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Exploitation, Showmanship, Merchandise & Promotions

‘Bondmania’ had reached its zenith with the release of Thunderball in 1965, with hundreds of items emblazoned with the 007 logo, or linked with the character of James Bond. The USA had even more promotional tie-ins - with toiletries, clothing, road race sets, and even underwater diving equipment featured in Thunderball (1965). However, during the filming of You Only Live Twice (1967), its star Sean Connery announced that the fifth 007 adventure would be his last, and the Bond bubble finally burst. Columbia Pictures released their spoof version of Casino Royale (1967) ahead of You Only Live Twice, and whilst not as successful at the box-office, did have an impact on the overall takings of EON Productions’ latest offering. Undaunted, EON continued to offer licences for new James Bond related products, this time granted through Walter Tuckwell & Associates Ltd., in association with Mervyn Brodie Associated Ltd, with whom they shared an office in London's Piccadilly. A former Walt Disney employee, Walter Tuckwell fostered a network connecting and linking commercial and legal opportunities offered by television programmes, and the emerging demand for products aimed at children. One of Tuckwell's most successful marketing campaigns was the licensing of Doctor Who and the Daleks for BBC television in 1965. A year later Tuckwell's company created the enormously successful character ‘World Cup Willie’ - the Union Jack wearing cartoon lion mascot of England's 1966 World Cup winning football squad, which was seen on hundreds of licenced products in the UK.

You Only Live Twice (1967)

James Bond Chewing Gum You Only Live Twice (1967)
James Bond Chewing Gum You Only Live Twice (1967)

As a tie-in with You Only Live Twice, Somportex Ltd. manufactured something new. Instead of the black & white pin-up cards produced for Goldfinger and Thunderball, they came up with colour film slides. This new collectible was titled “Chew & Colour View James Bond 007 Bubble Gum”. Each pack contained a strip holding three different 35mm slides and a small piece of dusted chewing gum. There were 26 different strips of three colour slides, making a total of 78 images. On the right border of each slide was a brief description of the scene, with “Sean Connery as James Bond” printed on the left. However, a few mistakes once again occurred during the production of the slides, with slide number 63 and 65 being exactly the same. The right-hand-side text on slide number 58 [pictured above] reads “M Briefing Bond”, when it should be “Q Briefing Bond”, as the slide shows Desmond Llewelyn and Sean Connery. Collectors could obtain a free plastic slide viewer by sending off 36 wrappers. A free 18-page Mini-Book [pictured below] was also supplied with the pocket viewer, and contained unique artwork of ‘Little Nellie’ and the twin-rotor Kawasaki-Vertol KV107-11 helicopter (used by Japanese SIS to removed unwanted SPECTRE agents!), along with the story of the film.

James Bond chewing gum booklet You Only Live Twice (1967)

Also for children, but hardly at a pocket money price, was a James Bond version of the popular slot car racing set from Scalextric. Featuring a white Aston Martin and black Mercedes, the set retailed at over £11 which was well out or reach for many families at the time, equating to at least half a week's wage for the average manual worker in the UK in 1967.

Scalextric Race Game You Only Live Twice (1967)
AIRFIX Aston Martin | Husky Aston Martin You Only Live Twice (1967)
AIRFIX Aston Martin You Only Live Twice (1967)

Far more affordable in 1967 was the AIRFIX 1:24 scale model replica of James Bond's Aston Martin DB5, finally released in August 1966 after being announced in the Thunderball (1965) Exhibitors’ Campaign Book. As the packaging did not make reference to any particular film, this product was still in production until 1969. The box art was by prolific AIRFIX artist Roy Cross (1924-2024).

Mettoy Playcraft Ltd. issued a small plastic version of the Aston Martin, with working passenger ejector seat and figure, available from Woolworth's stores in the UK. Issued under the HUSKY EXTRA brand, this model was priced at just two shillings and ten pence, and an inexpensive alternative to the die-cast CORGI model which was still available and priced at nine shillings and eleven pence.

Several products were advertised in the You Only Live Twice Exhibitors' Campaign Book but not illustrated as they were either still in development, or the company had only expressed an interest in marketing their goods. One such item was “Licence To Kill” - a James Bond card game, which unusually came from potato crisp manufacturer Golden Wonder. Many of the villains featured on the cards were illustrative versions of the actor playing the role in the film series; with others taken directly from Ian Fleming's novels, in addition to some completely new fictional characters. A ‘Volcano play set’ mentioned in the Campaign Book was only produced in France, and is one of the rarer James Bond related licenced products. AIRFIX later produced a 1:24 scale model kit of the Wallis WA-116 Gyrocopter ‘Little Nellie’ seen in You Only Live Twice (1967), but again this was too late to be included in the Exhibitors’ Campaign Book. Similarly, a 1:12 scale James Bond and Oddjob kit [also featuring box art by Roy Cross] had been issued in 1965, but never featured in the Campaign Book for Goldfinger (1964).

Licence To Kill card game You Only Live Twice (1967)
James Bond Lone Star guns You Only Live Twice (1967)

Lone Star repackaged the “James Bond 007 Sniper's Rifle” originally produced in 1965, and included existing products into a “James Bond new gun presentation set” to tie in with the release of You Only Live Twice (1967). The set included the 007 Badge, gold-handled pistol with silencer, handcuffs, holster and an international passport. These items would all be repurposed in subsequent years to tie in with later James Bond films. Although James Bond wouldn’t do much driving in You Only Live Twice, the film’s co-producer, Albert R. Broccoli, had seen Toyota’s prototype 2000GT at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1965 and thought it would make an ideal car for 007's accomplice, Aki (played by Akiko Wakabayashi). However, there was a problem as Sean Connery’s large frame meant it was impossible for him to fit comfortably into the vehicle, and with several scenes viewed from around the cockpit, a solution need to be found. Toyota therefore made a Roadster version which would solve the visibility issues. Two cars were produced, both painted white with black upholstery and wire wheels. Neither had side windows or a roof, so Sean Connery could easily fit inside. One car was utilised during location filming in Japan, with the other used as back up and later rear-projection filming back at Pinewood Studios.

