Great article. There was a local gentleman here, Bill Backer, who passed in 2016. He was the advertising executive who came up with the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke..." campaign that Mad Man ended the series with.
When the Mad Man finale aired, media outlets contacted Bill Backer, asking him if the Don Draper character was based on him. He replied: "I'm not Don Draper".
Advertising has always had a special appeal to me. It is fascinating that a simple phrase can be turned into a slogan that resonates with a generation, if not more. Just sitting here, I can think of slogans that originated in my childhood and have remained with me over the decades. Let's face it, "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."
What fascinated me about Mad Men was how they showed advertising as a window to the human psyche...Don Draper's amazing pitch about the Carousel...the use of "It's toasted" to make everyone forget about the risks of tobacco.
Even to this day, I get a little misty watching "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" because of the optimism it engenders about us all being one people. That was a fantastic way to end things. I'm probably reading way more into it than I should, but after seven seasons of back biting, adultery, and everything else on Mad Men, the ending was like the Hope at the bottom of Pandora's Box.
Great article. There was a local gentleman here, Bill Backer, who passed in 2016. He was the advertising executive who came up with the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke..." campaign that Mad Man ended the series with.
When the Mad Man finale aired, media outlets contacted Bill Backer, asking him if the Don Draper character was based on him. He replied: "I'm not Don Draper".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Backer
Advertising has always had a special appeal to me. It is fascinating that a simple phrase can be turned into a slogan that resonates with a generation, if not more. Just sitting here, I can think of slogans that originated in my childhood and have remained with me over the decades. Let's face it, "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."
What fascinated me about Mad Men was how they showed advertising as a window to the human psyche...Don Draper's amazing pitch about the Carousel...the use of "It's toasted" to make everyone forget about the risks of tobacco.
Even to this day, I get a little misty watching "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" because of the optimism it engenders about us all being one people. That was a fantastic way to end things. I'm probably reading way more into it than I should, but after seven seasons of back biting, adultery, and everything else on Mad Men, the ending was like the Hope at the bottom of Pandora's Box.