SHAKESPEARE

Synopsis

An advertisement for Heinz Tomato Ketchup. An actor playing Hamlet in a modernised version of Elizabethan dress holds Yorick’s skull and delivers the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy in a portentous and pretentious manner. The theatre audience leaves, applies make-up, or falls asleep. A bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup is hurled on stage hitting Hamlet and sending him reeling. He looks at the label. The audience is seen raising its hands enthusiastically. Hamlet gasps. The voice over states ‘We use real tomatoes’. The concluding image is of a tome with Shakespeare’s portrait on it, a skull, a candle and the ketchup. The commercial strongly resembles the Carling Black Label Hamlet ad but lacks its wit.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Television

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Availability

No archive copy found (10/2008)

Additional Details

Production type

Advertising/Trailers/Promos

Plays

Hamlet

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General

Date of transmission and creative agency unknown (12/2007).

Sponsor

Name

H.J. Heinz