Pompeii’s brothel(s) – Digital marketing and ancient history

1. Introduction

Tonight we’ll be talking about the exciting new world of digital media (yes, I should be reading on digital strategies tonight) and the Roman town of Pompeii (no, I should NOT even touch books on ancient history).

2. Situation Analysiss

What do they teach us on a Marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation course? Well, they start with the beginning. And the beginning of marketing sounds as follows:

“Etched on a dusty kerbstone amidst the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, you’ll find an engraved p£n!s, strategically carved to point the way to what, at that time, was one of the most popular brothels in the area. Guides will tell you it’s the “oldest advertisement in the world, for the oldest business in the world”. While the truth of that claim is debatable, the phallic ad is certainly very old” The Pompeii p£n!s was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the city on 24 August, AD 79, but the true origins of marketing go back much further that that. (…)”

3. Objectives (goals):

Well, this is why I love marketing: it’s full of surprises! Initial objective was to get on with my emarketing final project draft, but as you see, we end up discussing one of the myths of Pompeii (their actual number is scary) – the brothels.

4. Tactics and actions:

Funny place to read again about the legendary number of brothels in Pompeii, most likely, only one. Not sure there was much promotion (display advertising here) needed, I’d say 100% market share should be relatively easy to obtain for the only existing brothel in the area (therefore by far the most popular!). I am afraid we have been too easily taken by the artistic sketchy image of the brothel and pimp given by Roman comedy (indeed a mirror of those times, but one to turn Roman society upside down, and not to be taken literally).

Pompeii is full of archaeological traps and the truth is that we can’t really distinguish between the dedicated brothel and any of the other places in town where sex and money were not kept separate.

Most of the prostitutes in Pompeii were probably the barmaids or the landladies who sometimes slept with customers after closing time, sometimes for money. Researchers doubt any of them thought of themselves as prostitutes, or called their work place a brothel.

5. Conclusions:

Sorry to disappoint you, but it appears that the search for the Pompeian brothel is a category mistake. Sex for money was very common back then and almost as diffused through the town as eating, drinking and sleeping. Except in one case and I shall be back on that another time

6. Control:

The only place that meets all the criteria to have possibly been a dedicated brothel usually proves to offer the tourist only a brief pleasure. A stream of tourists queue for it, but it has been calculated that the average visit lasts roughly three minutes. Disappointed visitors say the local guides do their best to make it appealing and I guess it’s true, as I heard some not entirely accurate stories. It’s a shame really and, sadly, we forget how sceptical scholarship can sometimes be more exciting then sensationalism ☹

Some local guides have been heard to explain:

“The paintings have a practical purpose. The prostitutes couldn’t speak Latin, you see. So clients had to point to a picture before they went in to let the girls know what they wanted.”

Not sure a brief visit time of 3 minutes and a KFC like menu display makes this place a brothel.

7. Recommendations:

The very date of the explosion is another myth, as the real date probably was a few months later than usually thought, so my personal recommendation would be never to trust marketers: we are trained to try and pass a fancy-not-at all-accurate image as the truth

- this plan is a mock-up; don’t give it too much attention-