[Warning: spoilers but you have nothing to worry about if you are current through the end of season 3.]
I have been enjoying the cable TV series Mad Men, now in its fourth season on the AMC network. New York, the 1960′s, and the fictitious Manhattan ad agency of Sterling Cooper provide the setting of the series. The firm’s talented creative director Don Draper, brilliantly depicted by John Hamm, leads a talented ensemble cast. Smart dialogue, great acting, and loyal attention to the design of the era make this show a difficult habit to break.
While I do not entirely disagree with Jeff Tucker (who has written that in its depiction of social customs and mores lies an endorsement of the subsequent expansion of the nanny state) I believe that there is another dimension to the show that has not been much discussed: the show is in the minority of products from the entertainment industry that take business seriously.
Most movies which depict business executives in one of two ways: either they motivated entirely by pure malevolence toward humanity in general; or, they are driven by an over-arching greed that transcends any other motives.
As Alex Tabarrok writes in the Wall Street Journal,
In the movies, capitalists are almost invariably cast as villains. Has someone been murdered? Are the residents of a small town dying of cancer? Is an environment being despoiled? Look no further than the CEO of some large corporation. Quick, name as many movies as you can that feature capitalists as heroes. “Batman Forever” and “Iron Man” do not count. There are a few (“The Edge,” “You’ve Got Mail”), but it’s a short list. Now name as many movies as you can that feature mass-murdering corporations and corporate villains? That one is easy: “The Fugitive,” “Syriana,” “Mission Impossible II,” “Erin Brockovich,” “The China Syndrome” and “Avatar,” to name only a few.
Even when a corporation is not the primary villain, Hollywood lets its dislike of commerce be known.
The show is nearly alone in looking at the reality of business as a complex and challenging undertaking of imperfect, but not malevolent human beings. The show is clearly not anti-business in the way that Tabarrok illustrates. The advertising industry is one of the prime targets of anti-market ideology. The series does not condemn advertising. Instead it takes a respectful and interested stance toward the industry and the people in it. That is in itself a political statement.
The story lines bounce back and forth between the office and the private lives of the characters. On the business side, several economic themes emerge – consumer preference, competition, constant change, innovation, skill, and the division of labor.
As Tucker noted, the 60′s itself is one of the main characters in the show. The camera often lingers over a piece of furniture, a clock, a carpet, a car, a meal, or a costume. Typewriters are ubiquitous. The arrival of a photocopier at the firm causes considerable consternation: where to put it? What will clients think when they see it? After laughing at products that were new in the 60′s but now strike us as outmoded, I realized that the the innovation in production and constant change in consumer preference is a theme in the show. While we are not so far removed from that era, the range of products we have available today has changed considerably.
Consumer preference is the driving force behind advertising. Don Draper frequently is shown meeting with clients to discuss the needs of their business. The executives discuss their success or failure in terms of their own customers.
A theme of the show is success and failure of products and industries. In some cases a business that has been stable for many years is going into decline; for example a bathing suit company that refuses to shift its production to what the company’s management considers risqué bikinis is losing market share as bathing dress becomes more revealing. Many of the prominent brands featured in the show no longer exist.
Responding to technological change is another important theme. Television emerged and overtook print media as a platform for advertising during this period. Harry Crane, an account manager, invents his own job by requesting to be appointed director of television for the firm, which prior to him, did not have one. Not realizing the importance of this position, senior partner Roger Sterling agrees to appoint him to this position. Over time the television department grows as a share of the firms’ revenues, and Crane advances in his career, adding subordinates to his department.
In other cases, a new firm is attempting to gain market share from the industry leaders. A young entrepreneur (whose wealth was inherited from a successful father) jai-alai launches an expensive ad campaign based on his belief that the sport will become as popular as baseball. We know from the perspective of the present that this will never happen, and that the ad campaign will be a failure.
The writers do not shy away from addressing the issue of personal success and failure. Draper is depicted as a creative director of extraordinary talent. His ability to connect on an emotional level with the consumers is one of the main themes of the show. His success is achieved through his deep and intuitive insight into the imagination of consumers and his ability to see connections between the product and the consumer’s desires. His ability is exemplified in a scene where he presents the advertising strategy for a new invention – the slide projector. Draper presents a slide show of family pictures and then explains,
Nostalgia – it’s delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, “nostalgia” literally means “the pain from an old wound.” It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn’t a spaceship, it’s a time machine. It goes backwards, and forwards… it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It’s not called the wheel, it’s called the carousel. It let’s us travel the way a child travels – around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know are loved.
