Reply With QuoteCompared to what? A shiny Aqua Terra?
As usual, realism isn't the order of the day when it comes to product placement.
Spotted this article here:
http://www.watchpro.com/16593-bremon...ece-of-choice/
Now I like Bremont as much as the next fella, but I was forced to raise my eyebrow Roger-Moore-stylee at this bit - "Each Kingsman agent in the film wears a rose gold chronograph on an alligator strap". Even with the suspension of disbelief, that's hardly the tool watch of choice for an agent in the field, is it..? :-)
SGR
Compared to what? A shiny Aqua Terra?
As usual, realism isn't the order of the day when it comes to product placement.
Granted, but in the most of the spy books I read as a lad the watches were usually pretty functional as opposed to pieces of jewellery...Originally Posted by StackH
SGR
I almost didn't recognise Nick wearing that jacket and that baseball cap.Bremont co-founder Nick English has bagged a cameo role alongside Colin Firth..
Dang he's a good actor, looks like he's really gets into the part. ;-)
Absolutely agree. I love the rebooted Bonds, but the "Rolex? Omega..." name check in Casino Royale just made me cringe. And the lingering wrist shot during the crane/train sequence in Skyfall was just as bad.
Agreed - that was probably one of the lowest points for me. I accept that product placement is a necessary evil because it often helps fund a big chunk of the movie, but it surely doesn't have to be as crass. Anyhoo, a rose gold chronograph on a croc strap doesn't strike me as the preferred tool of choice for someone who could kill me with one finger. :-)
SGR
Rather a moot point; unless you know a selection of such people and can do a straw pole of their taste, your opinion of what they would wear is just that: your opinion. Thus it makes your view on it no less valid or invalid as that of the director, or props department, of the film.
Personally, I'd like to think someone who could "kill me with one finger" would think watches were for wimps who cared about time and refused to wear one because it slowed down his 'fingers of death' ;)
Only IMO .....
Nice to see a British Product in a British Film, Matthew Vaughn is a very good director.
Should be a great film!
It is only my opinion, yes, and was not presented as anything else. Although that said, I have today conducted a straw poll of fellow national security operatives and the verdict is that field agents require something understated in steel or titanium on a NATO or metal bracelet. And who am I to argue... :-)
SGR
I love seeing nice watches on screen but it's not realistic, as we all know.
Product placement rules with the Bond character one of the early examples.
In McNab's books his characters wear G-Shocks. Tough and easily replaceable. That's what a field operative's watch should be.
Last edited by Shakespeare; 19th June 2014 at 12:10.
It depends entirely on the context, g-shock in a Monaco casino for example would stick out like a sore thumb. It's fiction and has no basis in reality.
But then who watches these for reality?! Good on Bremont I say, fantastic exposure for their brand.
I think it's a great move to widen the brand name and look forward to seeing the movie. I believe that some of the cast are wearing the more robust B2:
http://www.bremont.com/chronometers/range/alt1-b
(my emphasis)
I take it you've not read Kingsman: The Secret Service then?
Official trailer for the film.
Cheers,
Gary
I've worked for many employers over the years, none of whom have supplied a watch to wear in the field, shame. Surely an insurance salesman or call centre operative deserves at least an ingersoll?
I did get a free umbrella at Browning though!
I think the gold chronograph suits the settings. I mean look at how the guys dressed. It could have been a VC, Patek or AP tbh. You need CLASS but with utmost durability and I think the bremont suits it well!
I see this is available on Mr Porter for a whopping 14K (along with all the clothes from the film, which is pretty cool from a marketing / film perspective)
Fits perfectly, IMO:
Let's see: 100M of water-resistance; chronograph and GMT (two useful complications); a rugged, dependable movement; and all wrapped up in an elegant gold case. Given the nature of the flick, I'm hard pressed to think of a more ideally suited watch.
Anyway, Matthew Vaughn approached them, not vice versa, as he was looking for a distinctly British brand to feature. I suppose he could've contacted Roger Smith, but I doubt the budget would've allowed for many of the latter's Isle of Man-produced beauties.
Regards,
Adam
It's not just in books that military types wear g shocks - just a cursory browse of the net, or even just watching news footage it becomes clear that a lot of soldiers wear a g shock. Tough, water resistant to 200m, legible, replaceable and with world time features etc it's a bit of a no-brainer I'd imagine. All the Walter Mitty 'special edition combat seal editions' are a bit embarrassing aren't they?!
I'm not knocking them, just genuinely wonder what's intrinsically 'British' about the styling of Bremont watches? As an Englishman they don't convey that sense any more than a whole host of other brands?
Without a shadow of a doubt, the worst bit of product placement I have ever come across. I can accept things like apple laptops being opened up right in front of the camera so that the apple logo takes centre stage very briefly, but to actually influence the film so much as to demand this awful bit of dialogue I thought was quite shocking.
