Throwback Thursday: A Mad Men Makeover
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the 1960s with today’s technology?
Over the past few weeks, the SJG team put their creative minds together to make the ‘60s come alive. In the advertising world of the ‘60s, capturing an audience’s attention through creative content was key. Not much has changed about that since except for the abundance of new ways advertisers have to reach larger audiences. This week, our agency meshed the two advertising eras into one for a Social Media Week Chicago event. In honor of that, I’m taking you back to the future, Mad Men style, for this Throwback Thursday.
As a girl who wasn’t even born when ‘60s ended, it’s challenging to think how the era may have been. Although, things such as political crises (like the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and discrimination), disloyalty (free love), rebellion, idealism, the feminist movement and emergence of “the underground” and “the counter-culture” and the civil rights movements make this decade quite memorable. Today, profound changes have occurred in the way people think and live. From desk phones to smart phones, from film strips to DVDs, from candles to kindles, from Twinkies to tweets, from yearbooks to Facebook and from Woodstock to Bannaroo, we’ve come a long way; yet, the magic of Hollywood continues to bring back what once was.
Mad Men, an award winning TV show set in 1960s New York which premiered in July 2007, follows the lives of the ego-driven, competitive advertising men and women of Madison Avenue. The show revolves around Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director and junior partner of Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency (as of the sixth season, a partner of Sterling Cooper & Partners) also known as the biggest ad man and ladies man in the business. Draper is a hard-drinking, chain-smoking (like most people of the era) executive who has achieved success and may be a character that not everyone is fond of (due to some things he has done).
Mad Men has brought what wasn’t even thought of in ‘60s (social media) to life. Promoting the use of social media activity such as GetGlue check-ins and using #MadMen and #TDM (total Draper move) hashtags, the show has garnered much publicity online as social viewing has become a growing phenomenon. According to Mashable, its season five premiere sparked more social media engagement than any other premier in 2012, with 106,000 comments from 64,000 users. Ericsson published another study that found 62 percent use social media while watching TV and 25 percent use social media to discuss what they’re watching while they are watching it.
We saw tons of online action during our Mad Men Cocktail Party for Social Media Week Chicago this past Tuesday. We had the opportunity (with our creative team working tirelessly to make it an evening to remember) to bring the AMC TV show to life. In the midst of 1960s-era style drinks, vintage clothing and relationships that were being built through networking, social media was at the forefront of it all. I may not have lived during the ‘60s, but the attendees and I had the chance to experience the era in a very social way. Attendees shared photos of fellow mad men and women throughout the social media world.
Go back in time and take a look at a few of the below photos that were shared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
It was a very “mad” (translate to rad) time at SJG!
Cover Photo Source: The San Jose Group
