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Bond Fans Shaken Over Switch From Martini To Beer

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Finally this hour, we raise a glass to this man.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (as James Bond) Bond, James Bond.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And we probably don't need to tell you what's in the glass.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (as James Bond) Vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.

(as character) One medium dry vodka martini, mixed like you said, sir, and not stirred.

(as James Bond) A medium dry martini, lemon peel, shaken, not stirred.

(as character) Vodka?

(as James Bond) Of course. A martini, shaken, not stirred.

CORNISH: Just to be clear, that's shaken, not stirred. After all, it's James Bond's signature drink.

BLOCK: Which is why some fans did a proverbial spit take when they heard their beloved spy would be sipping a beer in the new 007 film "Skyfall." Specifically, a Heineken.

JAMES CHAPMAN: It doesn't really seem to fit in with our image of Bond, of what he should be like.

CORNISH: That's James Chapman, James Bond expert and professor of film studies at the University of Leicester.

CHAPMAN: And to drink a bottle of beer and a mass-market bottle of beer, that seems to be moving away from that kind of snob value and archetype.

BLOCK: Now, the studio isn't revealing how much Heineken paid for screen time with Mr. Bond, but it's certainly not the first brand name to appear in the franchise. Bond is known for driving Aston Martins and sporting Rolex watches.

CORNISH: In the novels, author Ian Fleming even wrote that James Bond didn't eat just any kind of marmalade.

CHAPMAN: But he would specifically have Cooper's Vintage Oxford marmalade and so on. And these are at the time, in the '50s, expensive brand-name items.

BLOCK: And for all of you indignant Bond fans, "Skyfall" isn't even the first film to show Bond enjoying a cold one. In his very first movie, "Dr. No," released in 1962, 007 drinks a Red Stripe.

CORNISH: And in "License to Kill," Timothy Dalton orders a Bud with a lime.

BLOCK: While we're exploring the world of non-martinis, Bond sticks with the lime theme in "Die Another Day."

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "DIE ANOTHER DAY")

PIERCE BROSNAN: (as James Bond) Mojito. You should try it.

CORNISH: In "From Russia with Love," his drinks ordered for him.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE")

PEDRO ARMENDARIZ: (as Kerim Bey) Ah, Raki, filthy stuff.

BLOCK: He can hardly be blamed for that one.

CORNISH: But there's also this break with tradition in "Thunderball."

(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THUNDERBALL")

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (as character) Rum Collins, Mr. Bond.

SEAN CONNERY: (as James Bond) Yes.

BLOCK: Still, it seems that Heineken has struck a nerve. There's even a group on Facebook called Boo James Bond's Heineken Scene.

CORNISH: In a recent interview with the BBC, Bond himself, Daniel Craig, responded to the complaints. His message: The money to make these movies has to come from somewhere.

(SOUNDBITE OF BBC BROADCAST)

DANIEL CRAIG: It's unfortunate, but we get the movies made, and that's all that matters. And I hold myself out a little bit for that, and we get the movie made, and so what? Everybody wins.

BLOCK: As for Bond expert James Chapman, the idea that 007 indulges his inner common man by drinking a brewski now and then doesn't bother him.

CORNISH: So long as a tuxedoed 007 doesn't someday have to eat a Big Mac to pay the bills. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.