Tag Archives: advertisements

Taking Flight: The Pan American World Airways Digital Collection and DPLA Portal

Post contributed by Leah Tams, Pan Am CLIR Grant Intern.

For National Aviation Day, the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History is excited to announce the launch of the Pan American World Airways Advertisements Digital Collection, which was supported with a Digitizing Hidden Collections grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. The Pan American World Airways Digital Collection comprises over 6,500 advertisements from the Hartman Center’s collections, including the J. Walter Thompson Domestic Advertisements, J. Walter Thompson Frankfurt Office Advertisements, and Wells Rich Greene Inc. The digital collection spans most of Pan Am’s history, beginning with its World War II-era expansion and military involvement, and ending with Pan Am’s 1991 acquisition by Delta Airlines.

1991 Delta and Pan Am advertisement. The ad shows an illustration of Earth with "Anywhere You Want" printed in large type below. Six columns listing Delta and Pan Am's service cities flank the illustration.
Anywhere You Want ad, 1991.

The Pan Am Digital Collection can be searched using free-text keyword searches, as well as through faceted searching by year, aircraft type (under the “Subject” search facet), language, departure and arrival locations, and source collection. Highlights from the Pan Am Digital Collection include:

  • First passenger service across Pacific, Atlantic, to South America, etc.
  • First jet service, including the debuts of the Boeing 707 and 747.
  • Inaugural service between New York and Moscow.
  • Noteworthy campaigns including the Clipper concept, “around the world service,” and the debut of new services such as in-flight entertainment.
An ad showing a photograph of a Pan Am 747 on a runway. The ad reads "The first 747s to Hawaii are flying Pan Am."
The First 747s to Hawaii are Flying Pan Am ad, 1969.

The Pan Am Digital Collection is part of a larger collaboration with the University of Miami Libraries, who hold the corporate records of Pan Am, and HistoryMiami Museum, who hold artifacts from Pan Am. Together, our digitized materials and artifacts serve as the foundation of the Digital Public Library of America’s new aviation portal, Cleared for Takeoff: Explore Commercial Aviation. In addition to showcasing Pan Am’s history and impact on aviation, the DPLA portal also includes materials related to the broader history of other commercial aviation in America and associated airlines. The portal will eventually feature a chronological representation of Pan Am’s achievements and history through an interactive timeline, which is linked at the top of the portal. The timeline curates materials from each grant partner and puts otherwise disparate items in conversation with each other.

The DPLA Aviation Portal will eventually feature a Primary Source Set, curated by members from the Hartman Center, UMiami Libraries, and HistoryMiami. The Primary Source Set is meant for classroom use and focuses on how Pan Am impacted and “shrank” the world, encouraging critical thinking and analysis of primary source documents and touching upon numerous social, political, and cultural issues.

The Hartman Center is grateful to the Council on Library and Information Resources and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for funding this important project, as well as to our colleagues at UMiami Libraries, HistoryMiami, the DPLA, and our colleagues in Digital Collections & Curation Services and Conservation Services in Duke libraries.

Colonizing Latin America with Pan American World Airways

Post contributed by Leah Tams, Pan Am CLIR Grant Intern.

The United States has long been an empire with colonial holdings, even since its inception. The U.S. has carried out its colonialism in many different ways, depending upon the time period and area being colonized. In the 1930s and 1940s, the “Good Neighbor Policy,” first articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, became an avenue for the United States to commercially influence Latin American nations. In the spirit of the Good Neighbor Policy, the United States didn’t send hundreds of people to colonize Latin America—instead, it sent businesses to establish and extend their economic influences within the region. One of the key businesses sent to Latin America was Pan American World Airways (Pan Am).

