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Note: Here’s the article from ABC: “Martinis No Longer: Heineken to Debut as James Bond’s new drink.” Nowhere does it say Bond will turn down a martini in favor of a Heineken. This started as a debate over on the FB page, and thanks to Matthew N. for making a solid case there as to why this is no big deal. Many of his points are below.
The Argument for Heineken in the next Bond Movie: The Bond Franchise has always been rife with brands or outright product placement. Aston Martin, Rolex,which is now blatantly Omega, etc. The Heineken partnership isn’t even new. It’s just that it’ll be more front and center when the next Bond Movie, Skyfall, comes out in November. And for the Bond fans out there, you’re lucky that Skyfall is even being made. MGM has serious, serious cash issues, and their financial state kept the next Bond flick on the shelf for a while. So if this is how they need to raise funds? Be glad they were able to make it happen at all.
The Argument against Heineken in the next Bond Movie: Product placement and sponsorships can work really well, or they can be awkward and annoyingly difficult to ignore. The Heineken product placement doesn’t fit. Aston Martin, Rolex, Omega… Some vodka for martinis Heineken? It’s not authentic. It’s the difference between The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (works) and the Maaco Bowl of Las Vegas (huh?). Bond’s love of martinis is a legendary character trait. Yes Daniel Craig’s Bond is a grittier Bond, but Heineken? Would Bud Light or the new Miller 64 be okay? Guinness, Bass, or even Stella would be a better fit. But Heineken threw down the cash. The Director of Adweek told ABCNews: “…everyone knows that James Bond has got the best gadgets [and] best car, and [now they’ll ask] ‘What does it mean if he’s now drinking Heineken?’ It means Heineken is the best beer, theoretically.” No. No it doesn’t.
Your turn guys. Ready for Bond to ask for a Heineken at the bar? If the Most Interesting Man In The World would be sitting next to Bond, would he smash his bottle of Dos Equis (Amber please) over 007’s head? Leave it all below.
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Heineken! really? James Bond doesn’t drink beer, but as long as the movie gets made I’ll get over it.
If Bond wants to have a beer on a sunny afternoon to relax, he should go right ahead. If he orders one in the middle of a high-stacks meeting with an adversary, he should be ashamed. It’s all about context – there’s a time when a beer is appropriate for Bond and a time when it isn’t. I hope they get it right.
Well…if it IS on draft in Amsterdam I say its ok. Tastes much better than bottled Heineken here in the states.
Bond also made the switch from Aston Martin to BMW for awhile. Something tells me he’ll come back around to martinis…
From what I’ve read about this, Bond is going to ask for a Heineken from a bartender. That just is wrong. WRONG I TELL YOU. Even if it was the only beer that had to offer, it’s wrong.
Don’t see the problem with it. Also don’t see how Guinness, Bass, and Stella are a better fit.
Wait a second, I feel like I’ve seen this before
Is the original spoofing the spoofer, or was the spoofer way ahead of its time??
My biggest problem with this is not that Bond enjoys a beer, but that Heineken is swill, barely better than Miller or Bud. Someone with tastes as refined as Bonds’ would surely be more likely to order one of the worlds finer beers, such as Duvel or Chimay. Product placement is a huge part of the Bond films, but this one just doesn’t ring true and smacks of greed.
Meh, in the books he drinks all kinds of alcohol. I do agree that him specifically asking for it will be a tad cringe-worthy, but honestly when I character in a movie just asks a bar tender for “a beer”, I find it equally as annoying. I still don’t think anything will top the Corona pitch in the original The Fast & The Furious. ”
You can have any brew you want… as long as it’s a Corona.”
I don’t really have a problem with the product placement. It’s become so commonplace now it’s kind of interesting to see different tv shows and movies attempt to work it in so that it’s noticed but not so cheesy that it looks like the scene from “The Truman Show” for Ovaltine. The disappoint for this will be if they do it at the wrong time, like someone mentioned above. If he’s at some fancy soiree, wearing a tux, and looking like a high class bad ass then orders a Heinken I may boo. It just doesn’t make sense. You don’t go to a black tie affair and drink beer.
James Bond doesn’t always drink beer, but when he does, he prefers Heineken.
Wow, I love how my life works out! My wife wanted to watch some James Bond this weekend, and we watched Casino Royale Friday, and Quantum of Solace Saturday. I know off the top of my head it’s what Felix is drinking in the bar that gets raided in Quantum, and I’m pretty sure it was pretty prevalent in other places (like the fundraising party that Bond crashes). I guess Bond drinking it it the logical next step.
As for Bond drinking it, I’ve never seen a man that drinks cocktails and won’t touch beer. I’ve got no problem with it. Martinis are great when you’re all classed up, but what to drink at the beach, or louging on the back of a boat? Beer works for me.
