad where ford got a couple of minutes

[Cyclone49]

Eh... product placement doesn't bother me remotely, I never even notice it unless someone else points it out to me.