This colorful ad for the Pan American Airways System shows a crowd in stereotypical South American clothing, including a man on horseback, watching the arrival of a Pan Am airplane. The tagline reads "The good neighbor who calls every day . . . "
The Good Neighbor Who Calls Every Day…, Pan American Airways System, 1941, AdAccess Digital Collection

The John W. Hartman Center’s earliest ads from Pan Am illustrate the Good Neighbor Policy in action: “Out of the Muck of the Mazatlán,” Pan Am created airfields in Latin America, which were heralded as “Another ‘Stepping Stone.’” These “stepping stones” would allow the United States to connect with various Latin American cities and civilizations, thus extending U.S. influence southward. Other early advertisements were even more overt in their reference to the policy, proclaiming that Pan Am was indeed “The Good Neighbor Who Calls Every Day” who would create meaningful—and influential—political and economic contact between both regions. As historian Jennifer Van Vleck argues, “the development of commercial aviation did important work to make the U.S. presence in Latin America appear more benign while also bringing the region within closer reach of Washington and Wall Street.”[1]

Once Pan Am had an established presence in Latin America, it was fairly simple to begin advertising the wondrous destinations available—particularly because Pan Am (or, more accurately, Panagra, as the joint venture in South America was known) presented the region as an almost-undiscovered land. Ads from the late 1940s assured travelers that they would “travel in the intrepid footsteps of Pizzaro [sic],” in a paradise “spangled with the glories of past centuries.”[2] These intimations of Francisco Pizarro—the Spanish conquistador who invaded Panama and Peru—and other overt references to the colonialist efforts of Pan Am, which injected U.S. influence and culture into South America, would continue for decades.

A black-and-white announcement of JWT's new advertising campaign for Panagra airline. In green text, the announcement proclaims "Greatest campaign since Pizarro!" Images of the ads that will be included in national print publications are included.
Greatest Campaign Since Pizarro, PANAGRA, 1962. J. Walter Thompson Co., Domestic Advertisements Collection

In 1962, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT), Pan Am’s principal advertiser, launched a campaign for Panagra that touted the “Charms of South America” to potential travelers. To its travel agents, JWT called this effort the “Greatest Campaign Since Pizarro!” Other Panagra advertisements from the 1960s celebrate Pizarro’s lasting impact upon Lima, Peru, stating that “He laid out the city’s streets, the government buildings, the cathedral, just where you see them today.” With these references to and celebrations of Pizarro, it seems as though Pan Am is encouraging its travelers to once again conquer and colonize Latin America—in fact, Panagra ads from 1965 invite travelers to “Capture the city Pizarro couldn’t!” (referring to Machu Picchu in Peru) and underscore the flippant imperialism of the U.S.

This ad shows a color aerial photo of Machu Picchu with the tagline "You've taken your fill of the Acropolis; you've stormed the seven hills of Rome. Now . . . Capture the city Pizarro couldn't!"
Capture the City Pizarro Couldn’t, PANAGRA, 1965. J. Walter Thompson Co., Domestic Advertisements Collection

To be sure, contemporary advertisements for Pan Am’s flights to Europe portray the continent and its destinations as commodities, most often as dollar amounts. But where European cities and regions are reduced a monetary figure, they are never reduced to places that can be conquered, subdued, or gifted civilization the way that Latin America is. In Latin America, it seems that Pan Am found the perfect candidate for profit and U.S. imperialism, veiled in the thin language of adventure.

[1] Jennifer Van Vleck, Empire of the Air: Aviation and the American Ascendancy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013), 54.

[2] “Panagra Vacation,” 1947, https://repository.duke.edu/dc/adaccess/T1593.

Uncola: Seven-Up, Counterculture and the Making of an American Brand

Post contributed by Claire Payton, John W.  Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History intern and Ph.D. candidate, Duke University Department of History

It was 1967, and people weren’t drinking Seven-Up. Well, a few were: consumers mostly thought of the bubbly beverage as a mixer or a tonic to calm an upset stomach. But executives at the St. Louis-based Seven-Up Company were anxious to tap into a wider market. The company wanted to rebrand its product as a common soft-drink like the more well-known cola beverages, Pepsi or Coca-Cola. It enlisted a marketing team from the Chicago office of the J. Walter Thompson ad agency to help them. Out of this collaboration came one of the most famous advertising campaigns of the 20th century.