An example of how the show addresses failure is a scene where the father of the jai-alai entrepreneur explains that his son grew up in an atmosphere of success (“my success”, he adds) and that only when his son has lost his inherited wealth will he face the reality and possibly do something valuable to someone other than himself.
Division of labor is a theme of the show. Don Draper is fond of pointing out that the advertising industry exists because its customers – the producers of products — do not have the creative skills found within the ad agencies. At the firm, many skills are present, and as we see over the course of a season, necessary: graphic art, account management, copy writing, and secretarial. After he loses an account with the Hilton Hotel chain, Draper admits that he is not an “account man”. When Draper leaves to form his own agency, the co-founders invite the business manager Lane Price to come along as their CFO because none of them knows how to manage budgets.
Competition between firms is another theme of the shows. Sterling Cooper is a mid-tier firm that has a few of the premium brands and some lesser-knowns. In one episode, the firm has the chance to get an account with a major airline (Pan Am – another brand that no longer exists). A serious miscalculation, which results in Sterling Cooper losing one of their best existing customers and failing to win the new account. A dialogue follows between Draper and partner Roger Sterling about their nature of risk taking.
I am so familiar with the anti-business bias of most entertainment products that for the first season I was expecting every scene about a business topic to be framed with the post-modern irony quotes that have become so indispensable to express the writer/viewer’s smug position of superiority. Somewhere in to the second season I began to trust that the writers were really trying to depict business in a more realistic way – as a complex and challenging pursuit that people do imperfectly, incorporating both success and failure.
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I remember reading Jeff Tucker’s comments a while back, before I watched the first three seasons of Mad Men. Blumen, you’ve captured the truth of it: Mad Men is an extremely well-crafted show, one which displays a level of sympathy for and comprehension of the business world which puts it far, far above the ideological average. Although there may be some truth to Tucker’s line of thought, we should consider that the previously-unregulated activities portrayed in the show (incessant smoking/drinking, drinking while pregnant, driving without seatbelts, etc.) were characteristic of that era and that subculture. Hence, it seems unfair to argue that such portrayal necessarily reflects an argument in favor of the nanny state–just as it would be unfair to argue that a show about the war in the Pacific must automatically be endorsing the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or that a show about the Great Depression must automatically be endorsing the New Deal.
Outstanding analysis here. thank you so much for this.
I really enjoyed this post. Mad Men is a tremendous show. It’s so well done. The details are everything.
Like you, I’ve also enjoyed the realistic business perspective presented in the show. I can see Jeff’s point about the Nanny State – especially in the Lucky Strikes episode where all the characters are shown coughing and heaving – but it is not a dominant theme in the show. In fact, I think the show fairly presents the idea that we should carve out our own destiny.
It’s the rare show that has me yelling at the TV in joy and victory – not in anger and disgust. In the most recent episode (MINOR SPOILER ALERT!!!!), the Berkely girl asks Don who is in charge of the world and he replies something like: “You are. If you don’t like business, stop buying the products.” She, of course, has no response. I literally shouted at the TV during that exchange!
Thanks for the enjoyable read!
Fantastic post. As you clearly articulate, there is a dearth of entertainment products that explore the complexity, nuance, and drama of business in an objective, or perhaps knowledgeable manner. Would enjoy seeing more show/movies like Mad Men.
Mad Men is one of the best shows to come along in a long time. One of the reasons for its broad appeal is the ability of the writers to portray events of the era, and not specifically come out and say what you are supporting. At the Christmas party (minor spoiler alert, again), the older execs are sitting around talking about Medicare in a negative way, and how its passage will lead eventually to the abolishing of private-property rights. One could intrepret this to mean (1) even though we have had Medicare for a long time (and now have the beginnings of Obamacare), we still have private-property rights and some semblance of a free market, or (2) Medicare was another nail in the coffin, as we travel further and further down the road to serfdom. This type of writing persists, and rather than turning off groups of viewers, actually is thought provoking. This, along with everything already mentioned (story lines, fashion, views of how life used to be, etc.) makes Mad Men a great show.
