Mad Men: Bad Things Come In Threes

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

Mad Men: What A Week At SCDP!

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

The Women of Mad Men Start To Roar

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

Don And Peggy Find Their Sweet Spot

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

Don Draper’s Award Winning Lost Weekend

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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]

Don Draper: Master Of Creative Deception

 Advertising, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
Aug 262010
 

Tweet Article first published as Don Draper – Master Of Creative Deception on Blogcritics My accounts are bigger than yours. If you can’t outspend them, fool them. In the last episode, Pete Campbell’s maneuvers with his father-in-law turned a potentially devastating loss of Clearasil (due to a rather loosely defined conflict with Pond’s) into a full-blown big win for more of the company’s business. A $6 million dollar account that would strengthen Pete’s partnership role at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and also set him and [read more]

Let’s Party Like It Was 1965!

 Advertising, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  1 Response »
Aug 252010
 

Tweet Article first published as Mad Men: Let’s Party Like It’s 1965! on Blogcritics. Don Drinks (A Lot). Pete Pulls A Six Million Dollar Rabbit Out Of The Hat. 1965 was off to an eventful start for SCDP and episode four is chock full of the drama, tensions, and challenges prevalent at that time. Coincidentally, this particular episode takes place in February 1965, the very month that I started my first job at Benton & Bowles. Fortunately for me, the most drama and excitement that [read more]

Mad Men 1964: A Magnificent Year.

 Advertising, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue  No Responses »
Aug 092010
 

Tweet 1965: A year of kinder, gentler Mad Men? Article first published as Mad Men 1964: A Magnificent Year on Blogcritics. SCDP celebrated its first Christmas with a mix of holiday cheer and consternation. A veteran creative returned with a new client attached, business was okay but not great, finances were tight, and the agency’s marquee talent, Don Draper, was struggling with self-doubt and drinking a bit too much, even for Don. Everyone was looking forward to the start of a new year, some big [read more]

Mad Men Christmas – Reality Bites

 Advertising, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
Aug 022010
 

Tweet SCDP’s Christmas Potpourri: A 2 Million Dollar Gift. A Party Dilemma. A Troubled Don Draper. Article first published as Mad Men Christmas: Reality Bites on Blogcritics. The first episode of season four gave us a glimpse into the beginnings of a new advertising agency with a familiar cast of characters and a few new faces. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce seems to be off to an acceptable but not spectacular debut. While starting a new ad agency might have been relatively easy, building a successful, [read more]

Starting An Ad Agency – The Mad Men Way

 Advertising, Don Draper, Hank Wasiak, Mad Men, Madison Avenue, Real Stories  No Responses »
Jul 272010
 

Tweet (Article first published as Starting An Ad Agency the Mad Men Way on Blogcritics.) Don Draper, Creative Director, Steps Out Front And Center Season four of Mad Men is off to a great start with the birth of a new Ad Agency. Episode 1, “Public Relations” provides a glimpse into some of the challenges and drama that were part of starting these new ventures in the Mad Men era. In looking at the show I have to remind myself that Mad Men is not [read more]

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