Another day, another James Bond movie, another dapper chase scene of a Heineken commercial—but with a new kind of hero.
Daniel Craig bookends this new 90-second, high-octane ad—from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam and MJZ director Tom Kuntz—promoting both the beer brand and the Nov. 6 release of Spectre, the next film in the 007 franchise.
The commercial's format harks back to the 2012 Skyfall tie-in, when a case of mistaken identity found a Heineken "Man of the World"—basically your everyday Bond—deftly evading villains who thought they were pursuing Craig.
This time, the innocent who's unwittingly swept into the action is an equally dextrous woman, who seems perfectly at home getting dragged along behind Bond's speedboat on water skis, carrying a tray of lagers and using her feminine wiles to run the evil-doers into rocks. She also tries the old hat-throwing trick, in a cheeky nod to Goldfinger's Oddjob (or perhaps an even more subtle reference to Austin Power's ineffectual shoe-chucker).
Still, at its heart, it's consistent with Heineken's core advertising theme for the past five years—ridiculously slick dudes having a blast and charming beautiful women all over the world—as well as its target (guys who fancy themselves such).
This is W+K Amsterdam's last effort for Heineken, and it will be a fitting end to the gangbusters approach if the brand changes strategic course as it shifts to its new agency Publicis. At this point, the lines between Bond and Heineken's own character seem deliberately blurred to the point of being indistinguishable.
But it's still good fun.
CREDITS
Client: Heineken
Senior Marketing Director Global Heineken Brand: Gianluca Di Tondo
Global Heineken Communications Director: Sandrine Huijgen
Heineken Communications Manager: Jules Macken
Global Sponsorships Director: Hans Erik Tuijt
Spot: "The Chase"
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam
Executive Creative Director: Mark Bernath, Eric Quennoy
Creative Director: Faustin Claverie, Thierry Albert
Art Director: Faustin Claverie
Copywriter: Thierry Albert
Head of Broadcast Production: Joe Togneri
Broadcast Producer: Jaime Tan
Assistant Producer: Stijn Wikkerink
Planner: Nick Docherty
Group Account Director: Jordi Pont
Account Director: Jonah Dolan
Account Manager: Elianne Vermeulen
Project Manager: Stacey Prudden
Business Affairs: Michael Graves
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Tom Kuntz
Director of Photography: Benoit Debie
Production Designer: Robin Brown
Producer: Chris McBride
Executive Producer: Debbie Turner
Editing Company: White House Post
Editor: Russell Icke
Edit Assistant: Stephen Dunne
Audio Post: 750MPH
Sound Designer/Mixer: Sam Ashwell
Music
Artist/Title: "The Hell Raisers" by Syd Dale
Label: KPM
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing Benelux
Additional Musicians: Pandit Dinesh – Percussion; Andy Mellon - Trumpet
Postproduction: MPC London
VFX Supervisor Dan Sanders
2D Team David Filipe, Toya Dreschler, Ed Taylor
3D Lead Amir Bazazi
3D Team Fabio Santoro, Adam Leary, Arttu Koskela, Rune Mansson,
Telecine Mark Gethin
Producer Paul Branch