Romeo + Juliet marketing...? F**ked?

Just got a marketing/merchandise email from the production (or the merch shop) and they're going with 'The Youth Is F*CKed"? There is a pin set that has 2 pins that just say "F*CKed" in different fonts (wonder if I could pin-trade that at Disney, lol) and a pink teddy bear wearing a shirt that just says 'F**ked.'

I've been in professional entertainment for 25+ years, and I understand when a show wants to disrupt the market with aggressive messaging but please, someone, who gets to see the production, give me some context. IMO... most of the merch kinda gives me impressions of a Cinemax late-night softcore porn show.

If their demographic is a newer/younger audience, I can't imagine parents being thrilled to see that when going into what the parents may expect to be a Shakespeare work. I could be completely off here and I'm not offended, I just have no idea how THIS became their tagline. LOL. Looking forward to your responses!

Soft core porn? Really? It doesn't say they ARE f**king, but they are f**ked. Very different.



They are their parents' children. Our biggest influence, our biggest teachers. Parents attitudes, beliefs and ideals are passed on - for better or for worse.

You sound like a blast at parties.

Jay Lerner-Z said: "I understand it completely. The youthisfcked. Every generation probably feels that to some degree in their teenage years, but for the youth of today it is really true. What will the world be like 80 years from now? Climate change. Collapse of democracy. Inflation. War. Alternative facts. Etc.

How's the WiFi in your doomsday bunker?
Good upload speeds?

Updated On: 9/27/24 at 07:51 AM

Do you know what soft core porn is or

Haha. I am loving these responses! Keep going everyone! Pretty sure I just asked for context between the merch and the production but thank you everyone for your input.

While your original message mentioned merch, you seemed far more concerned with the marketing....so that's what people addressed. If they are going to use that as a catch phrase/tagline, are you really surprised it would be on merch?

Nope. Not at all. Just still looking for anyone to give input on how this connects with this production. Thanks for the question! Is the production overly 'edgy' or 'obscene?' It seems from the reports its raw but again, I think the "merch" or "marketing" are boiling the entire experience to one-note. "The Youth..."

for what it's worth, I have friends who are solidly Gen Z that had absolutely no interest in seeing any production of Romeo and Juliet until they saw this marketing, so it's working in that sense. I do think it's similar to Spring Awakening where it taps into the idea of existential rage (and to be fair, Romeo and Juliet has always been a story of how the youth are failed by the adults around them). I haven't seen the show yet so I can't say how specifically it ties in, but my guess is that it's mostly just marketing that's edgy for the sake of being edgy and trying to drum up interest in a "this isn't your grandma's Shakespeare" kind of way.

As to your remark about cheapening the story, I think the assumption is that everyone going into the show knows how it ends, so it turns into a feeling of futility despite their hopes and the idea that their deaths are inevitable (I suppose in a way the inverse of what Hadestown does with its story).

this play about two horny teenagers who kill themselves is a very PROPER piece of literature and i will NOT have it bemirched by naughty language or befouled by sex

verywellthensigh said: "Absolutely disgusting. They might as well just put "JULIET'S A SQUIRTER!!" and watch the box office sales soar.

Filth. Debauched filth."

Jesus Christ. Hahahahahahaha.