Your (Updated) Guide to 'Mad Men' and Advertising History
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"Mad Men" is back for seven more episodes to cap off the 85 so far, completing an arc that began in 2007 for us and in 1960 for Don Draper and Peggy Olson. And we're back, too, with our our final seven recaps by Matthew Creamer, more looks back at real Ad Age headlines from the era and the conclusion of our revealing, award-winning "Real Mad Men Diaries" video series, featuring interviews with the women and men who were really there -- and know what Don really could have gotten away with. Keep checking back for updates.
Season Seven, Part Two
Recap:
Homesick
What will I miss most about "Mad Men"? The fact that each and every
episode felt like it was taking a stab at perfection and every once
in a while it succeeded. One of those times is "Lost
Horizon."
Interview: Matthew Weiner Takes on an Era, the Ad
Industry and TV
The time was "more adult and dirty and darker than you remember,"
the creator of "Mad Men" told Ad Age
in an expansive interview as the show approached its
climax.
"Mad Men" 2025: Ad Leaders Predict the Future of the
Industry
As "Mad Men" brings its epic look back at agency life in the 60s
and 70s to a close, we asked today's agency leaders what "Mad Men"
would look like if it were set in the future -- specifically
10
years from now.
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Howie Cohen
Video: "The best lines come
out of real life. You catch one, you shine a light on it and
you put it in the right situation."
McCann Makes Coke Pants, Celebrates Miller Win: Real Ad
Age Headlines From 1970
While he vacationed in England, McCann-Erickson Chicago VP Richard
Irwin also acted as "official courier"
to present the Bunny of the Year at the London Playboy
Club.
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Would Mary Wells Have Hired
Don Draper?
Video: Advertising's
most powerful woman probably would have passed.
Recap: I Drink Your
Milkshake!
Goodbyes begin for
major characters in the second episode of the final half
season.
My Mom Was a Mad Man: How Carol Muehl Left a Legacy for
Female Copywriters
In 1960, a Detroit kid named Carol Calloway graduated from the
University of Michigan with an English major, a dance minor and a
powerful desire to make money.
A book excerpt.
Burnett Quits Entering
Awards, Media Director Turns Bikini Model: Real Headlines From "Mad
Men" Days
Our archives from the "Mad Men" era continue to turn up
oddities and news we might rather forget.
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Was There Really That Much
Sex in the Office?
Our video series returns to say
there was probably even more sex in the office in real life
than on the show. We're looking at you, Y&R.
Recaps Return: Missed
Flights
"Mad Men" takes us to April 1970, though you might only be able to
tell if you know a scary lot about L'eggs.
Seven Things to Watch for in
the Final Seven Episodes of 'Mad Men'
We're probably about to dive deep into the Me Decade.
Let's hope Sally Draper gets out okay.
As AMC Says Goodbye to 'Mad Men,' It Says Hello to
Millennials
For both AMC and marketers, the
impact of the show is expected to resonate long after the
finale.
Share Your Facebook Photos
in Don Draper's Carousel Pitch From 'Mad Men'
AMC's excellent social-media promotion will either trigger deep
nostalgia or embarrass you.
Thanks AMC!
New York restaurants' promotional "Mad Men" lunch menus
are mostly booze.
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Roy Eaton
An Advertising Hall of
Famer who broke the color barrier doesn't see much progress in
industry diversity.
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Jane Maas
The former Ogilvy creative wonders, "Did I really write
that drivel?"
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Judy Wald
Behind all those famed male creatives, there was a powerful
woman recruiter.
All the Real 'Mad Men' Diaries
Our Neal Award-winning video
series exploring the big names and campaigns of the '60s and
'70s.
Season Seven, Part One
'Mad Men' Mid-Season Finale
Recap: The Best Things in Life
Good vibes (more or less) as the
show breaks until its final act.
Brands Jump on Moon Landing, Pregnancy Detector Debuts
and Other Real 'Mad Men' Era News
Ad Age
headlines from 1969 (and beyond).
