Ms. Adverthinker

Another hilarious Mad Men parody by SNL. Enjoy.

I think the show Mad Men is absolutely ridiculous.  But, I don’t need to get into that again.  This SNL skit, however, is hilarious.

Another rant about Mad Men in Adweek.

“I watched off and on in the first season, and loved everything about the look and sound of it (the smoke, the tight-fitting clothing, the lacquered-down hair, the clink of the ice in the cocktails, the music). Still, I couldn’t get past the outrageous womanizing and brutality of the story line. It was too painful to watch. So, no matter how graphically attuned with the opening credits that the JWT ad looked, I saw it as an amazingly boneheaded move. Why would a modern agency want to align itself with this depiction of advertising — to show that they are as backward seeming and generally ethics-free as the ad “boys” on the show? Way to go, JWT!”

Finally, I have come across an article from someone who agrees with my opinion of the show “Mad Men.” I am have expressed my opinion in this blog a couple of times, but just to recap:

1. It gives people the wrong impression of the advertising business today.  It is easy to get caught up in the “glamor” of the show, but let’s remember, that is definitely not the world we work in today.
2. It is absolutely the most atrocious display of degradation towards women I have ever seen.  While I recognize that may be close to the truth of the times represented, I have no desire to see it on television today.

A female at Advertising Age had this to say:

“‘Mad Men’ is glamorous, it romanticizes our harried and hassled industry, and it lets us indulge our nostalgia for the Wild West pioneer days of the ad biz. Ah, yes — there were the three-martini lunches, the client boondoggles, the all-night benders after the annual budget meeting. There were no casual Fridays; the sharp-looking suits you see on TV were how all the dapper Don Drapers dressed. Men were in charge and women were in pursuit. The married ones were mild-mannered housewives, some desperate, some not. The working girls were cute dollybirds willing to do anything to catch a rich husband. Good times if you were a guy in the business; not so much if you were a gal.

I caught one of the recent reruns from the first season, and, just to stay current, tried to watch it all the way through. What raised the bile in the back of my throat was when the ad guys stumbled across the eternal question ‘What do women want?’ and the flippant reply was ‘Who cares?’ I don’t know about Leo Burnett or J. Walter Thompson, but ad legend David Ogilvy rolled in his grave at that moment. Here’s a guy who showed he understood what side his bread was buttered on when he said, ‘The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife.’”

I am trying really hard to like the show Mad Men.  Everyone else does, so I should too, right?  I hate it.  I appreciate the research that has gone into recreating that era.  I appreciate the history of specific advertising campaigns told through the stories in the show.  I appreciate the style and costumes.  But, working in advertising makes me feel dirty after watching that show.  I have no appreciation for the business after watching arrogant men push each other around and demean women each week.  While that may have been the culture during that period in history, I worry that it will give modern-day viewers the wrong impression of our business today.