Women in Advertising and Communications, Leadership (WACL), Channel 4, and South Shore are behind Mad Women—a film spotlighting prominent White women in Adland UK. Unlike AMC Mad Men, there doesn’t appear to be a Dawn Chambers, Carla, or Hollis in sight. What’s more, by golly, one of the featured Mad Women actually produced the advertisement depicted below. Fade to Black, er, White.
Here’s another International Women’s Day campaign, this one from a Grey affiliate in Finland. While the original Mad Men graphics utilized silhouette figures, the Finnish folks depicted lily-white females. Perfect.
Advertising Age published a diverted diversity declaration from Barber Martin Agency Chief Creative Officer Deb Hagan, who boldly contends, “Gone forever is the age of Mad Men. Welcome to the age of Mad Women. Yes, we are mad, and mad women get things done. We change cultures. We make things better. And we don’t stay mad forever.” Um, let’s keep in mind that the Mad Women in AMC series Mad Men weren’t much more evolved than their male counterparts. And the White women on the TV show weren’t exactly championing diversity or fighting for anyone but themselves. Sorry, but “the age of Mad Women” is not a sign of progress. It’s just a female version of “the age of Mad Men.”
The Age of Mad Women
By Deb Hagan
Joe Alexander was my boss. He was chief creative officer of The Martin Agency until this month, when he left after sexual harassment allegations.
I’ve sat quietly for more than a week watching The Martin Agency struggle under the wake of one man’s terrible decisions. And while some may view this situation as unfortunate, it’s actually incredibly fortunate. Fortunate for the women of The Martin Agency who are now coming forward with stories of harassment, fortunate for giving the industry the launching pad to take a stand on creating a safer work place and fortunate for The Martin Agency to take the lead in an industry-changing event.
For years, as senior VP and group creative director, I was the highest-ranking woman in the creative department reporting directly to Joe. I am not here to defend him. Nor am I here to pile onto the accusations.
But let’s remember that an agency is not built on a single person. Rather, it’s built on the collective of like-minded folks who share values, which in turn builds a culture that makes an agency strong. And today, The Martin Agency still has those certain values that have made me—and others—admire it and love it for so long.
Many agencies have a history of an inexcusable amount of sexism and harassment, behavior starting to come to light as women become more empowered. But, if supported during this dark night of the soul, The Martin Agency just might show the world how an agency can transform its culture into something we can all be proud of again.
A lot of people are talking about the role of leadership in what happened. They may have their flaws, but my belief is that the leadership of The Martin Agency is perfectly capable of taking this event and turning it into a disruptive movement for all agencies.
The message to be shared is not one of taking down Martin. It’s one of dismantling the age-old Mad Men mentality—an ad culture once thought so unique to the American business place it warranted a highly successful show on AMC. From the outside when watching that show, it seems absurd. But living this industry as I have for 26 years, there’s more fact than fiction still to this day in what it portrayed.
Gone forever is the age of Mad Men. Welcome to the age of Mad Women. Yes, we are mad, and mad women get things done. We change cultures. We make things better. And we don’t stay mad forever.
So let’s support The Martin Agency in its quest to be better. In my mind, it’s off to a great start.
Deb Hagan
Deb Hagan is chief creative officer at Barber Martin Agency in Richmond, Va.
A MultiCultClassics visitor pointed to another example of cultural cluelessness from a White advertising agency that might inspire Colorado coffee drinkers to choose Starbucks for its 2015 progressive promotion on diversity. The trouble started brewing when ink! Coffee displayed the sign depicted above, which quickly ignited a viral protest on the Web, with plans for a live protest at the coffee place. Turns out the responsible advertising agency—Cultivator Advertising & Design—has mostly cream in its coffee, as shown by the self-promotional images below. How appropriate that the shop emulated Mad Men. And the elf scene now looks like the crew is wearing dunce caps.
Agency behind gentrification sign: Our ad was ‘callous, naive and uninformed’
By Oscar Contreras
DENVER – The advertisement agency responsible for creating a coffee shop board sign that roused the ire of Five Points residents after a joke about gentrification turned sour admits that in hindsight, they made a mistake.
“Our campaign was callous, naive and uninformed to the true character of the neighborhood and to those who have long called it home,” a social media manager for Cultivator Advertising & Design, Inc., wrote on Facebook during the Thanksgiving holiday.
The company apologized not only to Five Points residents for the now-viral ink! Coffee sandwich board sign which read it was “Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014,” but also to neighbors living in RiNo and Curtis Park.
The ad agency added they wanted to “offer a cynical perspective on the rapid development” that neighborhoods like RiNo are currently undergoing.