The late 1960s were a difficult time in America. The Vietnam War and the fight for civil rights divided the country.  Disillusioned young people were building a robust oppositional counter-culture that rejected war, racial segregation, and violence. The summer of 1967 became known as the “Summer of Love,” a period when hippies gathered in San Francisco and cities around the country in the hopes of igniting “a renaissance of compassion, awareness, and love, and the revelation of unity for all mankind.”

Seizing on this oppositional energy, the JWT team designed a campaign that framed 7-Up as the ultimate oppositional drink: the “Uncola.” Rather than trying to play up the similarities the soda shared with its competitors, the new ads focused on its differences. In the company newsletter, the team explained “Seven-Up advertising tells people that, of the three top-selling soft drink brands, 7-Up, the Uncola, is the only one with distinctly different qualities.”

An early Uncola ad: "A hotdog and . . . The Uncola?"The “Uncola” struck a chord with the younger generation as the first ads appeared in 1968. They focused on puns based around “un” part of the new slogan. By portraying Coke and Pepsi as “the Establishment,” JWT effectively situated 7-Up as an alternative brand for alternative people.

The following year JWT created a contest inviting artists to submit wildly imaginative designs for 7-Up ads. The submissions were presented to the client, who chose the final images. The winner received a $2000 reward and the opportunity to work with JWT to make final versions. From this contest, JWT and the Seven-Up company built a campaign of colorful road-side billboards with psychedelic graphics. Art by young graphic designers including Pat Dypold, Ed Georges, and Milton Glaser dotted highways across the country in 1969.

A 1973 article from Southern Advertising described the success of the billboard campaign: “To zero in on the college and younger age groups, [Seven-Up executive] Roesch has developed a different approach to the use of the outdoor medium. The agency’s media department uses outdoor as a means of zeroing in on a specific target . . . instead of as a mass media that doesn’t discriminate.  The boards are located accordingly, and the art used is slated to the specific likes of the age groups. The result has been demand for Seven-Up posters to be used as room decorations, party decorations, all without any promotion by the company.”

An example of a Seven-Up Uncola billboard

The campaign complemented its print ads and billboards with television spots. The most memorable ads from this campaign featured Trinidadian dancer and actor Geoffrey Holder explaining the difference between ugly, dry, kola nuts and the tangy, juicy lemon and limes that flavor 7-Up. The ad broke racial barriers within the Seven-Up Company, which until then had never used black actors in its television ads.

The Uncola campaign continued into the 1970s. As times changed, the campaign tried to stay in dialog with oppositional culture by incorporating new visual mediums such as grafitti. JWT argued that “In 1968, the rebellious approach of youth was a workable parallel for the rebellious approach of Seven-Up. Today, in the Seventies, the attack remains viable.” However, 7-Up’s hard-won market share declined over the course of the decade, losing ground to the growing popularity of another lemon-lime soda, Sprite.

Brief article about Seven-Up Uncola grafitti posters

Perhaps the soda became a victim of its own success. The Uncola campaign had so effectively linked to the youth of the 1960s that by the 1990s, it was considered ”what old people drink,” in the words of one financial analyst, “and that’s not what you want in a soft drink.” In 1998, the company finally dropped the Uncola slogan and reinvented its formula. Since then the company has since tried several different campaigns to redefine its identity without success. Regardless, the Uncola campaign will remain a mainstay of the consumer culture of 20th century America and a sign of the times in which it was created.

 

Have You Driven a Ford Advertisement Lately?

Post contributed by Josh Larkin Rowley, Reference Archivist for the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.

One of the heaviest circulating collections in the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History is the Domestic Advertisements collection in the J. Walter Thompson Co. (JWT) advertising agency archives.  The collection documents the print advertisements designed for magazines and newspapers for the agency’s clients in the United States.  One of the most popular clients represented in the collection is the Ford Motor Company.

