This week’s episode of MAD MEN was one of the most annoying episodes of any TV show I have seen in quite some time. The Sopranos used to pull this stuff all the time which comes as no surprise considering a few of the writers from The Sopranos are amongst the principals behind MAD MEN. So if a show can provoke their fans to run the gamut of feelings, thoughts and responses, it’s doing a good job!

Once again, too much Pete Campbell and Peggy Olsen and nor enough Roger Sterling and Joan! I hope Pete and Peggy find their way back to each other because they serve each other. Pete the ultimate victimizer and Peggy the penultimate victim. I wonder if her back hurts from dragging around that cross all the time?

I feel bad for Peggy because she can’t see the forest for the trees and is waging a one-woman feminist movement at Sterling-Cooper. The best scene in the show was when Joan tells Peggy that there’s no point giving her advice because she never listens to it. If you want to be in the game Peggy, you have to expect to get hit if you play a full contact sport. Joan has it all figured out and plays the men in the office like the adolescents that they are.

Pete Campbell on the other hand deserves to be thrown off the roof. Great idea Pete, a dog as the office mascot. Clients will like that especially when the pooch leaves a surprise on the boardroom floor before a big pitch. Can anyone be that much of a loser? If there is any justice, the dog will take a dump in Pete’s office!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS DOG? GOES BY THE NAME CHAUNCEY.

Actually yes, and his name is Duck Phillips and I doubt there is enough booze to help him out. I actually felt sorry for him for about five seconds until he booted his Irish Setter “Chauncey” out into the streets of New York to fend for himself. Can someone call Animal Welfare? I guess having to pay attention to a dog really cut into Duck’s time and ability to achieve greatness. I hope Chauncey comes back and bites Duck and gives him gets rabies!

Don Draper continues his downward descent into hell. It’s OK for him to cheat on his wife but if Betty wears a bikini and engages in a little harmless flirtatious banter with some spoiled rich kid, she’s desperate. Nice double standard. Earth-To-Don, your wife Betty is smoking hot, a lot smarter than you and if you wanted a trophy wife, be prepared that other men are going stare at your mantle piece. Leaving a woman tied up to a bed in a hotel room is beyond the pale, no matter how much Bobby Barrett deserves it. But if Don didn’t act this way, he’d have nothing to obsess over. Insecurity doesn’t look good on anyone.

The scene with the Playtex presentation was very funny. The Jackie Kennedy by day, Marilyn Monroe by night positioning was clever for that time, but unlikely that any brand company back then would venture into the off-limits territory of first ladies. Definitely a no-go zone. Typical that horn dog men drive what they believe is relevant to women about bras. A guy I worked with over 20 years ago used to tell anyone he could corner that he was responsible for the most successful brand launch of a “feminine personal product” because of his keen insight into what women want. I think his three ex-wives might beg to differ…

Best of all is when the Playtex people turn down the pitch but want to reward the team for their initiative, with a night out on the town at a peeler bar, all expenses paid by the client. The last time I saw a client pay for something like that, it was Christmas, they sent little cheese baskets to everyone on the account (all 6 of us) and the the next time the client was in our office, they asked us, “Do we really need all these people working on our business?” Things have changed a little bit since Don Draper’s day.

JOEL KIRSTEIN is a Creative Director who has been in the Ad Agency trenches for 25 years and working on a bra account isn’t what you think it is!

Filed under: Creative, branding, funny ads