Official Tiki Oasis 2012 thread for TO12 - California Events

C Cammo Member San Diego Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 2041	C Cammo Posted posted on Tue, Jul 31, 2012 2:41 PM Part 6 Real Life Spies "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't." Mark Twain Almost immediately after WW2, Ian Fleming began to write the Bond books - Casino Royale was published in 1952. Ian Fleming They were immediate bestsellers. My friend’s father, now a state judge, collected the whole original paperback series and told me that everyone bought them for the pornographic parts. These were based on English agents and Roald Dahl’s experiences. Dahl's eyes, dreamy but intense, still have power: Roald Dahl Fleming’s best friend and hard-as-nails master spy David Ogilvy had contacts on Madison Avenue that ensured the Bond books being distributed, promoted and reviewed in the USA. I worked with Ogilvy's agency in the mid-80s and it was still known, even then, for playing nasty with any competition. David Ogilvy William Stephenson, (the man with the "hooded eyes") head of British WW2 Western Covert Actions, himself was one of the original investors in Shepperton Studios, the largest movie studio anywhere in the world outside of Hollywood. Although the first Bond film was filmed at Pinewood, Stephenson’s behind the scenes maneuvering pushed the Bond production through when absolutely no one in the known universe wanted to make what was seen as a sleazy film about spies-in-peacetime. William Stephenson The location scout and music arranger for Dr. No was none other than Fleming’s son-in-law Chris Blackwell (dopey Island Records again) and was partially filmed next to Fleming’s Jamaica estate. Chris Blackwell The final result was that this tiny group of chummy spies made James Bond an international hit, while (almost incredibly) persuading the world that England was actually a hip, classy and musically up to date country - all pre-Beatles era! The giant success of the Bond film franchise also generated more revenue for England than any 1 source before or since, and was one of the single largest taxation sources that England used for pulling itself out of the post war poverty it had found itself mired in. Ogilvy then used the surprising Bond success to market shirts with a mysterious one-eyed spy character, sold British Gin as being drinkable, and pushed Rolls-Royce as the smoothest car on Earth. When the Beatles hit the USA it was Ogilvy who paved the way for marketing them to a suddenly Brit-loving America. The Man in the Hathaway Shirt Ad Campaign All of which makes one wonder; was the Bond Spy Craze, Gin Martinis, and British Music Invasion of the 1960s a fluke... Or an extremely well organized plan...

Part 6
Real Life Spies

"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't."
Mark Twain

Almost immediately after WW2, Ian Fleming began to write the Bond books - Casino Royale was published in 1952.

Ian Fleming

They were immediate bestsellers. My friend’s father, now a state judge, collected the whole original paperback series and told me that everyone bought them for the pornographic parts.

These were based on English agents and Roald Dahl’s experiences. Dahl's eyes, dreamy but intense, still have power:

Roald Dahl

Fleming’s best friend and hard-as-nails master spy David Ogilvy had contacts on Madison Avenue that ensured the Bond books being distributed, promoted and reviewed in the USA. I worked with Ogilvy's agency in the mid-80s and it was still known, even then, for playing nasty with any competition.

David Ogilvy

William Stephenson, (the man with the "hooded eyes") head of British WW2 Western Covert Actions, himself was one of the original investors in Shepperton Studios, the largest movie studio anywhere in the world outside of Hollywood. Although the first Bond film was filmed at Pinewood, Stephenson’s behind the scenes maneuvering pushed the Bond production through when absolutely no one in the known universe wanted to make what was seen as a sleazy film about spies-in-peacetime.

William Stephenson

The location scout and music arranger for Dr. No was none other than Fleming’s son-in-law Chris Blackwell (dopey Island Records again) and was partially filmed next to Fleming’s Jamaica estate.

Chris Blackwell

The final result was that this tiny group of chummy spies made James Bond an international hit, while (almost incredibly) persuading the world that England was actually a hip, classy and musically up to date country - all pre-Beatles era! The giant success of the Bond film franchise also generated more revenue for England than any 1 source before or since, and was one of the single largest taxation sources that England used for pulling itself out of the post war poverty it had found itself mired in.

Ogilvy then used the surprising Bond success to market shirts with a mysterious one-eyed spy character, sold British Gin as being drinkable, and pushed Rolls-Royce as the smoothest car on Earth. When the Beatles hit the USA it was Ogilvy who paved the way for marketing them to a suddenly Brit-loving America.

The Man in the Hathaway Shirt Ad Campaign

All of which makes one wonder; was the Bond Spy Craze, Gin Martinis, and British Music Invasion of the 1960s a fluke...

Or an extremely well organized plan...

Post #646335 by Cammo on Tue, Jul 31, 2012 2:41 PM