"There's a Ford in Your Future" ad
https://repository.duke.edu/dc/jwtfordmotorads/jwtad010020030

JWT and the Ford Motor Company have a long standing agency/client relationship, one still active today.  The agency officially added Ford to its roster of clients in 1943 and launched the now iconic “There’s a Ford in Your Future,” campaign the following year.  In the ensuing decades, JWT helped Ford launch many new automobile models including the Thunderbird, Mustang, Pinto, Taurus, Explorer, Ranger, and Escort.  The agency crafted several well-known Ford campaigns including the first advertising “roadblock” announcing the launch of the Mustang in 1964; “Have You Driven a Ford Lately?”; the Falcon campaign incorporating Charles Schulz’s Peanuts characters; and “No Boundaries.”

Ford Falcon '62 ad with Peanuts Characters, 1962
https://repository.duke.edu/dc/jwtfordmotorads/jwtad250050020

Thanks to the work of the Duke University Libraries’ Technical Services, Conservation Department, Digital Production Center, and Enterprise Services, nearly 12,000 Ford Motor Co. advertisements documenting JWT’s seven decades of creative work for Ford Motor Company are now available to students, scholars, and gearheads in our new digital collection.

Ford Mustang ad, 1964
https://repository.duke.edu/dc/jwtfordmotorads/jwtad300030050

In addition to advertisements for cars, trucks, vans and SUVs, the collection also includes ads for the company’s farm implement division, Ford Farm, Ford Motorsports, taxi cabs, school buses, and police vehicles.  Advertisements for the Ford line of genuine replacement parts, Motorcraft, Ford automotive services, promotional literature, outdoor advertising, and insertion schedules are also among the materials represented in the collection.  All ads are keyword searchable and browsable by model, vehicle category, and multiple subjects and ad formats.

Mad Men Monday–Season 7, Episode 13 “The Milk and Honey Route”

Mad Men Mondays logo

This week’s episode opens with Don Draper’s Cadillac methodically rolling down a dark, deserted highway.  The hum of wheels on pavement is interrupted when he is pulled over by a patrolman that, once he’s confirmed the driver’s identity, cryptically says, “You knew we would catch up with you eventually.”

Of course the scene is only a dream and Don wakes in a modest motel room somewhere in Kansas, a long way from the luxury of Manhattan.  His vision-quest through Middle America continues south only to be interrupted by car trouble in Oklahoma.  He’s dropped at a hotel where he meets the owner, Del, and his wife, Sharon.  Sharon tries to convince Don to stick around town for a VFW gathering to benefit a veteran whose kitchen burned down.  A day later, Don reluctantly accepts despite a repaired Cadillac and his own rambling spirit.  After several shots of Old Crow, a few cans of Lone Star beer, and some prodding from intoxicated vets, Don tells the table that he killed his Commanding Officer in Korea.  Later that night, Sharon lets three angry vets into Don’s hotel room who are convince that he stole the cash from the donations jar.  They leave without the money but with the keys to Don’s Cadillac which will be held as collateral until the money is returned.  Don confronts Andy, a housekeeper at the hotel, about his theft of the money, demands its return, and suggests that he get out of town.  Kindly, Don agrees to drive him to the nearest bus stop where he hands him the car keys and steps out of the car with some sage advice for the budding con artist, “don’t waste this.”  His possessions whittled down to what will fit inside a Sears bag, Don looks content.

Pete bumps into Duck Phillips on the elevator at McCann and Duck asks for a private conversation in which he tries to convince him to help persuade Learjet to hire him as a headhunter.  Pete reluctantly agrees to meet and, over the course of dinner, quickly realizes that he’s been tricked into an interview for the position.  Despite Pete’s adamant lack of interest, Duck persists and tries to convince him to attend a second dinner with the spouses.  Pete approaches Trudy about her possible attendance at the dinner and in the process reminds her how much she used to love client dinners.  Trudy admires Pete for his ability to be sentimental about the past but adds that she, on the other hand, remembers things as they actually were.  After Duck spins Pete’s no-show at the dinner as a reaction to Learjets initial salary offer they up it coniderably.  Pete shows up at Trudy’s in the pre-dawn hours, tells her of his job offer in Wichita, professes his love, and invites her to move with him and reunite the family.  Reluctant at first, she eventually accepts.

