Lost Horizons

Did Rolex pay for product placement in Casino Royale?

Fumier asked in a comment to my last post whether Rolex paid to be named in the film Casino Royale. The Bond girl asks if the watch he is wearing is a Rolex, and he replies that its an Omega.

Up until about the mid-nineties Bond wore a Rolex, even in the books by Ian Flemming, he wore that brand. As an interesting aside, when the first Bond movie was made, the producers wanted to make sure that everything 007 wore and used was authentic to the character. Unfortunately, Rolex wouldn’t provide them with a watch, and the film budget couldn’t stretch to it, so Chubby Broccoli took his Rolex off and lent it to the film crew.

After the Rolex, Bond switched to a Seiko, for a bit, before Omega, became the brand of Bond. Personally speaking I would always associate Bond with Rolex, it’s the sort of watch he would wear, the same watch that was used by Sir Edmund Hilary when he conquered mount Everest.

Omega just doesn’t cut the mustard for me. OK I am impressed by the fact that the Omega was worn on the lunar missions carried out by NASA, but how in the hell do you justify this piece of promotion from Omega: “Will his impenetrable demeanour and tactical moves be enough to break the concentration of his notorious opponent 'Le Chiffre' and beat him at the poker table? As the intrigue unfolds James Bond knows that apart from his instinct, his only ally on this arduous assignment he can trust implicitly, is the precision and accuracy of his Seamaster Professional 300 M complete with the exclusive OMEGA Co-Axial movement.” ?

For me, I think that the watch with the best luxury brand perception is Rolex, and Omega have realized that they haven’t quite reached that level yet; so, they used this opportunity to say that an Omega is really just as good as a Rolex. So, I don’t think Rolex paid for this comment, and I don’t think it has done them any harm either.

James Bond has changed so much over the years, that he hardly resembles the original character. In the latest film we see him driving a Ford Mondeo. Now, its not a bad car, but its hardly a Bond car, is it? And what’s all this about Bond becoming more atuned to women’s feelings. In Casino Royale he even puts his arms around a lady to comfort her when she is crying. Ten years ago he would have carried her out of the shower and to the bed. Also there is the bit where Bond emerges from the sea like Ursula Andres – come on – it’s the girls we want to see wearing skin tight, wet, clinging, swimwear emerging from the water. And there is far too much product placement in the movie, its much to much like an advert for the Sony Viao for my liking. I am just wondering if Adobe paid for Bond to say that he photoshopped that picture?

posted by Luke @ 1:55 PM