Read the text about the new James Bond film. Some phrases about films and brands are highlighted and explained below. Don’t forget to answer the quiz and leave comments about the discussion questions. 
Almost everybody knows James Bond 007. He’s famous for his cool gadgets, beautiful women and expensive sports cars. Bond is also known for drinking a Martini “shaken but not stirred”. The current James Bond, British actor Daniel Craig, will surprise many viewers in the new Bond film called Skyfall. Instead of enjoying his usual Martini, he will be seen drinking beer. Why is Bond changing his favourite drink? It’s all to do with a marketing term called ‘product placement’. The large Dutch beer producer, Heineken has done a huge deal worth millions of dollars with the filmmakers. In return, the beer will feature in the film and the director, Sam Mendes, will also write a short advert with Bond for Heineken This is not the first time product placement has appeared in a James Bond film and it probably won’t be the last. In the first Bond film Craig starred in, Casino Royale, he wore a fashionable and expensive Omega watch. He also starred in several TV ads. The previous Bond, Pierce Brosnan, was seen using an Ericsson mobile phone in Tomorrow Never Dies. It featured a lot in the film because he used it to drive his car by remote control. Product placement makes money and can help finance a film. The makers of Skyfall will receive a total of $45 million just for using some branded products in the film. That represents a third of the whole production budget. Action films are costly to make because of all the stunts so extra finance is good news. When Skyfall is released it will become the film with the most product placement. However, Minority report, starring Tom Cruise, is still the number 1. The producers received $20m for incorporating famous brands like Pepsi and Gap into the film. Daniel Craig has defended the use of product placement in his latest film. He argues that without it there would not be a film at all because these kinds of films are so expensive to make: they need all the money they can get, even if it comes from advertising. Here’s a video demonstrating the products that were carefully/secretly advertised in Casino Royale [poll id=”39″] Useful phrases/ Vocabulary Glossary
- Cool gadgets
- Small devices like laser pens that people think are great
- Sports cars
- A vehicle for driving fast and racing
- A huge deal
- A very big and important agreement
- Filmmakers
- The people who create the film like the producer
- Ads
- Advertisements
- To finance sthg
- To give the money it needs like a film is financed buy product placement
- Branded products
- Goods made by large famous companies
- Production budget
- The amount of money available to make a film
- Stunts
- Dangerous action scenes like jumping out of a plane or off a building
- Incorporating famous brands
- Putting well-known company names and products into a film
Discussion questions
- Should James Bond change drinks?
- How will product placement change the new Bond film?
- Is this the best way to finance a film?
