There's a good chance 007 purists who prefer their secret agent sipping martinis are shaken, not stirred over this new ad.
Daniel Craig makes his debut as James Bond in the controversial Heineken spot tied to Skyfall, his third go-round in on Her Majesty's Secret Service.
And for those who think the commercial, which began airing today, finds the actor breaking with tradition by downing a cold one, here's a small consolation—he doesn't actually drink the beer in the commercial. Instead, he hands it off to a young protégé.
We'll say this for the ad however: It certainly plays like a Bond adventure.
It kicks off with a clip from Skyfall in which Craig is pursued by some baddies. It then weaves in Heineken's storyline. 007 bumps into a young double who's mistaken for the superspy and ends up being chased on a train where he has a run-in with various characters, including a CGI version of Dr. No (played by the late Joseph Wiseman) before catching up with the real Bond at the bar with Bond girl Berenice Marlohe.
As part of Heineken's publicity push, an interactive digital campaign accompanying the spot, which is titled "Crack the Case," challenges viewers to open Bond's attaché case.
The Heineken ad is the result of a sponsorship deal James Bond producers sealed with the brewery to help defray its sky-high budget, though the announcement didn't go over well with some diehard fans who accused the franchise of selling out.
Craig subsequently defended the partnership saying without such deals, there would be no Bond movies.
I guess we'll drink to that. Skyfall arrives in theaters in the U.S. Nov. 9.