Does Shakespeare need rebranding?

[The Unnamable]

I think Shakespeare’s name activates two main responses. Farty people sigh and say, “Ah, the Immortal Bard” and normal people say, “Oh, God, not him!”

If he were still around, I reckon he’d benefit from a bit of rebranding. All rebranded products need a catchy new name. What do you think might be a good one for Shakey?

‘Shakey’ itself is a possibility, I suppose but it has already sort of been taken by Welsh recording artist of the 80s Shakin’ Stevens and there might be some confusion (as well as legal complications). This is a real shame because there could also have been a musical tie-in – Shakey! with lyrics by Andrew Motion and music by Queen.

What about ‘MegaQuill’? A bit old fashioned, perhaps.

‘The Stratford Guvnor’ – might appeal to the Guy Ritchie generation but I don’t really like it.

‘Yorik Productions’ – this would give him a nice, fresh corporate appeal. Literature is a business, after all. The trouble is that the logo would almost certainly have to include a skull and that might put people off.

What about ‘The Brummie Bard’? That has a nice mixture of the demotic and the highbrow.


Any suggestions?

[beer good]

Actually "Shakey" is probably patented by Neil Young, who has gone under that nickname since he was a teenager and even uses "Bernard Shakey" as a pseudonym when directing movies. "Human Highway" is a fun movie, but "Hamlet" it ain't.

I'm sort of partial to "Will The Thrill" myself. Possibly spelled "Will Tha Thrill" for the hip-hop crowd.

[Xamonas Chegwe]

I referred to him as 'Old Shakey Bill' in a post somewhere. I think that serves to distance him from Mssrs. Stevens & Young.

Maybe an anagram - "Help! Wake! I am airless!" for example?

[TodHackett]

Note that Shakespeare and Clinton share the same first name. And I always loved Clinton's moniker-- "Slick Willie".

[Virgil]

My answer is NO. The name "Shakespeare" alone draws up the highest accolades. The only other term that approximates projecting his stature is "The Immortal Bard."

[Scheherazade]

My answer is NO. The name "Shakespeare" alone draws up the highest accolades. The only other term that approximates projecting his stature is "The Immortal Bard."Tell that to all those poor ESOL students who find themselves having to spell his name correctly!:p

The only way I could remember it in those days was repeating it the way I would pronounce it in my mother language.

[Petrarch's Love]

:lol: Thanks, Unnamable. I like some of the suggestions coming out. When I was in highschool I habitually referred to the bard as "Shakey baby" (because I was silly at the time--not that I'm not silly now) and I have a colleague who calls him "Willy Nilly." One could always refer to him simply as Mr. Bill (oh no!). They need more little plastic Shakespeare action figures on SNL.