Chiat Pushes for Equality,
Revlon Plans Men's Genital Deodorant: Real 'Mad Men'-Era
News
See
what was making Ad Age headlines while Don, Peggy and company
were trying to figure out family (and the Burger Chef pitch) as the
first half of the season came to a close.
Recap: A Happy Family
"The Strategy" plays a lot with alternative ideas of family, even
the kind of family created by Burger
Chef.
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Bob Kuperman
In the second in our series on the real Mad Men of the show's era,
Bob Kuperman almost passed on the opportunity to be part of one of
adland's hottest agencies, DDB, and most-salivated over accounts,
VW. "I told Ben, 'Well, I'd like to take the weekend to think it
over,'" recalls Mr.
Kuperman today with a chuckle. "And Ben said, 'Do you realize
there's a line out the door to work here?'" If he hadn't come
aboard, the classic VW commercial "1949 Auto Show" might never have
been.
Research Shows Long Client Lunches Are Actually Worth
It:
See
classic Ad Age headlines from the "Mad Men" era.
The Real 'Mad Men' Diaries: Keith Reinhard
In the first of a video series on the real Mad Men of the 1960's
and 70's, Keith Reinhard recalls landing
McDonald's for Needham Harper & Steers and coming up with
"You Deserve a Break Today."
Recap: Technophobia
When Michael Ginsberg was introduced the agency's first Jew, we
were set up for the show to grapple a bit with Madison Avenue's --
and by extension American culture's -- history of anti-Semitism.
This season, though, the quirky writer has slid into mental
illness, only accelerated by the installation of a mainframe
computer in Sterling Cooper & Partners. Read Matthew Creamer's
recap.
"Mad Men" Throwback Thursday: Real Ad Age News From May
1969
Including the classic headline "Creative Folk Strut, Talk to
Selves." Details
here.
Recap: Cosmic
Disturbance
When a drunk Don encounters the agency's computer installer, he
sounds like he's listened to "Sympathy for the Devil" one too many
times. "You talk like a friend but you're not … You go by
many names." Read the recap.
"Mad Men" Throwback Thursday: Real Ad Age Headlines From
April 1969
Ad Age used to conduct annual surveys of adland obituaries to
calculate how long you were surviving. That and other discoveries
here.
Recap:
MadTech
"We need to invest in a computer, period," Jim Cutler tells his
partners at Sterling Cooper & Partners as they decide what to
do about Don. "Not in creative hijinks." Read the recap.
"Mad Men" Throwback Thursday: More Real Headlines From
1969
Ogilvy really did win Hershey, Quaker targeted the "ghetto" and
more. See what Ad Age was covering during the final season of "Mad
Men." Check out actual
advertising headlines from January 1969.
Agency's Odd Ad for Itself During "Mad Men" Wasn't Even
Its Weirdest
The spot, which ran in the Chiacgo area, seems like a crossover
between AMC's adland show and its zombie hit "The Walking Dead."
But the agency behind it has done stranger work.
Watch it here.
Recap: Chewed Up and Spit
Out
In which the show simultaneously finds a villain who makes Don look
good by comparison and brings race back to the fore. Read the
recap.
"Mad Men" Throwback Thursday: Real Ad Headlines From the
Days of the Final Season
The return of "Mad Men" found Don Draper watching Richard Nixon
become president. Check out actual advertising headlines from
January 1969,
courtesy of the Ad Age archives.
Does Woodford Reserve's Bourbon Ad Liberate or
Discriminate?
Woodford Reserve bourbon debuted its first-ever TV campaign during
AMC's "Mad Men" on Sunday night. And by Monday morning, the
Brown-Forman-owned brand was already dealing with charges that the
debut ad is sexist. Critics missed the point, Brown-Forman
said.
Premiere Recap: Out in the
Cold
We know that the show's seventh and final season will be about
rising up out of the depths. The question before us: Just how
painful can purgatory be, especially when there's no booze to numb
it? Matthew Creamer's
recaps return.
AMC's "Mad Men" Premieres
Down in Viewers
"Mad Men" came back with a strong episode but a weaker audience
than the premiere a season earlier. Numbers
here.
