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Shakespeare and Advertising

William Shakespeare was, at one time, an upcoming young playwright. The only way to get his plays into production was to get them into circulation and onto a stage. The one way in order to do this was to advertise for his plays in an efficient way. The most effective way to do this was through the distribution of playbills or flyers in order to bring a higher level of attention to the general public.

As a young playwright, Shakespeare had to gain publicity in some way – advertising. There were only a few ways of doing this in the late 16th and early 17th Century. This method didn’t change until further technological advances were accomplished and finally applied to advertising.

History

Advertising is etched in different forms and mediums throughout history. In the beginning, advertising was not the child of the printing press. It originated hundreds of years before printing was invented, and its manifestations were as various as the peoples whom it served. These included town criers, bell-ringers, sign-carriers, shop trademarks, posted notices, and other forms.

In Shakespeare’s time, scribes were still used extensively. When a play was finished by the author, it was taken to a scribe to produce a finished copy to present a clean copy to be vetted by the authorities. The first remnant of a change in advertising, in relation to Shakespeare, appears in 1598. Publishers realized the popularity of Shakespeare by identifying him as an author that helped sell transcripts of plays.

Advertising progressed slowly until the introduction of the printing press. The work of Johannes Gutenberg on the printing press began in 1436. The printing press helped tremendously in reproduction of play scripts, notes, and advertisements for these same plays.

Playbills

A playbill is defined as a piece of paper advertising a play and giving information about where and when it is being performed. A comparable type of advertising in our own day is probably a newspaper ad, or even a theater ad for a play that we might want to see. Playbills served the purpose of “cuing who, what, where, the trashed playbill puts us (filmgoers) in the know while simultaneously marking us (Elizabethan playgoers) absent.” The playbill served as a method to spread the word of a production in the future or inform us of one that has already happened.

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Playbills not only give notice to those not present but also give people a method of knowing when and where. “These playbills anticipate performance, then remember it: left behind in the yard when the spectators go, performance’s trance, it’s leftover.” A playbill, such as the one shown, has a distinct shape and color – longer than more square and usually yellow and printed on cheaper paper.

Change of Playbills

At this time, a playbill was created to include not just the play and main characters, but also a list of alphabetized players in the play. In 1960, however, the Shakespeare Memorial Theater changed its logo and name. The Royal Shakespeare Company was born and relocated to London.

The Royal Shakespeare Company changed the format of the theater program in 1963. This new theater program involved “challenging stuff (directors’ notes, critical sightlines, archive material), it married words to pictures and was stunningly illustrated with rehearsal photographs and production images.” Only a few years later, The Royal Shakespeare Company did the same overhaul for the playbill. The transformation would make the playbill obsolete. The change aligned Shakespeare to pop-art and to youth culture’s mass art forms. This created the first poster produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Purpose of Change

The reason this change occurred is not clear excepting the fact that there was a demand for better advertising. The Royal Shakespeare Company needed and wanted to get a more diverse population to attend. Productions needed to attract an audience that was more interested than just the play, but who was in the play. Advertising is categorized by a picture, short film, song, etc. which tries to persuade people to buy a product or service. In the interest of business, advertising has always been about reaching a wider population with a good or service.

Posters

The transformation from a playbill, which must be read, to the poster that sent a recognizable message in a single glance enhanced this method of reaching a wider range of people. Creating a poster that could be recognized with an image from across the street, would boost the attendance of a production even if the attendees are average people – they can still appreciate a good play.

The change from playbill to poster was not easy and was not exactly a long time ago. Posters came into being used in theater around 1965 by The Royal Shakespeare Company. The transition from playbills to posters influenced how productions were publicized. Images were married to words so that a poster could convey a large amount of information in a short amount of time. The image of a skull in relation to Hamlet could be tied to the French silent production of 1907.

Public Affect

The new development of posters that have an effective marketing strategy is constantly a difficult thing to accomplish. Managing Partner John Payne of Gotham Graphix produces the logo for the American Shakespeare Center and Blackfriars Playhouse.

“Our challenge in promoting the American Shakespeare Center is to sell them as ‘not your father's Shakespeare.’ Posters are significant to today's audiences. This is accomplished by the style with which they perform and the visual language we use in the graphic materials. The photography is very active and dynamic. The color palette is hot and contemporary. Only modern looking typography is used. We never use fancy script fonts or anything else that connotes ‘ye olde’ English or Renaissance Fair type of design.”

