Whiskey Toothpaste, Chicken Candy and Hot Dr. Pepper: Inexplicably Real Ads from the Don Draper Decade

By Ani Vrabel at 1:30 PM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — Good advertisers don’t just sell products, they sell a desire—a false sense of necessity—for a product. Great advertisers do this, too, but their scope is even greater; they sell lifestyles and ideas. In our search for real print advertisements from the 1960s, when Mad Men’s Don Draper was selling, we found examples of every level of advertising skill....  read more

Found in: Culture, Features

Awesome of the Day: Betty Draper, Mommy Blogger

By Lindsay Eanet at 1:27 PM on July 23, 2010

We’ve already compiled rather exhaustively what would happen if the Mad Men dramatis personae tweeted....  read more

Found in: Blogs, Awesome of the Day

A Conversation With the Lead Singer of the Don Drapers

By Jennifer Ross at 1:00 PM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — Tom Leahey has never watched an episode of Mad Men. “Not because I’m not interested,” the rhythm guitarist/vocalist for the Don Drapers says. “It sounds like a great show, and from what I’ve read about it, it sounds like it’s really well done, but once we kind of developed the idea of [our] name more, I kind of became attached to the concept of it and didn’t really want watching the show to change my idea.”...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

Watch Boston-Themed Mad Men Spoof, MA Men

By Kasia Pilat at 12:34 PM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — If Mad Men didn’t take place on 1960s Madison Avenue, the runner-up setting would have to be modern-day Newbury Street, right? Well, maybe not, but the original Boston-themed Funny or Die spoof, MA Men, had us laughing all the way to our “pahked cahs.” Thankfully, the whole gang is back for another round with MA Men 2....  read more

Found in: Culture, News

Jon Hamm to Guest Star on The Simpsons

By Jennifer Ross at 12:30 PM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — When he’s not shticking up for health care and raking in Emmy noms for his lead role in the hit series Mad Men, Jon Hamm is lending his vocal talents as a guest star on The Simpons_. According to Vulturesupervis.html, Hamm has been cast as an FBI supervisor in an upcoming episode of the show. Hamm’s character is responsible for Homer after he becomes an incarcerated undercover informant....  read more

Found in: TV, News

Seven Marketing Campaigns That Make Us Feel Like We’re Still Living in the Mad Men Era

By Lindsay Eanet at 12:00 PM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — There’s no denying that the mad men of Madison Avenue were brilliant at their craft. But there’s also no denying that, as represented on the show, many creatives of that era possessed a particularly virulent brand of misogyny and cultural insensitivity. (Remember that time Roger Sterling performed in blackface?) Unfortunately, it looks like some companies still carry those less-flattering elements in their work in 2010. Here’s a roundup of products and ad campaigns that hearken back to...  read more

Found in: TV, Features

Lionsgate and AMC in Talks to Extend Mad Men Deal

By Jennifer Ross at 11:41 AM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — Lionsgate, the studio production company that produces Mad Men, and AMC, the network that airs the show, are considering signing a deal that would extend the show’s life another two seasons. Currently, the contract between the two companies guarantees five seasons will air, but the new deal would secure at least six....  read more

Found in: TV, News

Don Draper: The Mixtape

By Lindsay Eanet at 11:00 AM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — We’ve compiled a playlist based on our favorite suit-wearin’, womanizin’ ad man, Mr. Don Draper. Enjoy....  read more

Found in: TV, Features

The Best One-Liners From the Women of Mad Men

By Lindsay Eanet at 10:30 AM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — The wickedly witty women of Mad Men finally got a montage of their own....  read more

Found in: TV, News

Book Excerpt: Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America

By Natasha Vargas-Cooper at 10:00 AM on July 23, 2010

This story is a part of our Mad Men Takeover. Season four of the series premieres on AMC this Sunday, July 25. — Below, an excerpt from Natasha Vargas-Cooper’s new Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America. Here, the author sets up the excerpt… Beyond Mad Men’s top-notch writing, complex characters, hypnotic design (really, the fusion of all these elements is the highest caliber of art, and it’s so titillating to witness a renaissance in such an unlikely medium, isn’t it?), there’s an all-engrossing mood that permeates the show. That mixture of anxiety, instability, and tectonic cultural shifts that...  read more

Found in: Books, Features