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December 2007 - Strategy Magazine
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Ad Women take on Mad Men

by Judy John, Min Ryuck, and Joan McArthur
page 86

Set in a New York ad agency circa 1960, the critically acclaimed AMC series Mad Men has intrigued the adverati since it launched in July.

Since 32% of its 25-to-54 aud have household incomes over $100,000, the show has a high rate of PVR viewing. When season two bows next summer, the producers may respond to this adskip dilemma with an old-school, PVR-beating model.

Originally envisioned as ad-free, a combination of saucy content and

first-season risk proved too scary for most brands - even a product placement deal with Jack Daniels had restrictions (no fighting or sex scenes). However, for the finale they were able to eschew advertising, featuring sole sponsor DirecTV in a tailored opening.

We at strategy enjoy the show's relentless smoking, drinking and ad-great name-dropping, but frequently wish the female characters would haul off and smack those smug Mad Men with their Jackie O bags. So as the producers head deeper into the '60s next season, we figured some woman-power-friendly sponsors and product placement deals - and plot lines - were in order.

To that end, we've asked a few Ad Women to come up with some ideas to integrate more female-centric plot twists.

Smokin' sex

Surprisingly for a show called Mad Men there is a considerable amount of screen time dedicated to female story lines. We know all about these ladies - their struggles, their sex lives, their families and their neuroses. But of course, we always like to see more.

Now that Peggy's been promoted to junior copywriter, I'd like to see her working on Virginia Slims. She'd have to get to know the product, so she'd have to start smoking. (We could have had her smoking during her pregnancy, which would have been historically accurate, but that ship has sailed.) And of course, Peggy will come up with the brilliant tagline: "You've come a long way, baby."

For Betty, who has already had some intimate moments with her washing machine, and is aware of Don's infidelities, I'd like to introduce the Maytag repairman. He is a strapping young man whom she constantly calls to "fix" her appliances. Although he never finds anything wrong with her reliable appliances, he discovers that she is quite broken.

And to further spice up Joan, I'd give her the first Bullet Bra by Playtex. And maybe throw in a Stayfree beltless pad for good measure.

Judy John, SVP/CCO, Leo Burnett Canada

Focus group hell

I've always said that if I could travel in time, I would go back to the '60s and be a force in the Creative Revolution of the advertising industry. This show reminded me, however, that as a female and a visible minority, I'd be on a dirt road somewhere walking 10 miles to get water, while barefoot...and pregnant...and with 50 loads of laundry on my head. Oh, the benefits of being a Caucasian male at that time, and how uncomfortable for these women to work with them at a time when sexual harassment was considered a dirty bedtime game and not a lawsuit.

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