The challenge is a large one for all groups trying to produce plays and attract a new audience. By using dynamic styles and pictures, it is easier to appeal to a population that wants to have information at a fast rate in order to accomplish more in a day.

The American Shakespeare Center has progressed from a professional traveling troupe to a company who has the world’s only recreated version of Shakespeare’s Blackfriar Theater and educational opportunities.

Credibility of Image

The image that is created when Shakespeare is used can have a positive or negative effect upon credibility of a product or service. The first thing that comes to mind is The Royal Shakespeare Company. The image and credibility of Shakespeare has received a boost since a lot of time and effort has been put into bringing more awareness to Shakespeare and the image that is portrayed.

Very similar to the campaign produced for the American Shakespeare Center, The Royal Shakespeare Company put time and money into addressing the issue of concentrating their advertising efforts to a younger population, starting in 1965. The campaign for Hamlet in 2001 was more modern and looked to attract a wider range of people.

A younger generation of theater patrons can be patronized through posters and the image that are portrayed. The archives of the Royal Shakespeare Company hold different variations of posters. The image can be sent to patrons less familiar with Shakespeare that a production will be interesting and will relate to their lives. Hamlet can be shown to have a split personality and therefore may have an interesting outcome in the end.

John Goodwin, the first Head of Publicity for the Royal Shakespeare Company, strived to attach pictures with words that would easily be recognized to the casual eye. “At their best, Royal Shakespeare Company posters achieve what Goodwin aimed at forty years ago. They arrest the passer-by in the street. They are theatrical. They manipulate the everyday, distort photographic realism, are never merely literal. They’re graphic stand-ins for what performance does.”

Change of Posters

Posters have a diverse affect upon public views. The public view toward literature can be negative or positive, when Shakespeare is used to advertise. “There is negative baggage in using Shakespeare for promotional purposes. He is the classic ‘dead white European male.’ His work is perceived to be stuffy and boring even though it really isn't.”

The image of posters can’t in any way reflect this negative attitude that may be related with Shakespeare. The image that needs to be portrayed is difficult to overcome, especially when many young people are exposed to Shakespeare’s writing at a young age. “The face of Shakespeare could be viewed as a positive thing or negative. He is often regarded as irrelevant. Everyone is forced to read Shakespeare in high school. The point that most educators miss is that his work was never intended to be read; it is supposed to be heard. Hearing it performed well is a far more vital experience.” The graphics have changed dynamically in order to help this negative image of Shakespeare and to push a positive image into pop culture.

Shakespeare in Pop Culture

Advertising in pop culture is difficult, especially with new techniques of targeting a certain crowd and new technology to make sure it is done efficiently. Author Ben Alexander thinks there is something to be learned by using Shakespeare. “The following table gives the number of hits on a Google search.

Google Search	God	Shakespeare	George Bush	Pope John	Manchester United	Queen Elizabeth	Pope Benedict	Texaco	Ben Jonson	Mary Fitton
Number of Hits	140,000,000	17,000,000	7,800,000	4,500,000	3,800,000	2,200,000	1,800,000	9,500,000	166,000	866

These figures show that William Shakespeare has become an enormous brand name. Even after 400 years, a dead poet and playwright is seventeen times more prevalent on Google that a brand of petrol. There are four lessons to be learnt.”

Shakespeare’s Image

These four things are given by Alexander as follows: quality of the Product, repetition, perception, and image or logo. The last is the one we are concerned with – image or logo. Many use the logo or image of Shakespeare, however, “People's image of William Shakespeare is the posthumous, roughcast and surreal engraving at the front of the first Folio.”

“The portrait has been reproduced in oils by a number of artists and fakers. People have a recognizable and feel-good image, just as they do for KFC, Shell or Coca-Cola - they do not question the intrinsic value of what they are buying.” While this may be true, we must also realize the importance of building a brand and what it takes.

“The advertising lie, whose object was to sell an expensive book, was put together by people of great intelligence. The lie has been repeated countless millions of times. The product being endorsed is robust, of the highest quality, well presented and the message is constantly being reinforced - this is what makes a brand.” To take advantage of this image of Shakespeare and his reputation is attempted by many companies in different areas of marketing.

