I can’t speak for others, but the AMC series Mad Men is white hot in PR and marketing circles.
In fact, I find myself discussing the breakaway "ad agency in the 60s" series in virtually every client or new business meeting I attend.
Whether it’s Sterling Cooper’s ill-fated decision to fire a small, existing airline account to pitch a larger one (Mohawk Airlines was grounded in lieu of American Airlines) or the unconscionable amount of smoking, drinking and carousing that permeates the agency’s walls, someone almost always brings up a Mad Men mention. It’s gotten to the point where not being Mad Men conversant has become a career impediment.
True. Don Draper is no Tony Soprano. And January Jones, who plays his long-suffering wife, is no Carm, but Mad Men has all the earmarks of a huge, mainstream hit. Jon Hamm, who plays Draper, has already won an Emmy and, as we at Peppercom have found out, now charges $100,000 for a single appearance. So, clearly the series is catching on.
I’m not sure why Mad Men has become the next Sopranos, but it has. Forget about Weeds, Entourage, Generation Kill or any other wannabe. Mad Men is the real deal.
I LOVE Mad Men. It just takes me back to a time that I didn’t get to experience and I can envision the likes of the Torches of Freedom and know where my career field originated. Also, being from a small town, it is just fun to watch the happenings in a large city.
BTW, if you look closely, we contributed some posters for the show…
To each his own, Lunchboy. Unlike Entourage and its Hollywood motif, Mad Men is all about the agency business. And, while it takes place in 1962, the moral and ethical dilemmas faced by the characters are as relevant today as they were then.
I’m a fan of Mad Men and Entourage…I’m going to have to side with Entourage as I expect many a blogger would.
Entourage is about today – the present…not about womanizing guys who smoke in their office with a brandy filled snifter.