A new show called Mad Men is on the TV screens that supposedly reflects Madison Avenue in the 60s. George Parker who’s been working in advertising since JWT opened shop back in the 1890s remembers the era as a slanted blur. He made this comment:
My first job in the States was in 1964 at Benton & Bowles, New York, so I’m one of the few people who watched it tonight that can speak from experience. First, the nit picks… Yes, we all smoked like chimneys, but we never smoked in elevators as one of the young AE’s did. That was a no-no along with not taking your hat off. Yes we all drank like fishes, but we did it at lunch time and after work. No one had drink trays and ice buckets like the Don Draper character. And no one poured their first Scotch with an Alka Seltzer at nine in the morning as the gay AD character, Salvatore did. Even when I worked for Dick Lord at Warwick & Legler, which was the main Seagram Agency, we’d get ploughed at lunchtime after three martini lunches, but we never cracked open a bottle in the office…. But, having said all that, I’ll keep watching it to see if the sex gets better. But I’ll Tivo it to kill the sixteen fucking ads I had to sit through in the hour it was on!!!
You might not have poured at Scotch at 9am then, George – but what about today?? ;)
Read the whole review at AdScam
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Piers…
At 9.00AM I’m on my third… Got lots of emails about the review… 99% agree with my take on the show (he said modestly) But I intend to do an update review shortly… After my third Scotch… Case, that is. Oh, and just as a matter of correction, I was in the business long before JWT. I used to promote 18th century coffee houses in London… Remember “Black Adder?” I was his tutor.
Cheers/George
July 20th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I was there also, graduated university in ‘59.
I wrote hundreds of ads for Radio, magazines,and TV. I started out in a small “test” market and eventually ended up in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles (free lance and consultant).
We always had a closet loaded with CASES, not just a few bottles of booze. It depended on the agencies policy as to whether it was out in the open. Only the power people and one other person knew about this.
When clients came in, any time of day, they were offered drinks, smokes, and whatever it took to get or keep the account. Many meetings were held before noon. Did anyone drink before noon, you ask? LOL. Don’t believe that ‘all’ the people were sober before noontime. If you believe that you really didn’t work in the biz. There was usually a cigarette burning, even if it just sat in an ashtray. Women were treated poorly.
Many avenues, besides Madison, were pursued in honing and hyping a product.This is an area that the show may never cover, but nevertheless is exciting and a part of the whole.
I’m sure the producers/writers are aware that they have a lot of material to pick from, which would take several seasons just to begin to cover.
The shows overall score: High 90’s. Nice job!
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:29 pm