See Our Favorite (Real) Ads
From the Final Season of "Mad Men"
From American Tourister to Volkswagen, check out the work that
closed out one decade and opened another. 15
great campaigns here.
Do You Have Your "Mad Men"
Drinking Game Ready?
Simon Dumenco tries to remember what the show is about but knows it
has something to do with drinking. Prepare.
AMC Will Hold Back Ad Time
in the Last "Mad Men" as Long as Possible
TV networks typically sell commercial time far ahead of time, but
AMC Networks President Charlie Collier thinks he can get way more
money by waiting until the last second. Read Jeanine
Poggi's report.
Season Six
Finale Recap: Goodbye to
All That
The sixth season of "Mad Men" was bookended by a pair of brutally
honest moments with unsuspecting clients. Read Matthew Creamer's
final recap of
the season.
Introducing
SC&P
Life is all about compromise. The naming of this unholy union was
no different. Read the
recap
Betty's
Back
When Betty and Don end up playacting husband and wife at an event
for Bobby's summer camp, you have to suspend some disbelief.
Read the recap
Need for
Speed
That the electrifying opening -- a dark, tight, frantic shot of Ken
Cosgrove, a speeding car, a gun -- was not even the strangest
moment in "The Crash" tells you just how bizarre it was. Read the recap
Don Is Not My
Co-Pilot
Don doesn't drink blood -- at least not yet -- but last night was
an object lesson in how the 1968 version of Don Draper wields power
in the office and out. What was once slick and attractive is now
boorish and bleak. Read the recap
SCDPCGCWTF?!: What Should the New "Mad Men" Agency Be
Called?
There may be a new agency arriving on the scene, giving us an
opportunity to kick around likely names with Jane Maas, Wexley
School for Girls, Walrus and others. Your
turn!
Size
Matters
For anyone who felt the sixth season was veering into the soap
operatic, this episode should have been a return to form. Read the recap
Yep, That's How the Ad Biz
Reacted to a National Tragedy
Can this episode possibly, really represent how the ad industry
really dealt with such a horrifying moment? Actually, yes.
Read
the recap
The Invisible Woman: Is
'Mad Men' Finally Taking On Race?
Dawn's introduction last season, coming after that memorable racist
water-balloon incident, felt like a head fake. We got that one
strange night on Peggy's couch and then nothing. But now with the
King assassination looming, we're getting some sense of a more
developed black character. We even see Dawn outside of work twice,
eating at a black coffee shop with a friend. Read the recap
Trouble at SCDP? Fo'
Chaough
As more than one central character verges on falling apart, it's
beginning to seem like the moral center of the show is over at
Cutler, Gleason and Chaough. Bonus material: We've got a real
Heinz-DDB presentation from 1968. Read the recap (and DDB's
presentation on Heinz to the 4A's)
How to Capitalize on Your Brand's Unplanned Star Turn on
"Mad Men"
Even after Koss got wind of its headphones' role in the "Mad Men"
premiere, producers wouldn't explain the part it would play, CEO
Michael Koss said. Read the
article
Try the "Mad Men" Rewrite Generator
Think you could write "Mad Men"? Give us a noun, a verb and a job
title. Fire up the rewrite
machine
Premiere Recap: Blue
Hawaii
The late 1960s are in full bloom, along with beards, mustaches and
sideburns. Pot smoke flows freely. Peggy Olson leans in. Don goes
way off-brief. But it begins in an emergency. Read the
recap
In Honor of "Mad Men"'s Return, See Our Favorite Ads
From the 1960s
How does the work of today compare with that of the '60s? Check out
some of the classics from advertising's golden age and see how far
creativity has come -- or not.
See the ads
Banana Republic's CMO on the Latest "Mad Men"
Collection
The brand is working with the show's costume designer, Janie
Bryant, on its third "Man Men" collection and has introduced an
online content hub themed "Mad for Mod." Read the
story
Season Five
Finale Recap: You've Kinda,
Sorta Come a Long Way, Baby
With ascent sometimes comes the lowering of expectations and
standards, not to mention tarred lungs and compromise.Read
Matthew Creamer's recap.