Hate. I understand WHY it had to be done, but I don’t like it at all.
Does he still take his drink “shaken, not stirred”?
I’ll die if he cracks a joke about a “heine”…
Bond drank many beers in the books, though never that brand. I can’t say this is big enough to put any dent in my love of the franchise. I got used to seeing exclusively Sony electronics a while ago. Adding a beer in a scene is not a big deal. He still will return to other drinks on many occasions.
I have no problem with it either, but it wasn’t actually Felix’s pick either: http://screenmusings.org/QuantumOfSolace/pages/QoS_1725.htm
Heineken is my go-to beer.
The thing is, that is how you order beer. By brand. It is uncommon for a serving place to carry a single brand so that Bond can ask for a beer. If he is going to order beer, it makes sense to mention the name.
Does everyone conveniently forget how, sometimes, Craig’s Bond just doesn’t care that much about what he’s drinking?
Here it seems more like he ordered a vodka martini as a contextual default, not because he really wants a vodka martini. And in the books, he’s been known to drink local stuff.
Well, he does make his martinis with Vodka instead of Gin, so why not have a beer sometime.
As awesome as James Bond is, I think the most interesting man could kick his ass.
To be fair, Bond has always had crap taste in drinks. Vodka martini, shaken, not stirred? That, as the West Wing’s President Bartlet noted, is just a snooty way of ordering a weak “martini.”
I use scare quotes for martini because an actual martini is made with gin and dry vermouth, and not vodka. Asking for a martini with vodka instead of gin is like asking for a cappuccino with tea instead of espresso.
In other words, who really gives a crap if he “stoops” to drinking Heineken?
I agree. Despite loathing product placement, this is how you order a beer.
What drives me crazy in movies is when somebody orders a whiskey. That’s it. Just “whiskey”. That might fly in Britain or Ireland but if somebody in the States orders a whiskey, a bartender is just going to ask if they want Scotch, Irish, Canadian or Bourbon.
You know what really grinds my gears is that most bars now ‘n days (pick any standard local or chain bar) have drink menus with a huge list of “martinis” that are essentially concoctions of every imaginable liquor, cordial, and mixer. Serving a Screwdriver in a martini glass does NOT make it a martini.
I get the weirdest looks from bartenders and waitresses (and usually the people I’m there with) when I order a martini. “That’s all you want? That’s so boring!”
I half-agree, half-disagree on the “Bond has crap taste” note.
There’s a very good reason he prefers a shaken vodka martini. In context, the Bond books were released in the 50s and 60s, by Ian Fleming. Fleming was himself a former British spy, and Bond was active during the height of the Cold War. IIRC, in the book Casino Royale, Bond has a conversation with CIA agent Felix Leiter about why he puts pepper in his vodka; Bond explains a bit about his time in Russia and how the pepper was a method of determining whether or not the vodka was good or some swill made in a bathtub that would kill you. So there’s the vodka part for you right there. As to why he orders it shaken, shaking gets a colder drink than stirring, and for a vodka martini, the number one priority is that it’s ice cold.
However, in Casino Royale, Bond orders the Vesper, something he created himself. I’m a teetotaler myself, but I’ve been told that the Vesper would be an awful drink, and it may be telling that Fleming never let Bond order it again. There could be other reasons for that as well, such as not wanting to dredge up bad memories, but that’s a discussion for another time and place.
Gordon’s is mentioned by name in Casino Royale when he orders the first “Vesper” – not sure why endorsing a brand of gin would be OK but a brand of beer is beyond the pale. The only person who loses out is Daniel Craig – he’s the guy who gets stuck drinking a Heineken. But then I’m sure the paycheck he’s getting for the movie is ample compensation.
My bad. I guess I saw the green bottle and round label, and that’s where my mind went.
Now that’s branding! They don’t even put their product in the movie, and I still thought I saw it.
Fleming had Bond drinking Red Stripe in the Caribean in The Man With The Golden Gun. I don’t think that’s much better or worse than Heineken.
I’m trying to not be outraged. The dos equis guy could talk his way out of situations Bond can’t, but he couldn’t take Bond in a fight. Maybe Redford’s Bond, but not Craig’s.
no
“Meh, in the books he drinks all kinds of alcohol.”
Yeah, I noted this on Facebook when Dappered shared the article there. The vodka martini might be thought of as Bond’s drink, but the first drink Bond ever orders is an Americano. And Bond’s drink is really probably the Vesper–he created it.
An Americano is the first thing Bond orders in the 2006 Casino Royale film too. It’s not like Bond is an exclusive martini drinker, and I doubt he’ll be an exclusive Heineken drinker in Skyfall. This is much ado about nothing, in my opinion.
