Daniel Craig vs James Bond — a hilarious Heineken ad wherein Daniel is mistaken for his most famous film character over and over. We’re not sure how useful the ad really is, given it’s supposedly meant to promote Heineken’s 0.0% non-alcoholic beer but doesn’t even mention it. It’s still a fun, beautifully-shot romp. Via FastCompany:
Heineken has been a major sponsor of Bond since 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, using a combination of not-so-subtle product placement and massive global marketing campaigns to make sure we all know that even though James Bond doesn’t always drink beer, when he does, he reaches for the familiar green bottle.
As brand movie partnerships go, it could be much worse. Heineken is like the Euro-Budweiser, not high-end enough to be totally convincing but ubiquitous enough to be believable. At least more than say, if Natty Light wanted to sponsor 007.
Hans Erik Tuijt, director of global Heineken sponsorships, says the long-time relationship has been a win for the brand, and it’s that consistency that has created a virtuous cycle. Every time the brand would sponsor another Bond film, the stronger its association with 007 would be to consumers. It may sound ridiculous that anyone would order a Heineken because a fictional secret agent does, but tell that to the martini and the Omega watch people.
Personally, for the “Mistaken as James Bond” ads in this line, we still prefer Piers Brosnan’s Visa ad from way back, with Zhang Ziyi: