The Black Death and witchcraft

Sometimes, the anti-marketeer has to go right to the very edge of understanding and meaning. But, when you have a business based in the mediaeval town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, then you could be forgiven.

The solicitors in the ad. above decided to go down a very different route from the norm for solicitors and lawyers. To be honest, when you breeze past a poster or flick through a magazine, do you ever give an advertisement for a solicitor any time? I know I don't. I can imagine that only if you've just robbed a bank and are on the run then you might pause to note the phone number... otherwise, straight to the next page... or street.

So, what can a solicitor do? Well, you can attack the subject with the bizarre anti-marketing thing. Forget the 21st century customer and go retro. Really retro. Aim at the 14th century customer instead. If this doesn't stop the 'pursuer' or 'breezer' dead in the air tracks then you might as well give up on advertising and spend the budget on a nice meal out instead.

I was stopped dead in my tracks. It is obviously done with tongue firmly in cheek and with a lot of thought behind it. Taking the example of medical 'malpractice', the ad. dives straight in with stuff on the plague doctor, blood-letting, mis-prescriptions of 'bishopwort, wormwood and hollowleek'. There's even mention of the Black Death and witchcraft.

And I can imagine the writer of the ad, after a few drinks at lunch, coming back to the office with the delicious line: 'slippeth of chisel during trepanning therapy'.

The phone number comes under the strapline of: 'cometh by raven' and the website: 'looketh upon our wares'. And finally, the invitation to look at Facebook, Twitter etc. is under 'extendeth thy scroll'.

The whole ad. exudes cleverness, humour, guile and straight-forward brilliance. Anti-marketing of the first order with the customer having to think a bit, work out what is going on and then collapsing in a good chuckle.

The next time I rob a bank near Tewkesbury, I know who I will be sending a raven to.