Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson began the show with an explanation of the watch in his typical style: “I know this is a car show, but please bear with us, because I want to talk about this: this is one of those watches that’s worn by people who play golf and do business, and they are always banging on about these pins. They say, if they pull these pins out, the watch will send their precise position to a team of professionals who will come and rescue them.
However – other than the cars, of course – product placements in the show have been few and far between: the presenters hardly ever wear branded clothing, there is no sponsorship allowed to be displayed on the cars when they go racing, and, in general, viewers have seen a very limited number of branded items throughout the 13-year history of the show. Because a few weeks ago season 22 came to an untimely stop – for reasons you may learn more about here – it was in the second-to-last episode that the last traditional “Top Gear challenge” was aired, and here’s how it went down and how the Breitling Emergency II (hands-on article here) was featured. Given that vast audience in the hundreds of millions, Top Gear may seem the ideal vehicle (pun intended) for product placement. Top Gear is a motoring show that needs no introduction to any car fan in the world: viewed by around 350 million people every week in over 170 countries around the globe, it features “three middle-aged men mucking about,” driving in the latest and greatest sport cars, SUVs, luxury sedans, and, sometimes, in the worst machines the car industry has ever produced throughout its history.
Sure, it is not unusual for watch enthusiasts to be car nuts as well – I have met countless watch nerds over the last few years who, after a bit of conversation, showed their car lover side as well. Being both a full-on watch and car nut, you can imagine my surprise when in season 22 of British motoring show Top Gear I saw an entire “challenge” featuring a Breitling Emergency II watch.
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