Betty struggles up the stairs at the university only to stumble and fall, injuring a rib and wounding her pride.  At the hospital a doctor requests that she phone her husband as her condition appears to be more serious.  In the car after the doctor’s visit, Francis has a tantrum and threatens to sue the hospital for frightening Betty.  A second doctor, however, confirms the findings of the first:  Betty has an aggressive form of lung cancer and is given months to live.  Back at the house, Francis castigates Betty for refusing to seek treatment and accuses her of giving up.  Against Betty’s wishes, Francis goes to Sally’s college, gives her the bad news, and enlists her to convince Betty to seek treatment.  After brushing off Sally in the kitchen, Betty enters her bedroom that evening for a conversation.  Sally accuses her of taking pleasure in the tragedy of her condition.  After watching her own mother die slowly Betty simply wishes to spare Sally that same experience.  She also hands her a letter with instructions to be opened after her death.  Back in her dormitory, Sally reads the letter detailing practical matters such as burial site and Betty’s preferred dress, hairstyle, and lipstick.  Betty says she loves her and knows that her life will be an adventure.

Last night’s episode featured references to apples, Learjet, and Old Crow whiskey among others.  Enjoy our selection of highlighted ads that reference the brands and themes that Mad Men characters interacted with last night.

A gallery of our selected images may also be found on Flickr.

1 colgate001
2 apple001
3 auto repair001
4 spain001
5 Lear
6 Tobacco Institute
7 jantzen001
8 coffee001
9 old crow001
10 Lone Star

Mad Men Monday – Season 7, Episode 11 “Time & Life”

Mad Men Mondays logo

The characters at SC&P faced their worst fear last night as McCann Erickson planned to absorb and dissolve the agency. With 30 days to vacate their offices and 30 days for Don to find a new place to live, it truly is setting up to be the end of an era.

The episode opens on dinner as Ken enjoys toying with Pete and criticizing the work done by SC&P.

Roger receives a letter canceling the lease on the SC&P offices. After yelling at some of the secretaries, he calls McCann and discovers that it was not a mistake.  McCann is planning to absorb the agency and move everyone into their own building. Roger, Don, Pete, Ted and Joan discuss the news with dread.

Stan and Peggy observe and audition children for a client.  Stan comments that Peggy hates kids after she struggles working with them. Pete pulls her aside and tells her the bad news about the agency.

Lou calls Don and gleefully tells him that he is quitting and moving to Tokyo to work with Tatsunoko Productions on developing his comic into a cartoon.

The partners meet and come up with a strategy to move the agency to California where they could work on the clients that are a conflict for McCann. They rush off to see if they can get those clients to stick with them at “Sterling Cooper West.” Roger and Pete meet with Ken to get Dow to stay with them but he refuses and leaves.

Peggy meets with a headhunter who tells her that her best bet is to stay and work at McCann.

Pete and Trudy meet with the headmaster at Greenwich Country Day school, which rejected Tammy’s application. Pete says that it a family tradition for a Campbell to be at that school. The headmaster bears a grudge dating back to 1692 when his ancestors and Pete’s began a historic clan feud.  He insults Trudi and Pete punches him before leaving. Later Trudi bemoans the fact that it is hard being a divorced woman because men try to take advantage of her.

Stan and Peggy have to babysit a girl who was left by her mother who had to pick up her son. The girl manages to staple her finger causing an argument between Peggy and the mother who returns. Later Peggy reveals to Stan that she gave a child up for adoption and says it is not fair that women have to make hard choices when men don’t.

The SC&P partners make their pitch to keep their conflicting clients and move to California, but Jim Hobart explains that they all will have great jobs at McCann working on top tier clients like Buick and Coca Cola. Only Ted seems happy to hear that he will get what he always wanted, to work on a pharmaceutical account. They all leave and commiserate over beer. The next day the partners announce the big news to the office and try to make it sound positive, but the staff quickly start taking over them and walk away.

