What you will find in the article:
- Advertising often portrays Cleopatra as a seductive beauty.
- Historical accounts depict her with a prominent nose and chin.
- Television commercials humorously blend ancient themes with modern products.
- Cleopatra's image has been shaped by Roman propaganda and Hollywood.
- Modern ads feature her in contemporary settings and contexts.
Most of what is known about Cleopatra’s life was recorded by Roman or Greek-writing authors several decades, and in some cases more than a century, after her death. Moreover, their intention was not always to provide an objective account of her life. Some texts adopted the image created by Octavian’s propaganda, which sought to justify his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra. This gave rise to the idea of a dangerous Eastern seductress, an image that overshadowed her genuine abilities as a ruler and diplomat for centuries.
The real Cleopatra
The historical Cleopatra is a far more interesting figure than films and popular culture have portrayed her over the centuries. The notion of an exceptionally beautiful woman capable of seducing Rome’s most powerful men was shaped by ancient texts, later visual art and, ultimately, Hollywood. However, surviving coins do not depict her as an idealised beauty. On some, she has a prominent hooked nose and a projecting chin. Yet even these portraits cannot be regarded as entirely faithful records of her appearance, as they were also intended to convey her royal authority. It was more important for Cleopatra to present herself as a legitimate and powerful ruler than as an object of admiration. Nevertheless, it is her later, romanticised image that repeatedly appears in advertising.
A look back at history
One of the earliest known television advertisements to feature Cleopatra is a 1963 American commercial for Dixie Cups. It was released in the same year as the famous Hollywood film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor, which sparked a worldwide wave of “Cleopatra mania”. The creators of the advertisement were clearly responding to the film’s popularity. The commercial humorously portrays Cleopatra as a ruler who appreciates the benefits of disposable paper cups even in ancient Egypt. It uses the contrast between a historical setting and a modern product, a highly popular comic device during the 1960s. The commercial is also an interesting example of how quickly advertising could respond to contemporary cinematic events and capitalise on their popularity to promote everyday consumer goods.
Video: Dixie Cups – Cleopatra
During the 1960s, Cleopatra was apparently also fond of fried chicken. At least according to KFC:
Video: Kentucky Fried Chicken – Make History: Cleopatra
In 1973, the American car manufacturer Ford used the Egyptian ruler in an advertisement for the 1974 Ford Gran Torino Brougham. In the commercial, a young man arrives to collect a woman styled as the Egyptian queen. His modern “chariot”, however, is not an ancient horse-drawn vehicle but a Gran Torino Brougham, designed to impress with its size, comfort and luxurious features. The advertisement humorously transports the story of the famous ruler into the present day and uses Cleopatra as a measure of exceptionally high standards. The car is supposed to be prestigious enough to pass the test even on a date with the Queen of Egypt.
Video: Ford Torino – Cleopatra
Another early television advertisement featuring Cleopatra promoted Cashmere Bouquet soap. Its creators drew on one of the best-known legends associated with the Egyptian queen: the claim that Cleopatra regularly bathed in donkey’s milk to keep her skin soft and youthful. Although there is no reliable contemporary evidence supporting this story, it is so widely known that the advertisement uses it as its starting point. The commercial humorously suggests that even the celebrated milk baths would no longer be enough. Cleopatra cannot resist the fragrant Cashmere Bouquet soap, which is presented as a more modern route to beautiful skin. The advertisement therefore builds on the contrast between an ancient legend and a contemporary cosmetic product, using a familiar historical figure to emphasise the quality and appeal of the product being promoted.
Video: Cashmere Bouquet – Cleopatra
A similar approach can be found in advertisements for Cleopatra soap, produced by Colgate-Palmolive. In these campaigns, Cleopatra is no longer merely a historical figure used in an advertisement. Her name has become the brand itself. In addition to a woman styled as the Egyptian queen, the commercials frequently feature golden decorations, papyrus columns and other ancient Egyptian motifs that emphasise the product’s luxurious character. This is an interesting example of how a historical figure was transformed directly into a commercial brand.
Modern advertisements featuring Cleopatra
One of the best-known modern examples is Amazon Prime’s global 2021 campaign, which included the commercial “Cleopatra Has a Change of Heart”. While watching Coming 2 America on Prime Video, Cleopatra reconsiders her style of government and begins using Amazon to distribute various goods to the people of Egypt. The historical ruler moves through a stylised ancient setting while using modern streaming and shopping services, creating a striking comic contrast. The commercial formed part of a wider campaign in which Amazon treated a variety of characters in a similar way.
