Lessons in Advertising from "Mad Men"
- Dec 29, 2015
- 2 min read
The first time I watched AMC's "Man Men" I was surprised by the historical accuracy of it. One night while watching the show, Betty Draper (one of the main characters, as well as advertising guru Don Draper's wife) was cooking while using a bowl that my grandma once had. Though only one of the three bowls in the set have survived into the 21st century, my mother still recognized it from her childhood. Not only are the clothing, language, and gender roles accurate to the era that "Man Men" takes place in, but some of the advertisements thought up by Don Draper and his team on Madison Avenue are historically accurate as well.
While the characters and their personal stories may be fictional, they still struggled with problems that real individuals did at the time, some of which include but are not limited to: conflicting gender roles/sexism, the civil rights movement, and the introduction of major technologies (i.e. the computer). Below is a video of one of Don Draper's more famous pitches featured on "Mad Men," which was presented to Kodak regarding their slide projector.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus
The scene is widely considered to be one of Draper's best pitches, which led him to land a deal with Kodak in the show. If you find the clip interesting, I would recommend watching a few episodes or browsing a few more of their pitch videos on YouTube. Even viewing some of their failed pitches helps, as not every proposition gets accepted and then it's back to the drawing room (literally) for these men. I also think looking at the coments listed at the bottom of the video are fascinating as well, since many of them have to do with reminiscing about the actual Kodak projector and the memories it created, which is exactly what Don Draper was pitching to his clients.
*On a side note, I think anyone wanting to watch the show should be a ware of the negative aspects it presents, which may be offensive. Aside from the characters' own backstories on the show, simply watching the scenes that follow the creative process are immensely eye opening and informative to anyone interested in advertising.
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