Apr 222012
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Babes,Business, and Brawls on Blogcritics. Things certainly took a turn to the worse at SCDP and office politics got very personal and a bit ugly. A dizzying amount of action is swirling around the agency, and virtually none of it is contributing to creating great advertising or moving the agency ahead. There are no new business wins to boost morale and revenue and SCDP seems to be stuck in neutral. When presented with the golden opportunity to land a prestigious [read more]

Apr 132012
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Bad Dreams, Tense Realities on Blogcritics. Mad Men took a darker, more manly turn in this week’s episode. Don’s fevered dream in which he fights off his philandering demons and commits murder, Pauline’s slapping Sally and slipping her some Secanol, Joan’s dumping her husband and reliving her rape at his hands, and the creative department’s delight in looking at Chicago mass murder scene photos certainly made for some disturbing drama. Compared to all of this, things seem relatively calm on the [read more]

Apr 062012
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: A Big Win and Cultural Enlightenment on Blogcritics Youth Culture Meets The Culture Of Mad Men This week’s Mad Men episode highlights the emergence of the ’60s youth culture and its infusion into the advertising business. It foretells the powerful and positive disruptive effect that the culture of youth will have on the advertising business. It really hit home with me. In 1966 I was 23, had celebrated my first year anniversary with Benton & Bowles and made the move from media [read more]

Mar 272012
 

Tweet Article first published as A Little Kiss. Lots Of Tension. on Blogcritics Mad Men Season 5. Welcome To 1966. When we last visited the offices of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce it was 1965 and the agency had made its debut on Madison Avenue. Then, SCDP suffered the massive loss of it biggest account, Lucky Strike, placing the agency’s very existence in jeopardy. Now, it looks like SCDP is stabilized with a nice list of smaller accounts and few new business wins under its belt. Despite this [read more]