Last night’s show featured references to toys, Dow, Buick, and first aid, among other things.  Enjoy our selection of highlighted ads that reflect the brands and themes that Mad Men characters interacted with last night.

A gallery of our selected images may also be found on Flickr.

 

1 toilet cleaner001

2 hair curlers001

3 toys001

4 japan airlines001

5 plaid jacket001

6 nabisco merged

7 buick001

8 band aid001

Mad Men Monday – Season 7, Episode 9 “New Business”

Mad Men Mondays logo

Last night’s episode began and ended with scenes focusing on things that Don has lost in his life. At the Francis house, Don makes a milkshake for his sons. Betty and Henry come home and Don wistfully watches his family chatting together then leaves alone.

Megan calls to ask Don for $500 for the movers. She wants them to “just sign the papers and be done with this” and is tired of asking for an allowance.

Don tracks down Diana at a steakhouse. He wants to have dinner with her “even if it’s five minutes at a time.” Later she comes to his apartment in the middle of the night. They talk about their divorces and her past.

Peggy hires renowned photographer Pima Ryan for the Cinzano shoot. Stan scoffs at first, but then wants Pima to look at his work. Pima seduces him, and later makes a pass at Peggy. They both realize that Pima took advantage of them.

Megan’s mother, Marie, criticizes Megan for letting Don off so easy. Megan’s sister implies that Megan is a failure because of her divorce. Marie is left to supervise the movers at Don’s apartment and fills the whole moving truck with Don’s furniture. Marie calls Roger asking for cash to pay the mover. He arrives at Don’s apartment with the money and Marie rekindles their previous affair.

Harry and Megan meet for lunch to discuss her acting career. He flatters Megan, but then makes a pass at her. She leaves in disgust. She goes back to Don’s apartment, shocked to discover it empty except for Roger and Marie. Megan scolds them both and leaves.

Don and Megan meet in the attorney’s office. Megan accuses him of ruining her life. Don writes her a check for a million dollars. “I want you to have the life you deserve,” he says. She takes the check and gives Don her wedding ring.

Don arrives at Diana’s tiny apartment. He is ready for a new start and gives her a book about New York City. Diana insists that she can’t see him anymore because she forgot about the daughter she abandoned while with Don and she never wants to do that. Don goes home to find his apartment completely empty.

Last night’s episode featured references to blenders, Life Cereal, Cinzano vermouth, photography, Champagne, and Tab, among other things.  Enjoy our selection of highlighted ads that reflect the brands and themes that Mad Men characters interacted with last night.

A gallery of our selected images may also be found on Flickr.

1 blender

2 movers and guide book

3 Life cereal

4 Vermouth

5 camera

6 Champagne

7 Tab

8 Golf wear

9 white trench coat

Mad Men Mondays: Season 7, Episode 8 “Severence”

Mad Men Mondays logo

Mad Men is back!  This half-season premier felt like an extended dream sequence with Peggy Lee’s eerie hit “Is That All There Is?” bookending the episode.

The episode opens with Don holding a cup of vending machine coffee and a lit cigarette while posing a woman wearing nothing but a pricy fur coat—Don, the eternal misogynist.  The scene widens to reveal that he is in fact working a casting call at the office.

Mathis attempts to set up Peggy on a blind date with his brother-in-law.  After some initial resistance she eventually acquiesces.  While something of a milquetoast—he won’t even return an incorrect food order—the date goes well and, after some wine and a bottle of Galliano, the date nearly culminates in a spontaneous trip to Paris.  Instead, the couple settles for a phone call in two weeks.

Fearing the toll that the advertising industry is taking on his psyche, Ken Cosgrove’s wife tries to persuade him to get out of the advertising business and focus on his writing.  The following day, at the behest of a McCann-Erickson executive, Ken is fired by Roger.  While expressing some bitterness at Roger’s lack of loyalty, he chooses to interpret the moment as kismet, an opportunity.  Rather than focus on his writing he listens to his competitive instincts and accepts a position as director of advertising for Dow Chemical.  Rather than pulling Dow’s business from the SC&P he vows to be a difficult client to please in the future.

