According to emails that were leaked during last year’s Sony hack, the company’s mobile division really wanted to have an endorsement relationship with Daniel Craig so that the actor would help promote Sony’s smartphones in his James Bond films. Unfortunately, despite offering several million dollars to Craig, the actor refused on the grounds that James Bond was too cool to use a Sony smartphone. Ouch.
Everyone can have their hearts broken by handsome men with accents, it turns out — even brands in pursuit of product placement. Sony’s cellphone division, Sony Mobile, like many of us, really wanted a relationship with Daniel Craig. But the actor rejected their advances, according to leaked emails from last year’s Sony Pictures hack. The company offered Craig $5 million to use a Sony phone in the forthcoming James Bond movie, Spectre. He turned it down, apparently because Sony phones aren’t cool enough for James Bond. This email from George Leon, Sony’s executive vice president of consumer marketing, indicates that Craig and director Sam Mendes met with Barbara Broccoli, daughter of James Bond creator Albert Broccoli, to discuss the possibility of product placement in Spectre. The deal would have included $18 million for marketing, in addition to $5 million for Craig.
