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Yo John…what a blast from the past. I think we’re about the same age. My mom used to Brylcreem my hair up to about the 3rd or 4th grade. I would return from school in the afternoon and not ONE hair was outta place.
I’ll tell ya…I’ve met more than one ‘younger’ person, say…late 20’s, who told me they wished they grew up back when we did. They all say things were just ‘cooler’ back then. In lots of ways it was cooler. But that’s another story.
I heartily agree with becoming a student of history. It makes for a wider and different perspective on many things. And it also provides for richer copy.
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“Mad Men” has rapidly become my favorite show. And thanks to DVR, I never miss an episode! But one of the coolest things about the show… actually, “brilliant” is probably a better word… is that during the commercial breaks, they flash little factoids on the screen about the advertiser or advertising in general. For example, Saturn is one of their sponsors. Did you know that Saturn was named after the rocket engine, not the planet? How cool is that!
So instead of fast forwarding through the commercials, I actually watch them, just to catch these factoids. Brilliant!
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Caples, Reeves, Ogilvy. I think 90% of whatever one must learn to practice “world class” marketing communication are to be found on these guys’ ideas. The rest come with experience, research, tests and adaptation. Great post, John.
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WOW. I had no idea this show was out there. As a bit of an American history nerd (especially cultural history), I would be totally hip to this even were I not a copywriter.
Thanks for hippin’ us to it. I hope it makes it to DVD!
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John,
I’m a bit more aged than you, it seems. I watched one session of Mad Men, the first, then blew it off … it seemed more like a documentary of known history to me [grin /]. I matured (?) along the same time line as Madison Avenue, grew up on their ads, & learned to ignore ’em. Basic training, you might say … learning to ignore hyperbole & question every statement made in any promotion.
Good training, ’cause I have to review my own commercial babblings in that same light [groan /].
In light of your enthusiasm, however, I’ll have to watch a few more episodes to see what I’ve missed. Prolly not as fun as Howdy Doody or Mighty Mouse, but maybe more educational. Like a lot of folk, I don’t think of things that have happened in my lifetime as *history*, per se … maybe you’ve adjusted my thinking. Thanks.
Make a good day …
… barn
hi john thank you for putting up just a good and informative blog i realy love reading it and learning a lot of new skills and ideas from this
nice article thanks
Regards
Alex Wong
John – thanks for reminding me to watch this show. I’d forgotten I wanted to see it.
One thing I would add to this is that science fiction – good, hard science fiction – is also one of the most mind-opening venues available. You won’t usually find such fiction on TV or even in the theaters. It’s disappointing as all get out that with all the great sci-fi in literature, that the producers can’t figure it out.
What would be an interesting sci-fi story would be one of “marketing in the future,” say the year 2055, when I’ll have traveled around the sun 100 times (unless the universe opens a way for me to have a good adventure off this rock).
Perhaps – when we’re all directly mind linked (we’re on the way to that now), advertisers will be able to let everyone know about their products in such enticing ways without headlines. Imagine being suddenly inundated with images that flood the frontal lobes dopamine (pleasure) and keys it to a product image.
What a story that could make.
Great post to think-forward on.
Regards,
Bal
[…] Bad Men – Today, 02:03 PM John Carlton had a blog post about it a couple of weeks ago, so I sat my DVR to record them. It’s starting to grow on me. […]
Reply […] human behavior. Plus the lessons in advertising history are great. Carlton’s take on the show is here. Well worth a read. http://www.AnitaAshland.com http://twitter.com/AnitaAshland […]
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