“I’m a teetotaler myself”
Any specific reason why? Moderate drinking has been proven to be extremely healthy.
“I’ve been told that the Vesper would be an awful drink, and it may be telling that Fleming never let Bond order it again.”
Made with modern ingredients, it is. Made with circa-1950 Gordon’s (which was stronger back then), Stoli (same), and Kina Lillet (nothing like modern Lillet Blanc), it was probably pretty damn good.
Gordon’s was the gin that Fleming used in Casino Royale the book, so that’s why it’s mentioned in the movie. Interestingly, the mention of Gordon’s in the current cocktail is anachronistic now–it’s not strong enough to stand up in such a drink, and Bond would have been better off ordering Tanqueray or Beefeater in 2006.
In most arenas I dislike pretentiousness and classism, but I expect it in a Bond movie. The product placement is there partially to establish Bond’s impeccable taste. A man who can tell you what vintage of grape was used to make his brandy (or was it cognac?) is not going to enjoy a Heineken, and it just doesn’t fit that he’d bother with such a pedestrian beer.
I’m not a vodka drinker and gin isn’t my favorite either. Whiskey man actually. But It’s my understanding that unless you need aeration in a drink for some reason, like something with orange or lemon in it, you’re actually just looking for a talented bartender who knows how to stir a drink to stir the drink for you the right way.
I’ve never been given any good reason to imbibe. First of all, I’m under-age (though I have no intentions of starting to drink once I am of-age). Next, alcohol is consumed socially for one of two reasons: (a) getting drunk and (b) relaxation. I’ve never found the idea of intoxication to be appealing; I don’t desire to lose control of myself physically, mentally, or emotionally. I’ve never needed any liquid courage, either. When it comes to relaxation, I simply don’t see any reason to imbibe. I can enjoy myself just as much as the others, cheaper. I’ve been told of the euphoric affects of moderate alcohol consumption, but I’m not convinced that alcohol is necessary to have a good time. Drunk people aren’t any fun (unless you’re one of them). Lastly, family history indicates that the road to alcohol abuse is one best not trod in any fashion for me.
I will say, however, that I enjoy desserts with alcohol. Rum cake, rum raisin ice-cream, spiced apples, etc. I’d think that if I were to drink, rum would be my drink of choice.
I say more power to you for not drinking, but I will say, as someone who drinks frequently (probably too much, it’s one of my few “treats”) I enjoy the hell out of the taste.
My wife and I were actually discussing this last night. Dinner just wouldn’t have tasted as good if we were drinking water, sparkling water, etc… as opposed to how it tasted with the wine. And the slight burn of a sipping rum or bourbon is something I really enjoy. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve slowly killed my tastebuds over time and prefer something with a ton of flavor.
I, like you, don’t find getting intoxicated appealing at all. I was never the “let’s go get drunk!” guy, which plenty found pretty lame. I’m too much of a control freak. But maybe part of the appeal of alcohol, to someone who likes control, is knowing that you’re in command of something that when not taken seriously, can do real damage.
Like juggling chainsaws.
Yeah. That’s it. Drinking is like juggling CHAINSAWS.
Very good point. It’s all about context.
When he’s refined and in control he has a specific drink list, but when he loses his cool so does his caring.
I would rather have a Bond who throws back a Heineken, then no Bond at all.
Personally I’m not a fan of awkward product placement, but I can only hope they do well and don’t make it uncomfortable. But the thing is, if they do mess it up – who cares? There is still going to be hours of epic Bond and only a moment of potential cringe-worthiness.
I’ll take that trade.
This is awful. As a life-long Bond fan, I’m very disappointed. As they sell off James Bond, they amortize the value of the franchise. I hope they don’t have any more tricks up their sleeve.
I’m not even going to read all the probably logical arguments in the above comments. My gut, my head, my heart and my essence that is MAN, says: No.
As long as the placement isn’t moronically obvious (the green bottle is pretty distinctive), I can’t say I’m that much against it.
Still, I always defer to Dennis Hopper’s character in Blue Velvet when it comes to Heineken.
“Bond. James Bond. I’ll have a Heineken. And a plate of your finest mozzarella sticks. Wait… it’s still happy hour prices, right?”
The name’s Bond, James Bond. And I’ll take a Diet Pepsi with Lime, please.
I’m not much of a martini guy. It’s a rare occasion when I order one. It’s either the city’s local beer if I’m traveling/visiting, Blue Moon, Half-Acre Daisy Cutter, Jameson on the rocks or Johny Walker Black (if not Black then whatever Label they have in stock) on the rocks.
He drank beer in the books and in Quantum of Solace…
James Bond can drown himself in beer in the next movie… I still think Heineken tastes like piss.
Or heck, even something…I don’t know… BRITISH?