Yeah it was bad, im sure Omega paid prob more for that piece of dialogue then the actual watch product placement since it was forcing 007 to show preference over Rolex
Daniel Craig's take on product placement:
"Now, product placement, whichever way you look at it, whether you like it or you think it's disgusting, or whatever, it's what it is. . . . Heineken gave us a ton of money for there to be Heineken in a shot in a bar. So, how easy is that? Just to say, O.K., there's Heineken. It's there-it's in the back of the shot. Without them, the movie couldn't get sold, so that all got kind of blown up. 'Bond's new drink is a Heineken.' He likes a lot of drinks-Heineken, champagne; it's all in there. I'll drink a beer in the shot, I'm happy to, but I'm not going to do an 'Ahhhhh'. And I would say this because they're paying, but they're kind of respectful about it. They don't want to screw the movie up."
MGM needed that sponsor money, not just from Omega and Heineken, to make the films happen. A small price to pay for 3 (yes I like QOS) excellent Bond movies with 2 more guaranteed.
A Smiths Everest once featured in the BBC's "Click" programme ;-)
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
He didn't do an "ahhh" but he did do the aforementioned awful interchange with Vespa about Omega/Rolex. I accept product placement of the kind done by Heineken and most others, movies are expensive and have to be paid for somehow. If you're not paying specific attention to product placement, you basically don't even notice it really.
When it influences the dialogue to the extent that there is this incredibly awkward and out-of-place conversation though, it has gone too far. Even Connery referring to Bollinger 69 at least felt suitable to the moment and didn't feel like it had been crowbarred into the script.
Hehe.
And in The League of Gentlemen (1960), although that was a heist movie, rather than spies...
Cool, now "Click" I like, it's like Gadget Show when it used to be good, before they tried to go all Top Gear on us.
I'm not sure how that exchange was awkward or out of place to be honest, it fit in quite well with the rest of the conversation considering what she was saying and why she was saying it. Could that scene have worked without the Rolex/Omega line? Absolutely. Did it ruin it? Personally I don't think so. But everyone's different. Like you said, if you're not looking for it you won't notice it. I do get that with our shared interest and the reason we are on this forum we would pick up on any kind of watch talk in a film. Personally I didn't really think anything of it since Bond has been wearing Omega's in the movies for a while now. But then I was less aware of the Rolex vs Omega war at the time. To me, despite being a spoken line, it stood out less than the Mondeo advert.
Last edited by JNH; 14th January 2015 at 11:19. Reason: wording
Agree - it was not the usual Product Placement that has been in Bond for donkeys, this was another level that was awkwardly jammed into the script. Omega must have been paying big bucks to get Rolex and Omega mentioned together to infer that Omega is equal to Rolex (or possibly inferring Omega is greater then Rolex since Bond is wearing a Seamaster not a Rolex)
I have no problem with product placement but that was a bit OTT, also in Skyfall that shot of the 42mm PO in the JCB lingered ridiculously long that it must have been some kind of "we will double the money" offer from Omega to do it.
Both great films though (well Casino Royale was) so can't grumble :)
"Piaggio thank you for your mention of our sub-brand, Vespa."
The character's name is Vesper. Product names crop up everywhere, even sometimes by accident.
Agreed, Although Bond did wear the odd mission specific watch from time to time :) (like the Tuna in For Your Eyes Only)
Dressy watch for meeting up with the evil kingpin in the casino, Tool watch for mixing it up with the bad guys.
Maybe it's just me, but when I see that Kingsman symbol it reminds me of a Mazda logo.
If the tie-in with the movie inspires a few people to pick up the Bremont, good for them. But I do wonder about who is going to spend 95 quid on a key ring or or nearly 400 quid for slippers with the branding of what is supposed to be a spy agency!
A shame Philby never wore his KGB logo cravat - would have made him much easier to spot.
It's their cover. A secret service run from a tailor's shop (think Huntsman on Saville Row). Obviously, it's secret - everyone else thinks it's a bespoke tailor...
Hear, hear....
Anyone ??
Well with the recent launch of the Boeing models the "Englishness" is being somewhat diluted, but then I guess the States is their biggest market.
However, their original range of watches took a lot of design cues from British vintage aircraft instruments, as explained on their website if anyone cares to look. The two models (BC/BF range) that have been recently discontinued were, along with the MB2 and SM500, the most "British" in aesthetic IMHO.
I have a Supermarine 500, so may be considered a little biased, the design of this takes its inspiration from the iconic Supermarine SB6 aircraft with the line detailing on the dial followed through in to the rubber strap. Taken as a whole they have produced a watch that is a little different from most other "divers" whilst retaining their aviation theme.
Of course these things are very subtle and may not be obvious or even of interest to others, but then that applies to all watches.
