Product Placements with James Bond

I am a huge James Bond fan and the new movie “Spectre” will be released in theatres soon. I think its fair to say that James bond has always been associated with class, sophistication, luxury and adventure. I feel that the topic of Learning and Memory relates to James Bond as a model in the observational learning process. Through the Bond franchise’ history, they have been many product placements used within the film. Some product uses define his personality and I feel that the concept brings value to the product. I also found a video featured by Bloomberg that is posted below outlining the history of product placements and James bond. There is even a Wikipedia page outlining every product or service that has been used in every movie. I think there is a lot to be said about product placement changes in such a long running medium.

Heineken James Bond Ad

Belvedere Ad features limited edition bottle

The previous move “Sky fall” featured Heineken beer, as a new placement and I found that interesting. I thought it was funny in a way because every product is typically upscale and more affluent in pricing. Heineken is probably the only relatable product that I would willingly purchase. I do not really have funds for an omega watch, Austin Martin or luxury resort villa. They are probably a few people within the demographic of Bond fans that can afford these luxury products but I’m seeing more placements that are geared towards the general public such as Sony phones and computers, and maybe even Belvedere vodka for the martini connoisseur. 

The James Bond franchise earns a great amount of money from this but I wonder what I think there is a balance for the image of James Bond as well as the markers who use this. I think the markers have benefited a lot from having Bond use their products but I think it’s important for the creators to still keep the Bond image. Products of a lower quality can actually diminish his image.

Sources: 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-10-26/james-bond-a-history-through-product-placement