THE TOP 11 SIGNS YOUR AGENCY HASN’T EVOLVED SINCE MAD MEN

The 2011 Emmy nominations are out, and leading that pack is AMC’s critically acclaimed look at the world of 1960’s advertising, Mad Men. With 19 nominations, it’s clear that television viewers and Emmy voters alike are enchanted by the world of advertising, or at least the world it used to be.

Over 50 years after the show’s setting, the industry has changed. No longer is it common practice for employees to show up for work at an agency with a suit, women are no longer confined to secretarial jobs and chain-smoking is done outside. However, some things have stayed the same…for better and for worse. How can you tell your agency hasn’t evolved since the days of Don Draper? Here are 10 gems from the first four seasons that we get a kick out of. We hope you’ve never heard your agency say these things to you.

  1. “Well, I gotta go learn a bunch of people’s names before I fire them.” – Roger Sterling, Season 4 Ep. 12
  2. “It wasn’t a lie. It was ineptitude with insufficient cover.” – Don Draper, Season 1 Ep. 3
  3. “Now that I can finally understand you, I am less impressed with what you have to say.” – Don Draper Season 3 Ep. 9
  4. “Why does it have to be like this? Why can’t I get anything good all at once?” – Pete Campbell Season 3 Ep. 1
  5. “Direct marketing? I thought of that. It turned out it already existed, but I arrived at it independently.” – Pete Campbell Season 1 Ep. 4
  6. “When you don’t have any power, you have to delay things.” – Betty Draper Season 3 Ep. 8
  7. “Kids today, they have no one to look up to. ‘Cause they’re looking up to us.” – Don Draper Season 1 Ep. 4
  8. “Being with a client is like being in a marriage. Sometimes you get into it for the wrong reasons, and eventually they hit you in the face.” – Roger Sterling Season 1 Episode 10
  9. “It’s good not to be the reason this place went down anymore.” – Roger Sterling Season 4 Ep. 12
  10. “That’s not a strategy, that’s two strategies connected by the word and. I can do ‘where the pros go’ or I can do ‘everyone’s welcome,’ not both.” – Don Draper Season 4 Ep. 9

#1

“Well gentlemen you were wondering what a creative agency looks like? There you have it. Hope you enjoyed looking in the window.” Season 4 Ep. 1

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