I have often thought that “The Office” has a similar writing style, and takes place in the business world (but, of course, is a comedy).
another show that rises to this level is “breaking bad”.
My wife and I watched a few episodes, and found it witty. But as the adultery continued, my sympathy for the characters waned, particularly Don. Eventuallly we stopped watching.
The adultery part is actually Don’s (and other characters) futile attempts at connecting with other people (or, his planned avoidance of meaningful, long-term relationships). This gets to the sympathetic nature of his character, and why you actually feel sorry for him.
Excellent analysis of this exceptional show. Articles like this are valuable tools for encouraging friends and family members who are not market-minded to consider the subtext of their favorite programs. Well done.
However (and I hope this doesn’t sound rude, because it isn’t intended to be), I hope you will go back and do a few revisions when you have time. There are several grammatical and structural errors that were a bit confusing the first time through. This sentence for example: “A young entrepreneur (whose wealth was inherited from a successful father) believe that jai-alai launches an expensive ad campaign based on his belief that the sport will become as popular as baseball.”
Sorry, but this article does not understand the mindset of the show and the show is not supportive of the market. It merely reinforces the narrative of the evil free-market and uncaring capitalists.
Being a fan of this show makes it difficult for me to be objective, but I think it is one of the finest shows about business and culture ever written. I entered the business world in 1970 (after law school) and much of the style and social mores and habits of that time ring true. While I didn’t see the in-office drinking that may have existed on Madison Avenue (but, in SF, the 3 martini lunch was still in vogue), some of my advertising friends who are of the Don Draper era say that much of what you see as Madison Ave. was true. I think the show tries to reveal the era as seen through the eyes of the generations at that time. Roger being older, the WWII generation, sees business and staff in a completely different way than Don (Korea) or Peggy, the young copywriter who was probably my age, who pushes her way upward in what was truly a man’s world. I don’t see the Nanny State implications. But I do remember the heavy smoking and coughing that the older generation displays, so I don’t thing that was overdone.The appeal of the show is revealed through the brilliance of Don Draper, who in many ways is the tall (?), dark and handsome ideal of his era. He continually shows his ability to rise above the competition and see the world through fresh eyes. And, as pointed out above, his comment to the young Berkeley student that “you are in charge” reveals his understanding of how things really work. The appeal of Don is that he is a flawed and complex human being. We now see him as being deeply troubled in his personal life, and somehow this is rather compelling to watch because we want him to succeed. It is my hope, and belief, that we will see his redemption this season, rising above his demons, and finding satisfaction in his personal life. So, I think the show sends a realistic and positive message about life and business.
It also makes quite a few allusions to Ayn Rand, and depicts the leftist character “Paul Kinsey” as a pompous phony.
Yes! Do you remember in Season Two whenthe head secretary told him at his party that he had a black girlfriend in order to appear ‘progressive’?
Yeah, that was great.
…Or when in the first season, the beatnik asks Draper “How do you sleep at night?” and he says “On a bed made of money.”
The original British “The Office” was based on lazy BBC workers.
I am on Season 2, catching up on DVD. I must say it is a wonderful, refreshing show that is actually pro-business and devoid of all the left-wing garbage most writers insert into shows.
Bert Cooper, the senior partner, is a huge Objectivist, pushing Ayn Rand on his co-workers.
Sounds fascinating. After three years I still haven’t made the time. Has anyone investigated the political bent of the creators?
For years my son insisted I watch _South Park_, “You’d like this, Dad. Lots of libertarian themes.” I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to spend hours watching a comic strip, even if the writers are self-professed libertarians. Heh, it’s all that scholarly viewing that consumes my time such as MLB and B-rated sci-fi movies.
Anyway, I’d be curious if the _Mad Men_ producers/creators’ leanings were researched. I know, I know; I should just do it myself, but thought maybe someone had already done the legwork.
Hey!
I just entered a contest to try and win a walk-on part in an episode of the show “Mad Men”. Please come to my blog (so you know which picture is mine) and vote for me. I need loads of votes to catch up to people who already posted their picture, so get your friends to come and vote too!
Cheers,
M
http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/
no wonder I couldn’t get all the way through the first episode!
Based on this article I decided to watch the series and haven’t regretted it.
There are so few books, movies or TV shows that depict business favorably that Mad Men stands out
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