zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Yup, you're right: We see eye to eye on almost every point you make here, teeritz. And very good points they are.

As it happens, I actually spoke w/ Barbara Broccoli for about 20 minutes one summer, about 3 years after Licence to Kill (the story behind the spelling of "licence" being its own rather revealing anecdote). I was working w/ some intellectual property attorneys and the matter of who-knows-what-lawsuit-number? involving Bond came up (that was what put the movies on hold in the period we're talking about). So I called a contact at Variety who told me the real hold up was Dalton, and that prompted me to go higher up--.

To EON/Danjac. Cubby was still alive and his stepson, Michael Wilson, was a lot younger than he is now. Barbara answered the phone. I hooked her with, "I've heard that Timothy Dalton has been fired and that Pierce Brosnan is the new Bond: Can you confirm this?"

(I was making all that up, of course.)

The conversation was exactly consistent w/ what you've probably read about the selection of the 2541.80 for GoldenEye. Not just product placement bucks, but also that it was "prettier" than the Rolex Submariner 6538 and its successors. (Hence, in my opinion, the reason they missed making the better choice in going w/ the Seamaster 2254.50!)

If Bond is "dated," how do they explain True Lies, three increasingly more successful Austin Powers movies (they actually sued them to change the title of Goldmember, but settled for a cross-promotion for Die Another Day)?

If "re-boots" (as insiders are calling Casino Royale) are blockbuster-makers, how do you explain Star Wars III and Batman Begins? Movies live or die on more than opening days; they must have folks who go see them multiple times in the theatre in order to make real money on their investments. These prequels did neither. Followed in the footsteps of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (and how did the series come back? not just w/ going back to follow its original thread, but also by bringing in an older co-star from the 1960s -- who was previously associated w/ what film franchise? Oh, yeah: 007!).

Key to developing the affinity required to recoup product placement investments, as well.

And "re-boots," to begin with, are to be avoided: It usually means your system has crashed or otherwise isn't working....

So, you're right -- it's wait and see. But I felt called to continue the dialogue in pointing out that it's probably not so much a "going back to the original Fleming" that we're talking about here, as it is a drive by younger inheritors of the franchise who neither worked beside those who brought the original vision to the screen, nor respect what they contributed to it beyond the novels.

That's what puts the orange Planet Ocean very much in play, in my opinion.

May also explain why the Pierce Brosnan watch is going co-axial: Omega views it as our version of the Goldfinger Rolex versus the model 5513 worn in Live and Let Die!, that customers will want an "original Omega Bond," as opposed to a Timothy Dalton, er, I mean, Daniel Craig, Omega.

So the real product placement strategy here is to drive up sales of Bond watches they're already geared up to move.

(And you'd be shocked to learn that my first job out of college in the mid-80s was as a manager of marketing, advertising, and media relations, right?)

Thanks for letting me vent!

Link to my Omega Seamaster 2252.50 review: For a 21st Century Goldfinger
Link to my Omega Seamaster 2254.50 review: Should'a been Bond's Omega
Link to my Omega Seamaster 2255.80 review: "The Electric Blue"
Link to my Omega Seamaster 2531.80 review: Bond's second Omega
Link to my Omega Seamaster 2541.80 review: Actually, Bond's first Omega
Link to my Omega Seamaster 2561.80 review: Mid-sized version of 2541.80