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Selling James Bond: Product Placement in the James Bond Films
Author: Tanya Nitins
Date Of Publication: Nov 2011
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-3305-9
Isbn: 1-4438-3305-3
The character of James Bond for many people is intrinsically linked in their minds with particular brands – Aston Martin, Bollinger, Omega, Smirnoff vodka, and so on. This direct association between character and brand highlights the intrinsic role of product placement in the film industry, and in the James Bond films in particular. Selling James Bond: Product Placement in the James Bond Films provides a comprehensive overview of the history of product placement in the James Bond series – charting the progression of the practice and drawing direct correlations to significant cultural and historical events that impacted upon the number and types of products incorporated into the series. While primarily a financial arrangement, it is also important that the practice of product placement be examined and understood in relation to these cultural contexts, an area of research so far largely ignored by academic study.

Through extensive content analysis of the official James Bond film series, as well as utilising directors’ commentary and industry reports, this book illustrates the strong impact specific cultural and historical events have had on the practice of product placement in the series. In doing so, it provides an exciting and in-depth “behind the scenes” look at the James Bond film series, and its complicated and sometimes contentious history of product placement. In the process, it charts the gradual emergence of product placement from the more traditional background shot to becoming so embedded in the actual film narrative that they have become simply yet another method for filmmakers to produce cultural meaning.

Dr Tanya Nitins is a Lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, in the area of Entertainment Industries. Her previous work in the area of James Bond and Product Placement includes “A Boy and His Toys: Technology and Gadgetry in the James Bond Films” in James Bond in World and Popular Culture, “Are We Selling Out Our Culture? An Examination of the Product Placement Industry and Adverse Implications for the Film Industry” in Civilisations, and “Looking, Just Looking: James Bond and the Objectification and Commodification of the Human Form” in Research Into 21st Century Communities.

“I am very happy to have my name associated with this book – I hope there will be a halo effect. Nitins’ work is a beautifully written exemplar of how to examine entertainment. In her discussion of brands, celebrities, gadgets and spectacle she explores with precision and originality the ways in which business informs culture and culture informs business.”

– Alan McKee, editor of Entertainment Industries (Routledge, 2012) and Beautiful Things in Popular Culture (Blackwell, 2007)

“We all know the signature line, ‘Bond, James Bond,’ and the changing machismo which Bond defines. Many words have been written exploring the lives and times of James Bond. But until this time, no serious work has examined the significance of product placement in the franchise. Nitins’ work is a new and different examination of the Bond Brand and the scramble by other brands to be associated with and to define the Bond Brand. It is a significant and unique contribution to the Bond story and a good read besides.”

– Associate Professor Errol Vieth, author of Screening Science: Contexts, Texts and Science in Fifties Science Fiction Film (2001)

Price Uk Gbp: 34.99
Price Us Usd: 52.99

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)

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