Defining Happiness
Downward
"Even though success is a reality, the effects are temporary," Don
barks at a prospective big client in the season's penultimate
episode, which also includes TV's first dramatic scene about agency
compensation models. Read the
recap
So How Did Jaguar Like Its Creepy "Mad Men"
Role?
"I'm a big fan of the show and it was gratifying to see our brand
portrayed," a Jaguar executive said. Then he added, laughing, "I
would say we were fairly surprised at the turn of events."
See
his reaction
Big
Pimpin'
In which "Mad Men" connects some dots amid the all-important Jaguar
pitch. Read the recap
Harry
Krishna
Don Draper's most interesting relationships have always been with
the strong women who manage to parry his charm. Harry Crane,
meanwhile, has gotten entangled with a Hare Krishna who goes by
Mother Lakhsmi. Read the recap
Sno Ball, Manischewitz and
Envy
Don and Betty experience asymmetrical jealousies. Plus: Have you
seen this real Manischewitz commercial starring Sammy Davis Jr.?
Read the recap
Saved by the Bell...
Jar
For a show that 's yet to see a major character bite the dust, "Mad
Men" is fairly steeped in death. Also this week, Cool Whip.
Read the recap
The Dirty
City
Where is Dr. Edna when you need her? 'Tis a pity that the
sure-handed child psychologist hasn't been around lately for former
patient Sally Draper, who witnesses a potentially psyche-destroying
scene. Read the recap
The Orange Sherbet Acid
Test
Though we wouldn't have guessed it, Don Draper is all in when it
comes to Howard Johnson's. He's, like, a huge fan. Read the
recap
Not Pete Campbell's
Favorite Episode of "Mad Men"
One-third of the way into the new season, Pete gets lessons in
morality (from Don Draper) and conference room brawling (from Lane
Pryce). Read the
recap
Maybe We Should All Crawl
Under the Bed
Fear in "Mad Men" has usually trickled down from big historical
events, most memorably the Cuban Missile Crisis. But this episode
finds fear becoming more of an inescapable part of everyday life.
Also: Does Roger Sterling do anything at the office any
more? Read the
recap
Rolling Stones' Rice
Krispies Commercial and the Return of Betty
Creativity , in the "Mad Men" universe of 1966, is in flux. The
opening salvos of the revolution heralded by Bernbach's
self-consciously straight-shooting ads for Volkswagen have been
turned cliche, as Peggy shows when she holds up a minimalist ad for
toilet paper and says "If I see one more Volkswagen ad with
something else in it..." Read the
recap
"Mad Men" Is Great Art, Not Such Great TV
Business
Despite its focus on the selling of corporate America, "Mad Men"
does more for art than it does for commerce, TV Editor Brian
Steinberg argues. Read the
column
Season Five Premiere Gets Show's Biggest Audience
Yet
The show's return drew 3.5 million viewers, a bigger audience than
any previous episode got. That's still a smaller audience than many
shows get on broadcast TV or even some big cable networks.
Read
the story
Premiere Recap: What You
Missed on "Mad Men" Last Night
The show's season five debut featured racial irresponsibility,
intra-agency rivalry and a randy "Zou Bisou Bisou." And then there
was Pryce acting strangely. Read the
recap
See All the Retro Ads in Newsweek's "Mad Men"
Issue
Brands including Allstate, Lincoln, Tide, Mercedes-Benz, British
Airways, Johnnie Walker, Benetton and Spam revived "Mad Men"-era
styles for an issue of Newsweek marking the show's return with
throwback design. The Johnnie Walker ad and one starring Smokey the
Bear actually ran in the 1960s. But most of the ads temporarily
revived their brands' old look -- sometimes with anachronistic
winks, like the one suggesting a visit to the brand's website "in
47 years." See all
the ads
What Miniskirts Will Mean: Your Need-to-Know on "Mad
Men" Season Five
In which we peer through the window at the new season, identifying
the big questions, likely themes and potentially big accounts in
play. But don't click here if you're still catching up on season
four.