The You Only Live Twice Exhibitors’ Campaign Book mentions that several toy manufacturers were in production with models of the Toyota 2000GT and expected to be on sale by the end of 1967. AIRFIX came out with a 1:24 scale plastic construction kit, and CORGI Toys issued a die cast model. Although the car is not driven by James Bond in the film and has no gimmicks other than a TV screen and communication device situated in the rear of the vehicle, the CORGI edition included four firing missiles concealed in the boot.

Toyota 200GT | AIRFIX/CORGI models You Only Live Twice (1967)

Not as successful as CORGI's Aston Martin DB5, the Toyota sold 768,000 units during its two-year lifecycle, and became highly collectible in its own right. Neither model was illustrated in the Campaign Book, which goes on to state that the full-sized Toyota Sports Car would not be imported into the UK.

Pan American poster You Only Live Twice (1967)

Morley 007 underwear for men You Only Live Twice (1967)

Although the James Bond films presented Ian Fleming's secret agent in many different locations, foreign travel would be out of reach for most cinemagoers until the 1970s, and even then only to affordable package holiday destinations on the Continent. During the West End presentation of You Only Live Twice, Pan American Airways devoted the whole of their Piccadilly window display linking up the film with daily flights to Japan. Installed in 1964 Pan Am's London offices had the largest plate-glass window in Europe.

Pan American produced a colourful double-crown (20" X 30") poster available free to travel agents throughout the country, to be used in conjunction with the quad-crown Style C poster (featuring the Japanese bath-house girls) and stills of Sean Connery with Akiko Wakabayashi. Doubtless most airline travellers to Japan in 1967 would be businessmen, and the You Only Live Twice Exhibitors’ Campaign Book also features the availability of 007 branded Antler luggage designed to transport their suits immaculately to faraway places! The cases (also featured in the Thunderball Campaign Book) had a simple 007 logo near the handle, and came in four sizes - ranging from the one-suit overnight flight case at £8. 8s. for the occasional short trip across the channel; up to the 27 inch four-suiter at staggering £17. 17s! More affordable for the international jet-setter was “Morley 007 underwear for men” [pictured above right] in the new Courtauld's wonder fibre, Vincel. Unsurprisingly, the product did not prove particularly successful and the company of I. & R. Morley Ltd, who were established in 1797, were ultimately acquired by the Courtaulds Textile Group at the end of 1967.

You Only Live Twice (1967) newspaper composite page header

The Exhibitors’ Campaign Book also suggested that enterprising cinema managers team up with local traders enthusiastic to participate in a JAMES BOND WEEK, noting that previous United Artists James Bond releases had met with considerable success with this kind of promotion.

Coventry Standard composite page You Only Live Twice (1967)

The Campaign Book suggested promoting James Bond's wedding to Kissy Suzuki, and link in with hairdressers, jewellers, bakers, florists and car hire firms. You Only Live Twice could also be promoted with stores selling Japanese goods such as cameras, radios, tape recorders etc. The heading block [pictured above] was designed to be used at the top of newspaper pages to promote the traders participating in the promotion. The following headlines were also suggested for use by local traders: GET THE BEST OUT OF LIFE BY. . .; ENJOY LONG LIFE WITH . . .; TWICE THE VALUE –; ONCE IN A LIFETIME SALE!; FOR GOOD LIVING GET –; LIFE INSURANCE WITH TWICE THE COVER; LIVE IT UP TONIGHT - VISIT THE –,  and to promote stores selling 007 merchandise: IT'S NO SECRET - WE ARE AGENTS FOR –. When it came to selling the James Bond films, anything goes!

The premise of a James Bond Week was adopted by many local newspapers including the Coventry Standard, [pictured left] and a full-page of 007-themed advertisements printed in the October 19, 1967 edition to promote the opening of You Only Live Twice at the ODEON Coventry. Advertised to play for seven days from Sunday October 22, 1967 You Only Live Twice ultimately screened for three weeks at the ODEON, before returning to the city on Sunday November 26, 1967 to play for another two weeks at the Godiva cinema, and then a further week at the Paris cinema from Sunday March 31, 1968.

 

STILL AVAILABLE!
Exhibitors’ Campaign Books (UK) & Exhibitors’ Pressbooks (US)

007 MAGAZINE - The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Campaign Books (UK) Volume 3 007 MAGAZINE - The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Campaign Books (UK) Volume 4 007 MAGAZINE - The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Campaign Books (UK) Volume 5 007 MAGAZINE – The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Pressbooks (USA) Volume 3
007 MAGAZINE – The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Campaign Books (UK) Volume 3 007 MAGAZINE – The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Campaign Books (UK) Volume 4 007 MAGAZINE – The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Campaign Books (UK) Volume 5 007 MAGAZINE – The James Bond Films: Exhibitors’ Pressbooks (USA) Volume 3
Contains four complete UK Exhibitors’ Campaign Books:
Live And Let Die (1973)
The Man With The
Golden Gun
(1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Moonraker (1979)
Contains three complete UK Exhibitors’ Campaign Books:
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Octopussy (1983)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
 
Contains three complete UK Exhibitors’ Campaign Books:
A View To A Kill (1985)
The Living Daylights (1987)
Licence To Kill (1989)
Contains five complete US Exhibitors’ Pressbooks:
Live And Let Die (1973)
The Man With The
Golden Gun
(1974)
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Moonraker (1979)
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
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