Introduction

The introductory chapter to Local/Global Shakespeare and Advertising draws attention to the local/global and rhizomatic phenomenon of Shakespeare as advertised and Shakespeare as advertising. As a component of numerous ads created for an assortment of audiences, Shakespeare is frequently utilised as cultural capital in advertising. As for the volume itself, the introduction highlights Shakespeare-infused ads in both a historical and a contemporary context. Examples explored are either specific to places – in some way localised – or spanning cultures, but regardless of their spot on the local/global spectrum, all these instances and practices point to the “global” or even “glocal” presence of Shakespeare in markedly adaptive or appropriative and heavily networked, intertextual (and often interlingual) rhizome-like advertising settings.