Mad Men. Lane Rolls The Dice.Don Rolls Up His Sleeves

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
May 252012
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Lane Rolls the Dice and Don Rolls Up His Sleeves on Blogcritics. This week’s Mad Men serves up interesting and potentially explosive twists and turns, which are pushing SCDP towards opposing negative and positive poles. In order to save himself from the U.K. tax collector, Lane activates a $50,000 line of credit against anticipated future revenue. He uses this cash influx to paint a rosy financial picture for the partners and fund a bonus pool for the agency from which he can [read more]

Mad Men: Fantasy,Jealousy,Lies,Deception

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
May 182012
 

Tweet This week Mad Men was about jealousy, self worth, deception and manipulation. Given all this intrigue the episode is aptlynamed Dark Shadows, a reference to the gothic soap opera television series that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. Pete is working on leveraging his head of accounts role at SCDP into a personal PR coup with the New York Times. Encouraged by Bert, Roger decides to do things the old-fashioned way and pitch a new account on the sly. A perfect way to reassert his own worth and keep [read more]

Mad Men: Megan Leaves, Cool Whip Tops It Off

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  6 Responses »
May 102012
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Megan Leaves, Cool Whip Tops It Off on Blogcritics. This week on Mad Men, Megan discovers her talent and pursues her passion; Peggy stands up to Don (again); music plays its way into the creative department, and Cool Whip tops it all off….especially for me. In 1966 when I moved from Media to the Account Department at Benton & Bowles, my very first assignment was (you guessed it) Cool Whip. There is definitely Mad Men karma at work here. This episode took me on a wonderful [read more]

Mad Men: Ups.Downs.Disappointments

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
May 032012
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Ups, Downs, and Disappointments on Blogcritics Don And Megan Team Up. Award Letdown. This week’s Mad Men episode takes us on a roller coaster ride of emotions and disappointments. The continuing saga of the Heinz account drives much of the business action in this episode. It provides an interesting look into the genesis of the idea that saves the account, the importance of building client relationships, and how a little luck and female bonding can go a long way. The other dynamic that plays [read more]

Mad Men: From The Dark Side To The Wild Side

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Apr 282012
 

Tweet This week’s episode of Mad Men took us on a trip to the wild side. Coming on the heels of Pete Campbell’s meltdown we get to see Peggy struggle with self-doubt and the need to assert herself. Mind altering substances also share the spotlight and capture the environment of experimentation taking place on Madison Avenue in the ‘60s. It definitely was an adventurous time. On the business side, the critical role of creative leadership is explored through Don’s handling of the Heinz account with Peggy. Strong, [read more]

Mad Men: Babes.Business.Brawls.

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue  2 Responses »
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]

Mad Men: Bad Dreams.Tense Realities

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
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]

Mad Men: A Big Win. Cultural Enlightenment

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
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]

A Little Kiss. Lots Of Mad Men Tension

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue  No Responses »
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]

Mad Men: Back (Finally) And Back To The Future

 Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue  No Responses »
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]

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