We’re all eventually responsible for the relationships we keep. Whether they’re tended carefully and thoughtfully or neglected and ignored, they are ours and sometimes our lives and fates are tied to them. Don Draper has built a life that is as free of real commitment and relationship as is possible while still being a productive member of society. That is about to change.

Conrad Hilton has been playing games with Don since they met in a country club bar on Derby Day. After pulling some free work from Don and romancing him with trips to Europe for a day of meetings, Hilton slapped our man around for not literally putting Hilton Hotels on the moon. But that’s the nature of client services and we all take a beating from time to time. Draper has always had the luxury of an exit plan should things get too gamey though. Or he did until Hilton insisted the principles at Sterling-Cooper be contractually locked in before he’d give the agency his business. That meant old Bert Cooper had to drum up some of his old fighting spirit and put the heavy hand of the law on Draper to sign him to a three-year contract. Don was trapped and it was Connie’s doing.

So imagine Draper’s surprise when Hilton tells him he has to move his business elsewhere since mega agency McCann Erikson was acquiring Don’s parent company Puttnam, Powell and Lowe…and Sterling-Cooper with it.

Continue reading Mad Men – Shut the Door. Have a Seat →

For those of us who weren’t alive at the time it’s hard to imagine what the 1960s were like. Everything has become a cliché of bellbottoms and velvet coats and massive cars. As fractured and polarized as America is today it’s nothing compared to the riots and street fights and assassinations that wracked that golden decade. But that was mostly in the late 60s, after everything changed. In the autumn of 1963 we were still the great city on the hill but hurtling toward the day when it all came crashing down; when nobody was quite sure what was going on and what you were supposed to do about it…or if you even could do anything about it. It was Friday, November 22.

I don’t know about back in the day but Friday is the day people usually get fired. If you come in to work and the boss asks you to have a seat in your office you can be sure it’s bad news. Pete Campbell wasn’t exactly fired, but he was assured that the path he’s on at Sterling-Cooper was a dead-end. Lane and the men upstairs decided to give Kenny Cosgrove the lead position on Accounts. In explaining his decision Lane tells Pete that while his accounts are made to feel their every needs are met, “Mr. Cosgrove has the rare gift of making them feel as if they haven’t any needs.” In client services, it’s all about anticipating a client’s needs and heading it off at the pass. Playing catch up costs money.

Continue reading Mad Men – The Grown Ups →

Surprise! Daddy comes home a little early for dinner but it’s a courtesy call at best. Don Draper is a busy man—or rather, a getting busy man. But he’s a smooth daddy and not only leaves the family for a tryst with his new honey, but he elicits sympathy from his wife for “working too hard.” Oh, he’s working all right…

For the man who subtly advised closeted co-worker Sal to “limit your exposure,” Don Draper is playing with fire. Don leaves Betty with the kids and drives to Miss Farrell’s apartment. “I want you to spend the whole night,” she whispers, and who can resist? In bed, she tells Don about a student who asked if everyone sees the color blue the same way.

“People may see things differently,” Don says, “but they don’t really want to,” which is maybe the essence of modern American advertising and those who recognize that fact do well in this business. Don knows this…and so does Peggy.

Continue reading Mad Men – The Color Blue →