Companies that use Shakespeare

There are many companies in the world that use either the image or name of Shakespeare in today’s world. Some of these are businesses oriented toward theatrical performances written by Shakespeare and bringing them to the public easier. However, there are some companies that venture into the world of business and have attempted to use Shakespeare as a marketing tool to bring better credibility to their products.

Shakespeare in Advertising

There are many theater companies and festivals that obviously use the image of Shakespeare in order to bring business to their different establishments. Some of the more renowned festivals in the United States include the following: Utah Shakespearean Festival, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and many others that are around the United States. Some of which have different themes. Each of these festivals promotes something different to offer: Shakespeare on the beach, Shakespeare in the park, open air performances, different stages that closely resemble the original Globe Theater, and more. On the whole, advertising is a large industry involving how to draw more people and a new crowd every year.

When we move outside the theatrical world, we find some different companies that have used Shakespeare in order to promote a product. Here are some companies that have Shakespeare in their name or image and what products they each sell.

One of the more recognizable of the theater programs is The [Underground Shakespeare University of Pennsylvania]. The Undergroundlings are sponsored by and resident at, Harnwell College House.

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Their main idea is that they want to present Shakespeare’s play in a more relaxed environment where you can drink coffee or tea and relax. Their logo is distinguishable because it looks much like that of Starbucks.

Another of the companies that uses Shakespeare in the world of plays and publications is Shakespeare Comic Books. Shakespeare Comic Books use the idea of comic books in order to make Shakespeare appeal to a younger audience. Shakespeare Comic Books include the edited original text, modern English translation, and fully illustrated comic style presentation. The plays that are offered in this format are Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Tempest. Many people have found these helpful to introduce Shakespeare to a younger generation of readers.

Another example in the literature world is a bookstore. The Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, France is a bookstore across the street from The Notre Dame. They maintain that many literary giants that sought refuge in France at one point in time worked and resided near the fabled shop.

There are many instances of Shakespeare in other facets of business and advertising. The Shakespeare Oil Company, Inc. of Salem, Illinois and Shakespeare Engineering Components are two primary examples. Another such example is Shakespeare Company Limited that makes fishing gear and was established in 1897.

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The company began when William Shakespeare Jr. built a fishing reel in the United States and began to market his product. The base of operations moved to the United Kingdom and from there markets outdoor gear, mostly for fishing, however.

Shakespeare can be found in almost every aspect of our lives, especially in marketing new products, including video games, a juice drink, Movies, books, tourism in England, and most obvious, theater. Shakespeare is used in many ways – his image, phrases from his plays, or just his name.

References

"Playwright." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 3 June 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 13 July 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playwright>.

"Advertise." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 13 July 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 13 July 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertise>.

Allen, Charles L. "The Press and Advertising." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 219 (1942): 86-92. JSTOR. David O. McKay Library Brigham Young University - Idaho, Rexburg, Idaho. 12 July 2008. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1023897>.

Shapiro, James. "Shakespeare's Professional World." Searching for Shakespeare. Comp. Tarnya Cooper. London: National Portrait Gallery Publications, 2006. 23-31.

"Gutenburg, Johannes." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 11 July 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 13 July 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Gutenburg>.

“Playbill.” Cambridge Dictionaries Online. 8 July 2008 <dictionary.cambridge.org>.

Rutter, Carol C. "Shakespeare’S Popular Face: From the Playbill to the Poster." The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Popular Culture. Ed. Robert Shaughnessy. Cambridge, UK: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2007. 248-269.

Rutter 251

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/articles/failures.htm

Rutter 251

"Advertise." Cambridge Dictionaries Online. 8 July 2008 <dictionary.cambridge.org>.

http://bioscopic.wordpress.com/category/bioscope/

www.gothamgraphix.com

Payne, John. "Shakespeare." E-mail to Jonathan R. McArthur. 7 July 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Shakespeare_Center

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Shakespeare_Company

Rutter 269

Payne

Payne

Alexander, Ben. "William Shakespeare: a Global Brand Name." Teamtechnology.Co.Uk (2005). Proquest Business. McKay Library At Brigham Young University - Idaho, Rexburg, Idaho. 1 July 2008. Keyword: Shakespeare AND advertising.

Alexander

Alexander

Alexander

http://www.undergroundshakespeare.com/news.html

Used by permission of Shakespeare Comic Books. http://www.shakespearecomics.com/

http://www.shakespeareco.org/

Used by permission of Shakespeare Company Limited. http://www.shakespeare-fishing.co.uk/