A dry day in the life of James Bond

After nearly 20 years of associating with fictitious British spy James Bond – Heineken is adding a new twist to the brand association. Its latest ad featuring actor Daniel Craig has been created by Publicis Italy and is a push for Heineken’s non-alcoholic beer offering Heineken 0.0. UK newspaper Daily Mail reports that the association with non-alcoholic beer is an attempt to portray the character as ‘woke.’

The ad is possibly a bid to appeal to younger folk who are consuming lesser alcohol than the generations that preceded them. The campaign's release coincides with the month-long celebration of 'Dry January' - a challenge in which people attempt to abstain from drinking alcohol for a month (similar to 'No-Shave November', where a person taking the challenge abstains from shaving facial hair for that month.)

Heineken's last campaign featuring Daniel Craig was shot for the release of his 2015 film Spectre. The ad, shot like a mini-film and created by Wieden & Kennedy, Amsterdam, shows a high-speed boat chase starring Craig as Bond.

The newest campaign is Heineken's eighth association with a Bond film - the latest one, 'No Time to Die' is set to release in April 2020. It's interesting to note that Heineken has sponsored the Bond movie franchise since 1997, when the Pierce Brosnan starrer 'Tomorrow Never Dies' was released. The ads in the campaign are titled 'Daniel Craig vs James Bond' and are a playful take on the actor's identity versus his demeanour in real life.

Here are some older ads starring the fictional British spy.