Season 1, Episode 1

Synopsis

Don Draper, an Madison Avenue advertising executive at Sterling Cooper, relaxes in a bar, enjoying a smoke and a drink. He chats with a waiter about Old Gold cigarettes vs. Lucky Strikes. He then stops by the Greenwich Village apartment of the dark-haired artist, Midge, for a late night tryst. Cigarettes are still on Don’s mind, however.

The next day at Sterling Cooper, we meet Pete Campbell, a younger, wide eyed ad exec, and co-workers Paul Kinsey, Ken Cosgrove, and Harry Crane. Office manager Joan Holloway trains Peggy Olson, Don Draper’s new secretary.

Don gets dressed in his office and chats with his boss Roger Sterling. A war medal briefly falls out of a drawer. Graphic designer Salvatore Romano comes in with a sketch of a man in a hammock. They discuss possible approaches for a cigarette ad campaign, in the wake of recent theories that cigarettes are harmful to people’s health. A consultant suggests smoking is due to a “death wish” to which Don calls “perverse” and he throws her report in the trash.

Don and Pete meet with Rachel Menken, the representative of the Jewish Menken’s department store. On the way to the meeting, Don tells Pete that flirting with the office women (namely, Peggy) isn’t the best approach to being liked at the office. At the meeting, Don becomes annoyed at Rachel’s hopes to present the department store as high-end, but it’s also clear that his consternation is partly due to her gender.

Peggy visits a doctor to get some birth control pills.

The next meeting is with the Lucky Strike people, looking for a new ad campaign in light of the recent smoking danger scare. The room is filled with smoke as everyone demonstrates their love of smoking. Pete suggests the “death wish” concept, revealing that he dug through Don’s trash. It is rejected, but Don saves the deal, latching on to how Lucky Strikes are “toasted.” That one, essentially meaningless attribute shared by all cigarettes, can be used to differentiate Lucky Strikes from the competition, and somehow make it seem “safer.”

Peggy thanks Don for standing up for Pete and briefly touches his hand. Don kindly brushes her off, saying he’s a boss, not a boyfriend.

Pete and several other office workers visit a gentlemen’s club and enjoy a wide array of drinks and women. It’s his bachelor party – Pete is due to be married this weekend.

Don meets Rachel for a drink and apologizes for his rude behavior. She lets her guard down long enough to return to Sterling Cooper as a client.

Pete, bleary eyed and inebriated, shows up at Peggy’s humble apartment, asking for a one night stand. Peggy lets him in.

Late that night, Don drives up to a large, beautiful home. He is greeted by Betty, his pretty blond wife, and he visits his two sleeping young children.

Thoughts

Style

Mad Men is a period piece, but the retro setting of 1960 informs more than just the plot and set design, it also guides the direction. The “slow” pace and dialogue is similar to the classic movies of the time. Actual film is used, making the visuals lush, with rich colors, reminding me of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The Hitchcock influence even seeps down to casting through January Jones’ physical resemblance to Grace Kelly, and Jon Hamm a bit like Cary Grant.

Then And Now

The first few episodes of season one have a layer of cute surprises in small details, reminding us how different the 1960s were from today. The short list for this episode:

• Smoking: everyone smokes, in the office, restaurants, bars, and homes. Even the doctor smokes while examining Peggy. The health danger has just been reported and people are extremely skeptical. As an ex-smoker, this episode was at times painful to watch due to all the smoking scenes.
• Drinking: everyone drinks, every office has a bar, and bloody marys (complete with celery sticks) are served during meetings.
• Office sexual harassment: Pete has no qualms hitting on Peggy, but more subtle is Joan’s advice to Peggy to show a little more leg to get ahead. Then we have Don’s ire at the Rachel Menken being a woman, and Pete’s aggressive decision to sleep with Peggy after hours.
• Racism: Don is rather condescending toward the black waiter, and later has contempt for the Jewish-run Menken’s, making jokes about Sterling Cooper not employing many Jewish employees, forcing a deli run.
• Homosexuality: Within seconds of meeting Salvatore Romano, my wife and I both agreed, “He’s gay.” but then there’s the realization that he’s closeted because of the mores of the time. He over-compensates by with masculine discussion of Pete’s bachelor party.

Advertising

The Lucky Strikes campaign and the use of the word “toasted” is an example of the “pre-emptive claim,” an advertising strategy where an attribute – that may very well be common to all the competing products – is emphasized to differentiate the product. The fact that “toasted” is a shared, essentially meaningless attribute is irrelevant. An added benefit of this strategy is the competition can no longer use “toasted” as a selling point. Yes, that’s the power of advertising.

Surprises

This episode’s biggest surprise was Don arriving home, revealing a wife and two children. Until that point, I assumed he was a bachelor, based on his night with Midge. Both Pete and Don’s indiscretions make it clear that we’re dealing with some arrogant men, used to deception as part of their daily lives. Don is also hiding something about his past as seen by the war medal.

This theme of deception also extends to his current profession of advertising itself. The entire purpose of Sterling Cooper is to take client’s products and present them to the public in a flattering light to make money. This cynical take on advertising is certainly part of the point of Mad Men, as the very first product they’re depicted selling are cigarettes (as opposed to something innocuous like Kool-Aid) which is a dangerous product with ads are highly regulated.

Where Might This Be Going?

With deception as a starting point, and knowing the history of the 60s – a very tumultuous decade – the opening credits make more sense. We see a man at the top of a building, falling to the streets below. Is he brought down by his lies? This could be a great plot arc.

Knowing the show’s trajectory from 1960 and covering two years for each season, the “fall” depicted in the opening credits may slowly occur over several seasons and parallel the collapse of the powerful American male – the “Mad Men” execs – with the destruction of 50s America during the tumultuous sixties. The male privileges – drinks, smoking, sexual power, arrogance, extramarital affairs – may all be taken away.

I can see Sterling Cooper progressively infiltrated by beatniks and radicals, the women more powerful as the become “liberated,” and smarmy Pete and Don getting progressively more pissed off to find their three martini lunches and once tame domestic lives – where they were the kings – eroded away at a languid but persistent pace.

Hence the title “Mad Men” may also mean “Angry Men,” at seeing the end of the privileged life on glorious display throughout the show. Enjoy it while it lasts, because I think it’s all going to go to heck in seasons to come.

Next Episode: Ladies Room

TV Shows: Mad Men

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Categories: General, Mad Men, Television :: ::

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