Read the story
"Mad Men" Reading List: Catch Up On the Characters and
the Culture
One of the things we love about "Mad Men" is how thoroughly
accurate the show is about the era. If you don't want to miss the
references, you may appreciated these suggested readings, from "The
Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook" to "The Feminine Mystique."
Read the story
Q&A: Vincent Kartheiser Is Nothing Like His "Mad
Men" Character Pete Campbell
He's a minimalist who grew up without a TV. And despite Hollywood's
reliance on publicity, he has no Facebook page and might not be
sure how to pronounce "Twitter."
Read the interview.
Video: Sex and Work on Madison Avenue in the "Mad Men"
Era
Jane Maas, a creative director at Oglivy & Mather during the
"Mad Men" era, talked to Ad Age Agency Editor Rupal Parekh about
navigating a overwhelmingly male workplace. Young & Rubicam was
the real "hotbed of sex," she said. Watch
the video
"Many a Grateful Widow": New York Life Ads in "Mad Men"
Days and Today
New York Life's main marketing goals haven't changed much, but the
way it talks to consumers certainly had to.
Watch the video
Video: Droga on "Mad Men": They Dressed Better, But
Things Are More Interesting Now
There were great ads in the 1960s -- including a VW commercial and
an Alka-Seltzer spot set in a prison, both excerpted in this video
-- but all the fragmentation, pressure and chaos today are set to
forge a new golden age, Droga5 Creative Chairman David Droga said
in this interview with Ad Age Editor Abbey Klaassen. "Out of the
chaos is going to emerge a stronger, brighter industry," he said.
Watch the video
Controversy Brews Over Ads for New Season of "Mad
Men"
Just weeks before the long-awaited fifth season of AMC's "Mad Men,"
a promotional campaign for the hit show sparked controversy as some
said it evokes images of 9/11. Ads on buildings, phone booths and
elsewhere depict a man wearing a suit stenciled in black as he
falls through the sky against a stark white background.
Read the story
Who's a Coward When It Comes to Race, "Mad Men" Writers
or the Ad Industry?
"Mad Men" has previously come under fire for not addressing the
issue of race -- or not addressing it in a manner that 's to
critics' liking. But a pair of Slate articles argued that the show
portrays race relations in the industry at the time. "It's a show
about advertising," Slate said. "And it is advertising, not 'Mad
Men,' that is written by cowards."
Read the story
True Tales and Cocktails with the Real Mad Men and Women
of Madison Avenue
There's a wealth of buzz about the new season of Mad Men and its
depiction of the industry's past, but reporter Rupal Parekh got to
hang out with the real thing: legendary advertising folks from the
era.
Read the story
It's Time for "Mad Men" to Play "Moneyball"
It was strangely appropriate that the movie shown to thousands of
ad-industry execs flying United, Continental and American to CES
was "Moneyball," the story of Billy Beane's use of data to compete
with the Yankees.
Read the story
Why "Mad Men" Needs More Advertising, Not
Less
Tongues were aflutter over the inevitable delay in getting the
fifth season of "Mad Men" up and running on AMC. One issue: AMC
wanted to shorten the time allotted to content and devote those
minutes to advertising. Was that really so unreasonable?
Read the story
What Does Roger Sterling (OK, John Slattery) Think of
Advertising?
Piers Morgan, the successor to the "Larry King Live" time slot on
CNN, was hoping to tackle sexism in the ad industry during his
Q&A panel at Advertising Age's Media Evolved Conference in New
York. Luckily, his interview subject was John Slattery, aka "Mad
Men's" Roger Sterling, "arguably the most sexist character on
television."
Read the story
Unilever Breaks Multibrand "Mad Men" Blitz
Despite the show's comparatively low ratings and modest ad revenue,
package-goods behemoth Unilever is making a big bet on AMC's "Mad
Men" with the launch of a marketing blitz for six of its iconic
brands: Dove, Breyers, Hellman's, Klondike, Suave and Vaseline.
Read the story
An evolving industry
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