Aston Martin beats iPod as coolest brand in Britain

A FAST car with a James Bond image held onto its place atop a list of the coolest brands in Britain in a newly released survey.

Aston Martin nudged out Apple Inc’s iPod music player and video website YouTube in the 2007 list of the top 500 coolest brands in Britain from consulting firm Coolbrands.

Although many of the top 20 places in the list were dominated by the online, technology and gaming categories, Aston Martin’s profile has been boosted by the success of the latest Bond flick Casino Royale.

“The success of Casino Royale and the rekindled love affair between the British public and Bond as a result shows there is a deeply ingrained association with the man and the car in the minds of Britons,” Coolbrands said in its report.

Apple’s iPod music player was runner up and its software iTunes just made it into the top 20 at 19th place. Apple was voted the seventh coolest brand in Britain.

YouTube came third place in the survey. Google, the only web-based company to make it into the top 20 in 2006, came fifth place.

For the hippest holidays, Britons are eschewing European countries for the more exotic, with Japan and Brazil heading the list of coolest international destinations.

Despite London not making the grade, many of its attractions and venues are considered among the coolest in Britain, with the Tate Modern museum first.

British men are more likely to perceive electrical equipment as cool, while women consider food and drink brands such as Green and Black chocolate or Ben&Jerry’s ice cream as cooler.