On the weekends, the movements shut down and are replaced with a quartz replacement service :-)
You're overthinking it.
While I think that Aquavit did a great job of pointing out the areas that Bremont conveys a British aesthetic, most likely the fact that Bremont was founded by two British blokes and operated out of England influenced Matthew Vaughn's decision, more than overtly "British" styling cues. That they say "London" on the dial doesn't hurt either.
I mean, what's inherently Swiss about Rolex? The English brothers set out to create aviation influenced watches, not the equivalent of Big Ben, Winston Churchill and the Queen mum on one's wrist.
Regards,
Adam
Last edited by craniotes; 14th January 2015 at 17:54.
Movie to miss +1
Really? Because of a single product placement that, in spite of anyone's thoughts to the contrary, actually fits with the theme of the movie?
Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Regards,
Adam
Will they be playing Louie Louie in the movie?
So more 'Aviation inspired' than Britiish inspired then - fair enough. I'm not an aviation buff so that's lost on me, along with all the photos of John Travolta standing next to aeroplanes for Breitling. I think the film looks quite fun actually.As an aside there's a Bremont AD near me with a huge range in the window - I took a look at lunchtime today and was surprised at the breadth of the range. From the dial I quite liked a lot of them but the case profiles were a bit fussy for my tastes. Looked a bit pricey to me but the average for a decent watch these days seems to be nudging £4k - a bit rich for my blood!
Fair play to Bremont I say. This will get them some good exposure. The rose gold watch looks great too, like a fancy version of the world timer.
As Aquavit noted, there are quite a few nods to British aviation history incorporated into Bremont's various model lines, but I'd say that overall aviation is the operating theme with them (go figure then that I bought one of their divers...). As for the pricing, hey, it's what the market will bear, right? Ideally, I'd love to seem them coming in at a less dear price point -- then I'd own more than one of their pieces -- but at the end of the day, they're in business to make money, not see that I get to have a Terra Nova and a P-51 on my wrist. ;-)
So, what of the movie? Bremont or no Bremont, if the director, cast and trailer are anything to go by, it's gonna be a blast.
Regards,
Adam
Sorry but it was horrifically out of place. And I had no interest in watches at the time i first saw it. It stood out because it was so forced.
Rottentomatoes would indicate otherwise:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/king...secret_service
For those interested Mr Porter has lots of info on spy gear and Kingsman fasion and plugging Bremont.
Considering what Omega spend to get their placement in Bond, the fact that Bremont provide all the watches for the Kingsman recruits and agents is a massive coup for them, as I am sure they did not compete for the placement or pay for it. Especially as they have been allowed to use the connection and offer the watches for general sale as a linked product.
Seriously, this is a high budget Hollywood production with at least 2 A-listers (Firth and Jackson) in the cast.
I think Bremont can be very pleased they were chosen.
And to be honest, I think the British design ethic is very strong in Bremont. To me, this doesn't mean anything in terms of how it looks.
It is about the dual purpose of their designs. They design to be (for watches) what Churches or a tweed jacket are for shoes and sartorial elegance respectively. An intent to be both aesthetically attractive, smart even. But also tough and to be used for a lifetime.
English shoes and boots are renowned for craftsmanship, and above all the use of welted construction and stitching. A complete absence of reliance on glue. As such, they withstand a lifetime of abuse and can be re-soled many times, in away that a beautifully shaped Italian loafer could never be.
Tweed is a fabric borne from the requirements of our climate. Warm, effectively waterpoof, and breathable, tweed allows you to wear a good-looking tailoring when it is dreek. Cashmere may look lovely, but it would wilt in the face of the weather that tweed excels in.
I certainly think Bremont tries to design their watches the same way, to be used in every situation. To look elegant, but take abuse and shrug it off.
Of course this is not uniquely British, many others design this way. But these are the features that are common to many British brands that have worldwide currency.
Churches, Loakes, Barbour, Belstaff, Dunhill, Mulberry, Paul Smith, Aga, Rolls Royce, Land Rover, Bentley, Hackett, Jaguar.
(and yes, i know some, indeed many, of these are no longer british owned).
D
^^^
Being approached is a major plus. And the coverage of the new brand from Mr Porter certainly isn't hurting them.
One of our own even sneaks into this video from Mr Porter about the "makers" behind the range...
Interesting to note that another brand associated with the film wasn't quite so lucky. Conway Stewart went into administration last year, just after finishing the pens (a few came up for auction at the time, although I certainly didn't put two and two together). They are all sold out now.
I saw the film this week and rather enjoyed it (but then, I am a bit of a Mark Millar fan). There are some much larger product "placements" in there - although I'm not sure if they were paid for or just part of Jane Goodman's script.
Bargain!
7750 with a gmt popped on it?
Still I'd imagine the cost price to the film was a couple of grand. Apologies. Woke up feeling facetious this morning
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