INFO
Green Heineken Skyfall litre bottle
dBOD
2012
glass, plastic, beer, metal
h 31.5 x Ø 8.5 cm
The name is… Heineken
In September 2012, Heineken launched an advertising campaign in the 170 countries where it operates relating to the 23rd James Bond film Skyfall. By then, the beer brand had been associated with the films about the British secret agent in Ian Fleming’s books for 15 years. However, this was the first time that the Bond actor himself appeared in a Heineken commercial.
The James Bond Partnership had been running since 1997. In that year, audiences saw Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies jumping on a motorcycle over a load of Heineken beer. In the commercial for the film, a series of ‘ordinary’ people present themselves as James Bond (The name is Bond... James Bond). At the end, Roger Moore also introduces himself, but then in a fragment from the film.
Q and Q
This was followed by The World is Not Enough (1999), a Heineken commercial in which Q, the legendary Desmond Llewelyn (1914-1999), has the leading role. In the commercial for Die Another Day (2002), that role is played by Q’s hilarious successor John Cleese. In the commercial for Casino Royale (2006) we see Bond’s female counterpart Eva Green. In Quantum of Solace (2008), a Heineken customer ends up as the lead in a Bond film, with the supermarket as the film set.
There’s no stopping him
And then, in 2012, James Bond himself appears in the commercial for the movie for the first time, namely for Skyfall. During a chase in Heineken’s The Express commercial, a young man in a suit jumps onto a moving train. Fleeing from his pursuers, he passes compartment after compartment, taking part in every scene there. In the restaurant car, he suddenly finds himself next to leading actors Daniel Craig and Bérénice Marlohe. Craig hands him a bottle of Heineken before jumping out of the train as it crosses a railway bridge hanging from a Union Jack parachute.
Futuristic bottle
As part of the Skyfall campaign, Heineken issued this special beer bottle featuring a silver label with Craig as agent 007 depicted in the typical James Bond silhouette style. With its shape based on ellipses, the bottle was designed by dBOD in 2010. In the same year, Heineken launched a completely new design for the international market, including this ‘K2 bottle.’ The streamlined, futuristic look fit in perfectly with the film.
Martini and beer
Skyfall also successfully combined the old and the new. The world’s most famous secret agent proved his relevance for the 21st century against a background of international intrigue with historical roots. For example, the British secret service MI6 (and therefore 007) comes under fire from its own government, and from international terrorists forged by the colonial past. Although in the film Bond still drinks his famous martini’s (‘shaken, not stirred’), in the commercial he simply orders a cool lager with an eye to the future.
Worth the wait
The collaboration between the premium beer brand and the stylish ‘film brand’ gave rise to creative, strong, and somewhat provocative advertisements. Skyfall was followed by Spectre in 2015, with Craig once again appearing in Heineken’s The Chase commercial. After that, fans had to wait six years. No Time to Die was only released in 2021. In the commercial, Craig compares waiting for a cold beer with the long-delayed premiere: ‘Worth the wait.’