Video: Cleopatra Has a Change of Heart
The Queen of Egypt has also appeared in experiments involving advertising created with artificial intelligence. The production studio UPT House released a commercial entitled “Cleopatra’s Favourite”, which it described as its first advertisement created using AI. In this case, however, Cleopatra does not appear as part of a documented campaign for an established brand. Instead, she serves as an instantly recognisable character through whom the creators demonstrate the possibilities offered by the new technology.
Video: UPT House: Cleopatra’s Favourite
Ave, Caesar!
Cleopatra is inextricably linked to another historical figure who has repeatedly appeared in television advertising: the Roman general and politician Julius Caesar. When they met in Alexandria in 48 BC, their relationship was not merely romantic. It was also a political alliance that benefited them both. Caesar helped Cleopatra consolidate her rule over Egypt, while she gained a powerful Roman protector.
Caesar’s immortality in history was secured primarily by his military successes, political ambitions, role in the transformation of the Roman Republic and dramatic death at the hands of conspirators. His relationship with Cleopatra, however, added another distinctive layer to his posthumous image. Alongside his identities as a military commander and dictator, he became one of the central figures in antiquity’s most famous story of love and power. The combination of power, romance, betrayal and a tragic ending helped carry both figures into literature, film and, ultimately, advertising. In commercials, however, Caesar generally appears not as Cleopatra’s lover but as a self-assured ruler who should have begun questioning Brutus’s intentions before it was too late.
The British trade recommendation service Checkatrade based an entire campaign on Brutus’s betrayal. Brutus recommends a tradesperson to Caesar, but Caesar does not trust his advice and turns to Checkatrade instead. The advertisement translates a famous historical betrayal directly into a modern consumer problem. The campaign was launched in February 2021, and Caesar subsequently returned in further commercials for the brand.
Video: Recommendations You Can Rely On
In an advertisement for the communications platform RingCentral, Caesar holds a ceremonial feast. One of the guests uses the modern communications service to warn him that he should get in touch with his team. Caesar then discovers that his colleagues are plotting to murder him. The advertisement uses a familiar historical event as a humorous argument in favour of sharing information promptly within a work team. The commercial was released in April 2022.
Video: RingCentral – Caesar
In an Avocados From Mexico commercial broadcast during Super Bowl LVI in 2022, Julius Caesar was played by American comedian Andy Richter. The advertisement is set at an ancient equivalent of a pre-match party near the Colosseum, where attendees debate what is best. Caesar settles the dispute with a simple solution: he adds avocado to everything. The commercial draws on his role as an authoritative ruler but replaces military and political decision-making with a debate about food.
Video: Avocados From Mexico Super Bowl LVI
In 2019, Bake Rolls turned Caesar’s story into a comedy. In the commercial “Indescribable”, nervous military commanders appear before the ruler and present him with gifts from different parts of the Roman world. One of them introduces several Bake Rolls flavours and anxiously awaits Caesar’s verdict. The ruler eventually approves the snack with a raised thumb, and the court begins to feast. Before the commercial ends, however, Caesar spots Brutus whispering suspiciously in a corner. The advertisement therefore relies on the audience’s knowledge of Caesar’s fate without having to explain the famous betrayal directly.
Video: Bake Rolls – Indescribable
Historical figures never go out of fashion
Advertising tends to select historical figures, situations and symbols that are easily recognisable, adapting them to both the product and the period in which the advertisement is created. Older commercials primarily used such figures to evoke luxury and exoticism, while more recent campaigns are more likely to rely on irony, self-parody and the collision between antiquity and modern technology. The Cleopatra and Caesar of advertising are not unchanging icons, but characters who are continually rewritten to reflect contemporary tastes. Their stories can be used to sell almost anything because they combine power, luxury, romance, betrayal and tragic endings. This broad range of associations allows creatives to emphasise a different aspect of the familiar story each time. The ancient world continues to offer motifs that audiences can understand even after more than two thousand years.
Sources: worldhistory.org, autoweek.com, campaignlive.co.uk, creativereview.co.uk