Amazon has withdrawn a set of James Bond posters from its Prime Video streaming service after fans and media outlets criticised the artwork for removing guns from iconic images. The digital posters, released for James Bond Day on Sunday, were intended as thumbnail imagery but sparked accusations of sanitising the brand.
Fans noticed that firearms had been edited out of well-known promotional shots. A portrait of Sean Connery cradling a Walther PPK pistol, used for Dr No and held in the National Portrait Gallery, appeared without the weapon. A teaser poster for Daniel Craig's Spectre had the gun cropped out, though the shoulder holster remained. Similarly, an image of Roger Moore from Live and Let Die had his .44 Magnum removed.
The backlash erupted on social media, with outlets like the Sun and Daily Mail branding the move 'woke'. Amazon has since replaced the posters with traditional stills from the films, though these also feature no guns. The studio arm, Amazon MGM Studios, acquired the Bond franchise for over $1bn in February.
