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Mad Men is set to return to television on Sunday, March 25 at 8:00 pm (Central) on AMC. Thank heaven. I have been in serious withdrawal. I don’t want to get myself in trouble by claiming that I wish I worked in that era (I really don’t, because as an analytic nerd, I wouldn’t get to live like Don Draper anyway), but I will say I love what the show represents and that is advertising at its most raw.
By raw, I don’t ,mean sex and drinking and manliness – I mean raw in terms of “in your face” creative. Imagery mixed with really good copy. Visuals and tag lines working together to make something memorable. Think about this – a tagline had only one – ONE – medium to capture attention (usually a magazine ad). Can you imagine using 1 medium now and hoping people remember your ad? We do study after study to see how many touch points we have to have to sell a product and it’s still not enough. One? Ponderous, man, ponderous.
Anyway, I digress. While waiting for Mad Men to come back on the air, I’ve started to read a bit about the era and have been amazed to see how crazy agencies were back then. If even half the stories I’ve read are true, then real life would make Mad Men seem like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. One of the people I’ve been reading, and reading about, is George Lois. Lois recently talked with NPR’s Renee Montagne about his work and his new book, Damn Good Advice:
Associate Creative Director at bloomfield knoble