Peggy and Joan have an encounter of their own with the heavy-handed and none-to-subtle staff of McCann.  On behalf of SC&P’s client Topaz pantyhose, together they pitch the possibility of McCann introducing them to some of their department store clients.  After a few minutes of crude innuendo from the McCann reps, Peggy finally persuades them to take a look at the proposal.  Rather than a bonding experience the meeting results in an elevator argument between Peggy and Joan over the meeting’s takeaway lessons.

After a vision (dream?) of Rachel Katz, his brief fling from season 1, in Chinchilla fur, Don attempts to set-up a meeting with her under the auspices of a potential partnership between her department store and Topaz pantyhose only to learn that she has recently passed from an illness.  Perhaps it’s the memory of Rachel that informs his continued attraction to the mysterious waitress at the late-night diner.   With Rachel’s family sitting shiva, Don attempts to pay his respects only to be cast out.  Finding his way to the diner, he attempts to connect with the waitress only to be told that the tryst was merely just compensation for the large cash tip from a previous evening.

Last night’s episode featured references to toasters, L’eggs hosiery, wine stained carpet, veal, pop tarts, and Paris.

A gallery of our selected images may also be found on Flickr.

1-Topaz008
2 Carpet009
3-McGregor010
4-Pop-tart011
5-Fleischmans012
6-Veal013
7-Galliano014
8 Paris015

Mad Men Mondays Tuesdays: Episode 7, “Waterloo”

Mad Men Mondays logo

Mad Men‘s  midseason finale juxtaposes the U.S. space program and Napoleon as twin parables on the successes and failures of grand vision and ambition. The Apollo 11 launch and landing on the moon in July 1969 provides a running theme through the episode, and creates a poignant contrast between everyday life and a preoccupation with events 100,000 miles out in space.

The episode opens with Bert Cooper trying to watch the Apollo liftoff and yelling at the maid to turn off the vacuum cleaner. Meanwhile in California, Ted Chaough’s existential crisis while flying over Claremont terrifies the Sunkist representatives; in a later phone call he tells Jim Cutler that he wants to leave advertising altogether. Lou Avery complains to Jim Cutler that Don’s appearance in the Philip Morris client meeting cost them the Commander business to Leo Burnett. Betty entertains house guests that include surly teenager Sean and his nerdy younger brother Neil. Harry’s partnership in the firm is still under consideration, not finalized, and serves as a nodal point in a power struggle between Jim Cutler and Roger Sterling. The creative team preps for their presentation to Burger Chef in Indianapolis, while Pete worries that “now we just have to pray everything goes smoothly on the moon.”

Elsewhere at the agency, SC&P staff members speculate on the consistency of the moon’s surface while Don receives a breach of contract letter from the agency attorney. It turns out that Jim Cutler had initiated the letter in an attempt to force Don out, a move that enrages some of the other partners who hadn’t been notified before their names were placed on the letter. Don calls for a vote on his status, which is affirmed with only Joan and Jim voting to remove him. Joan, bitter that Don’s actions have cost her money, nonetheless criticizes Jim for his tactics: “You shouldn’t have done that.” Don phones Megan to tell her about the tensions at the agency, but when he suggests to her that it may be an opportunity to start over on the west coast, Megan hesitates before breaking things off with Don.

On Sunday all eyes are watching the lunar landing on television; most are amazed but surly Sean complains about the cost of the space race. When Sally repeats this to Don over the phone, he tells her “Don’t be so cynical.” Bert Cooper says a quiet “Bravo.” Shortly after, Roger receives a call that Bert has died, and goes to the office to remove Bert’s name plate from his door. He meets Joan and Jim Cutler there. Jim uses Bert’s death to suggest an opportunity to get rid of Don, to which Roger objects. Roger informs Don of Bert’s passing, and Don goes to Peggy’s hotel room to tell her to do the Burger Chef presentation herself. Roger meets with an associate at McCann Erickson who wants the Chevy team for the Buick account, but Roger suggests that McCann buy a stake in SC&P. McCann is interested only if Roger can keep the creative team of Don and Ted together.

