Mad Men's top five pitches re-imagined for today's world

The world has changed so much since the 1960s but advertising’s ideals and our desires remain the same

The defining moments of Mad Men have been in its creative pitches. “The Carousel”, “It’s Toasted”, “Mark Your Man”, are creative ideas that say as much about the characters, the era and the attitudes as they do about the client’s products. They are marked by a desire to create an emotional connection, ignoring rational product features.

Don Draper tells us that every great ad tells a good story. But he also says, “if you don’t like what they’re saying, change the conversation”. Even though the world has changed since the 1960s when the series is set, storytelling, emotional connection, and reframing the conversation remain as relevant in advertising today as they were then. But how would these defining pitches look in today’s advertising landscape? This is the story of five great Mad Men pitches re-imagined in today’s world.

Pitch 1: Kodak Carousel

The one where Don uses his own memories to sell the Kodak slide projector as a portable time machine. “It’s called a Carousel. It lets us travel the way a child travels, around and around and back home again to a place where we know we are loved.” This powerful, personal pitch is all about nostalgia.

Draper says technology is a glittering lure, but the most important idea in advertising is the itch it creates around something ”new”. But he also talks about a deeper bond with the product – nostalgia. Today, technology still gives us the buzz of the new, but emotions are permanent. So perhaps today’s version of the Kodak Carousel is the cloud. Hard to grasp and to fathom its technology, but its use opens up a world of images and music and connections. It’s our memory, our time machine. And so a creative pitch in today’s world for a contemporary version of the product could in fact be based on the same insight.

Pitch 2: Lucky Strike cigarettes

The one where Don fought the law and Lucky Strike won. After a change in the law, Lucky Strike couldn’t claim to be safe any more. Don suggests that Lucky Strike should avoid any health claims and focus on the cigarette’s toasting process, so that while everybody else’s tobacco is poisonous, Lucky Strike’s is toasted – moving from a health benefit to a focus on the taste experience.

Today, of course, he can’t advertise cigarettes but would this same approach work if he were selling a fizzy drink crammed full of sugar? Don would avoid the health questions and reframe the conversation around a product benefit. The difference in today’s world is that it would be an emotional not a rational benefit. As Don says: “Advertising is based on one thing, happiness, its reassurance that whatever you are doing, it’s OK, you are OK”. Coke’s “Open Happiness” positioning could have been written by Don.

Pitch 3: Accutron watch

The one where Freddy sobers up and shows you how to improve your life. It’s all about aspirational transformation and a product elevating your status. This watch makes you interesting. “It’s not a time piece, it’s a conversation piece.”

Today’s Accutron would have to be an Apple Watch. Just like Freddie’s Accutron an Apple Watch is about how much attention the wearer will get from the watch. It’s a chic fashion statement. It’s certainly not just a timepiece; it’s a conversation piece. It’s also a watch that you can have a conversation through, but even a drink-addled Freddie would have found that hard to believe.

Pitch 4: Belle Jolie lipstick

The one where Don talks about Jesus and tells the client that if what they’re doing isn’t working, they should try something else. The “Mark Your Man” campaign is all about Belle Jolie lipstick moving away from range and choice, in favour of celebrating uniqueness. It empowers women by giving them control and ownership. In today’s world she would sooner be swiping her man on Tinder than marking her man with a kiss. But the insight is great: simplify choice and personalise. In today’s landscape we would be talking about big data and personalised colours, with a creative idea that celebrates each woman’s uniqueness in her own right, rather than via her man.

Pitch 5: Popsicle ice pop

The one where Peggy uses nostalgia to sell the social order of happy families. It’s all about the ritual of the Twin Pop ice lollies – “Take It, Break It, Share It, Love It”. And what that ritual represents – maternal love. Peggy is playing with nostalgia here but it’s the ritual she is selling. Today the idea of sharing could be well communicated via social media. And this message is interestingly almost a perfect parallel with KitKat’s new Google-rebranded YouTube Break. A limited brand built on the break ritual; you take it, break it, share it (online) and love it, or more appropriately, Like it. I can’t help but wonder if KitKat has Peggy to thank for that one …

Sean Kinmont is the creative founding partner at 23red

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