James Bond Ain't A Slut, He's A Whore

If you thought the Sony Blu-ray players, digital cameras,
Vaio computers and Ericsson phones in "Casino Royale" were intrusive product placement (the Omega watch line in particular was poorly executed),
you ain't seen nothing yet.

The Daily Record reports that MGM and Sony have agreed to raise around one-third of upcoming 23rd James Bond film's budget,
an estimated £30 million ($50 million), from companies seeking to associate their brands with the 007 franchise.

That amount is said to be double the previous record held by 2002's "Minority Report" which the likes of Lexus, Bulgari and American Express contributed to.
Also, rapidly expanding Chinese technology companies are said to be among the buyers being lined up for the next 007 outing.

Of course, product placement is nothing new to the series,
Aston Martin and BMW have certainly made good use of it over the years.

One thing putting a big question mark on this report is that it contradicts earlier news features such as a 2008 article in The Scotsman which says the last film in the series,
"Quantum of Solace", earned a whopping £50 million from manufacturers for "product placement"
- beating the then previous record holder "Die Another Day" with £44 million.

Those figures however likely cite tie-ins and marketing not included in the film itself. Indeed, one would expect the final estimate of "Bond 23" product placement tie-ins will be quite a bit higher than this first estimate.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/203...t-he-s-a-whore