If swooning theater lovers are cooling their brows with your visage 500 years after your death, that's a pretty remarkable legacy.

The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival was a beloved pro bono client. BSF sold advertising to local businesses in the form of their names and contact information printed on the back of a cutout of Shakespeare's head mounted on a stick—fans that were handed out at every show and became a cherished tradition for regulars. When BSF received a free placement in the Baltimore Sun’s Reader Rewards section, we knew exactly where to start.

The Festival performed exclusively outdoors, which made the fan both a practical and beloved part of the experience. The ad's BOGO ticket offer visually centers on the fan, built around a headline paraphrased from Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat. The photo was styled and shot in house.