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]

Mar 152012
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Back (Finally). And Back To The Future. on Blogcritics. “Living” Social. Google Re-Imagines Mad Men Ads Through Digital Eyes. Mad Men Season 5 is upon us and we’re ready to head back to the ’60s—the Golden Age of advertising, decades before the internet, digital communications and social media. Mad Men is quintessential 1960s Madison Avenue, yet the show has been enthusiastically adopted and adapted by today’s digitally enabled viewers as well as modern Mad Men (and Women). While the narrative of Mad Men is firmly [read more]

Oct 232010
 

Tweet Article first published as The Mad Men Ride Into Tomorrowland on Blogcritics. All in all, the season four Mad Men finale was pretty tame compared to the dramatic upheavals ushered in at the end of season three. Other than Don’s engagement to Megan there were not any big developments or new shake-ups that would dramatically alter the operations and fate of SCDP. Slowly but surely things were starting to look up again for the agency. The partners’ outrage at Don’s manifesto ad in the New York Times [read more]

Oct 142010
 

Tweet Article first published as Don Draper Roars Back on Blogcritics. Lead, Follow Or Get Out Of The Way. As this week’s episode picked up it looked like the initial shock of the Lucky Strike loss had sunk in at SCDP and everyone accepted the reality that changes were inevitable. The initial outrage over Roger’s irresponsible handling of the situation had subsided and Pete decided to stay put at the agency. Lane was back as a stabilizing and pragmatic force directing the actions necessary to streamline [read more]

Oct 092010
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. on Blogcritics. Roger Tanks. Don Sinks. Peggy Delivers. Pete ?? This week’s episode brought out the good the bad and the ugly at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. As far as Roger was concerned it was particularly ugly. This was a riveting episode that brought the uncertainties of the agency business, the fragility of client relationships and the vulnerability of people into dramatic focus. It was an especially emotional episode to watch. [read more]

Sep 292010
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Bad Things Happen In Threes on Blogcritics. Hello DOD. Bye Bye Lucky Strike. Bon Voyage Lane. Personal trauma and professional troubles intermingled in powerful ways on this week’s episode. Don’s lies about his past collided with current business realities that jeopardized significant new account revenue for SCDP. Sorely needed revenue at a time when the agency was about to absorb a major body blow with the loss of Lucky Strike. On top of that, three of the agency’s [read more]

Sep 232010
 

Tweet Rich Text Article first published as Mad Men: A Very Bad Week At The Office on Blogcritics. Death. Discrimination. Desire. Defiance. There might not have been a lot of advertising being created at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce on this week’s episode but the SCDP staffers definitely had a lot of emotion and controversy to deal with. Death, a mugging, racial discrimination, sexual preferences, infidelity, a runaway kid, separation, a new affair and the rekindling of an old one all showed up at the agency. [read more]

Sep 172010
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men Women Start To Roar on Blogcritics. Peggy Steps Up. Joan Speaks Up. Don Cleans Up. Much of the drama that took place at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce in this week’s episode happened with Peggy and Joan. Mad Men turned the lens on the issues and challenges facing women in those heady days. High on the list of those issues were the kinds of sexual harassment that Joan experienced with the boys in the creative department, the “boys will be [read more]

Sep 082010
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Don And Peggy Find Their Sweet Spot on Blogcritics. A Championship Fight. Work All Night. Don & Peggy Get “Right”. Sterling Cooper Draper & Pryce is a mosaic in motion. Pete Campbell and Ken Cosgrove are back together again. Pete is protecting his turf. Roger is feeling a bit irrelevant and drifting off into a memoir fantasy. Don is spiraling down an endless glass of Canadian Club and being erratic as ever. Peggy is growing up and growing [read more]

Sep 062010
 

Tweet Article first published as Don Draper’s Award Winning Lost Weekend on Blogcritics. Whose idea is it anyway? Don loses it. Peggy bares all. After a rocky start, the first few months of 1965 progressed pretty well on the business front for the folks at SCDP. Pete Campbell scored a six million dollar face saving account in Vicks, the agency was able to hold on to Ponds and Don used his guile and skill to turn Roger’s embarrassing display of bad taste into a shot [read more]