This article originally appeared on CinemaRetro
By Mark Cerulli
1965 Returns in 2015 (At Least For A Few Weeks).
In the mid 1960s James Bond was everywhere – it was the beginning of the “movie tie-in” era and when Thunderball was released, Bondmania exploded with numerous 007-flagged consumer items from dive masks to racing sets, men’s cufflinks and beach towels…
Now almost every movie has a “marketing partner” of some type – tires, toys, cars, watches, etc. (Try walking into a store today and avoiding the Star Wars logo!) But for a while, Bondmania has returned – especially in Europe.
By now, we all know what watch Bond wears. (Hint: it ain’t a Rolex anymore…) In Paris and London, Daniel Craig’s chiseled face stared down from massive Omega billboards and store displays for their beautiful (but pricey) Spectre edition watch.
Omega also publishes Lifetime, a glossy, high-end magazine aimed at serious watch enthusiasts. The current issue is devoted to Spectre with in-depth coverage of the film and products related to it. Definitely worth picking up from their website.
Saving the world is thirsty work so Heineken, a longtime 007 marketing partner, returns with specially designed packaging and a number of promotional items like a bottle opener and bottle-shaped flash drive.
Bond’s vodka of choice in Spectre is Belvedere. Loo7k for their special 007 bottles and their limited edition Martini set. If anyone needed an excuse to try a martini, this is it!
Bond’s favorite bubbly is back for Spectre as well – Bollinger Champagne. Their elegant 007 limited edition Bottles are expensive – (145 Euros at the Paris Airport) but they look like true objets d’art… and of course the beverage they contain is precious. No wonder Bond drinks it! If one really has money to burn, Bollinger also offers the Spectre limited edition Crystal Cooler that would look at home deep within a volcano crater or on an upscale holiday dinner table!
If you’re ready for a cloo7se shave, Gillette is inviting consumers to experience “Bond Moments”, no Walther PPK needed, just a ProGlide razor in a Holiday Gift Pack, which curiously offers no 007 branding in the U.S.A market.
However, in the UK, the packaging at least features the Spectre film logo though its relationship to the film is tenuous at best.
Feeling Blofeldish? The iconic Spectre ring is available on the official Bond website for a not unreasonable $216.
Royal Doulton caused a stir with the Jack the Bulldog figurine, which sat on M’s desk in Skyfall. They created a limited edition to tie in with that film. Now Jack is back – in a slightly charred form in keeping with his appearance in Spectre. Fortunately it’s available on the Royal Doulton website!
This quick and by no means comprehensive listing of Spectre products would not be complete without mentioning THE ultimate 007 tie-in that only a very few fans will be able to own. Probably the most exclusive Spectre product of them all – the achingly beautiful Aston Martin DB9 GT “James Bond Edition”. Only 150 of these were made and all were sold in a flash – even at a $237,007 price. The folks at Aston were feeling generous, so for that money, they’ll throw in an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra. Not a bad deal at all!
This is just a smattering of available Spectre products. The European market has many other participating brands – chief among them beautiful and tres expensive 007 pens and lighters from luxe French manufacturer, S.T. Dupont; bespoke clothing and more. Everything but radioactive lint…
Happy hunting!
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