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Shakespeare & Beyond

Would you buy a used car from William Shakespeare? How about mustard?

Would you buy a bicycle if William Shakespeare sold it to you? How about trading up to a Cadillac?

Over the years, advertisers have counted on the novelty of Shakespeare, and his memorable characters, to sell their products. The brochure on the right parallels the literary achievement of Shakespeare with the automotive achievement of the Cadillac Motor Car Company, while the brochure on the left assumes his approval of bicycles as a mode of transportation (unknowingly prefiguring the 1999 adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in which bicycles featured notably).