The Burger Chef management is wowed by Peggy’s presentation, where she used the lunar landing event as a symbol of people’s hunger for connection and turned it into an analogy for the kinds of connections often missed at family dinners mediated by ever-present television. Burger Chef, she argues, offers a place to re-connect families. Her presentation ultimately wins the account. When Don returns home from Indianapolis, Roger is waiting for him and tells him of the McCann offer. Roger says it’s the only way to save the agency, as he fears Jim won’t stop until he gets rid of everyone. The next day Roger calls a partners’ meeting to announce the McCann offer; Don talks Ted into staying on and the partners’ unanimously agree to the buyout—including Jim Cutler who sees he has been outmaneuvered by Roger. On his way back to his office, Don sees the ghost of Bert Cooper, singing “The Best Things in Life Are Free.”

Last night’s episode featured references to the space mission, Napoleon, Newport, Popsicle, electric percolators and The Wild Bunch, among other things. Enjoy our selection of highlighted ads that reflect the brands and themes that Mad Men characters interacted with last night.

A gallery of our selected images may also be found on Flickr.

Apollo_Pen_B310

Courvoisier_F330

Newports_G111

Presto_H220

Apollo_Launch_Invite

Popscicle_F160

Adding_Machine_B310

Kraft_Grape-_Jelly_F160

Wild_Bunch

Bike_G440

Astronaut_Toys_G450

Mad Men Mondays: Episode 6, “The Strategy”

Mad Men Mondays logo

After weeks of angst and anxiety, Mad Men showed viewers a happier Don Draper and Peggy Olsen last night. They are finally back in sync and working well together. Peggy and Mathis survey mothers at a Burger Chef restaurant about their reasons for buying family dinners there. Pete and Bonnie fly to New York together. Peggy presents a seemingly successful Burger Chef pitch to Lou and others, but is told that Don should be the one to present it to the client, which angers her.

Megan comes to New York for the weekend and spends time looking for her fondue pot and other items she wants to bring back to Los Angeles, while Don tries to make her nostalgic for her New York home. Bob Benson comes to New York with representatives from Chevy.  He has to bail one of them out of jail and is told that GM will be pulling the Chevy account and giving it to Campbell-Ewald, but that Bob will be offered a job at Buick. Peggy second guesses the Burger Chef pitch and works on it all weekend.

Pete visits his daughter Tammy, who barely recognizes him, and he is angry that Trudy is not around.  He gets drunk and waits for her return, only to be told that he is no longer part of that family and doesn’t get to complain.  Bonnie is angry that Pete doesn’t spend time with her in New York and leaves to go back to Los Angeles.

Don comes in to help Peggy rework the Burger Chef campaign and they manage to have productive and candid conversations.  Their creative compatibility shows through and their conversations inspire a better pitch for Burger Chef. Bob visits with Joan and her family, bearing gifts for everyone.  He proposes to Joan, and tells her that a marriage would be good for both of them. She says no, stating that she will hold out for love. The SC&P partners meet to discuss losing Chevy.  They decide to make Harry Crane a partner, with some dissention from Joan and Roger. Don and Peggy meet Pete at a Burger Chef to sell him on the new pitch.

Last night’s episode featured references to loafers, Buick, Barbie, Fondue pots, among other things.  Enjoy our selection of highlighted ads that reflect the brands and themes that Mad Men characters interacted with last night.

A gallery of our selected images may also be found on Flickr.

You-Never-Had-Syrup-So-Good

Buick_T110

Leo_Burnett_B110

Loafers

AAA9660

Barbies_G450

Rheingold_F310

Erector_Set_G450

Bisquick_F113

Fondue_Cooking

Lighter_G120

Engagement_Ring_G210