Abstract Consumers learn to attach social and contextual meaning to products and brands through observing the character relationships with particular objects or specific brands in the archetypal stories in film on “the big screen” (cinema). Luxury brands become objects of desire, fueling consumer aspirations and giving consumers frames of reference in their own consumption ideals. However, substantial research attention to the brand narratives that popular culture portrays has yet to emerge. This paper therefore presents a textual analysis of the brand narratives evident within popular culture, specifically in the context of James Bond films. In taking this interpretive approach, this article identifies three different and contrasting brand‐self narratives that reinforce a particular archetypal myth of a lover, hero, or outlaw. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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