“What we quickly and painfully realized, however, is that we uncovered an enormous blind spot on the true meaning of gentrification and its most legitimate and honest interpretation,” the online post stated.
The latest round of apologies still did nothing to quell the disbelief from people on social media, who mocked the company for hiring “precious white dudes in Warby Parker glasses” and who suggested the agency speak with people of color, who have been the most affected by gentrification in the area.
The outrage over the ad has been such that a day after photos of the sign spread through social media, residents in the area woke up to find the coffee shop had been vandalized with the words “WHITE COFEE” in all-black caps.
“When our advertising firm presented this campaign to us, I interpreted it as taking pride in being part of a dynamic, evolving community that is inclusive of people of all races, ethnicities, religions and gender identities,” said ink! Coffee founder Keith Herbert on the company’s Facebook page. “I recognize now that we had a blind spot to other legitimate interpretations.”
To add to ink! Coffee’s troubles, nearly 600 people have shown interest in participating in a protest to be held outside the location on 29th and Larimer on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Advertising Age recently published a report titled, “Ad Industry Hits ‘Inflection Point’ on Women. Now What?” Um, it’s more like a Deflection Point, where discussions on the industry’s diversity dilemma are being diverted to focus on the alleged plight of White women in the field. In the words of Don Draper, “If you don’t like what is being said, then change the conversation.” The modern-day Peggy Olsons and Joan Harrises—conspiring with today’s Don Drapers—are doing just that. And the result is an exclusive workplace that makes Mad Men look progressive.
Ad Industry Hits ‘Inflection Point’ on Women. Now What?
After Years of Talk, Movement to Get More Women Into Executive Suites Gears Up
By Jessica Wohl, Lindsay Stein
When Hill Holliday Chairman-CEO Karen Kaplan speaks to groups, she sometimes asks the audience whether anyone is left-handed, then discusses how the world caters to right-handed people with things like dinner table settings. “It’s similar in business—the default is male,” she said she tells them. “You have two options: Get better at playing the game despite disadvantages, or change the game.”
Whether it’s sexist slurs as alleged in the lawsuit against former J. Walter Thompson CEO Gustavo Martinez or unspoken and even unconscious biases, the ad industry’s male/female divide persists. For all the applause when women such as DDB’s new North American CEO Wendy Clark reach the top of the ladder, there are jeers over the low percentage of women in roles from copywriter to creative director.
But the Martinez suit has kicked into gear a determined, if nascent, movement to stop talking the issue over and truly, as Ms. Kaplan put it, change the game. Its efforts include initiatives to help women advance by offering more childcare assistance, destigmatizing flex time, correcting salary inequalities, implementing bias training and accentuating the positive by spotlighting women’s accomplishments.
“The discussion over gender and diversity finally hit an inflection point,” said Nancy Hill, president-CEO at the American Association of Advertising Agencies, who used part of her opening speech at the group’s March conference to push for change within the industry.
“Our goal is threefold: to keep the conversation front and center, to raise awareness regarding female and diverse experiences in our industry and to offer programs that advance the careers of female and diverse professionals,” she told Ad Age.
Getting to the numbers
Astonishingly, there are no comprehensive numbers quantifying gender disparities in advertising, even if there’s a visible lack of women in senior roles.
“Without data you really can’t talk about the problem,” said Advertising Women of New York President-CEO Lynn Branigan. “Are we being successful? We can’t really say.”
That’s why AWNY commissioned research on the number of women in the industry. Its partners on the project are LinkedIn, the media entertainment practice at professional services firm EY and the U.S. chapter of The 30% Club, a group of business leaders working to increase women’s representation on S&P 500 boards to 30% by the end of 2020.
They plan to use the findings, which are due later this summer, to inform a new plan for the industry. The 4A’s is also conducting research on topics including how women are treated at agencies and the way ads portray them.
There are a few bright spots, if you can call them that. Across industries, women hold 23% of leadership posts at U.S. businesses, up from 21% a year earlier, according to a Grant Thornton report released in March. While that’s an increase, the report also pointed out that 31% of U.S. businesses have no women in senior management. Of the women in senior management roles, 11% are chief marketing officers, the report said.
In fact, women are better represented in the marketing suite than elsewhere within corporations. “About a third of marketing leadership is women,” said Caren Fleit, senior client partner and leader of the Global Marketing Center of Expertise at Korn Ferry. “That sounds low, and of course we’d like to see it be higher, but in actual fact it is higher than it is for CEOs, it’s higher than it is for CIOs, higher than it is for everything except for CHROs, which tends to be about 50/50 male/female.”
Creative conundrum
One of the biggest gaps seems to be in the creative department, a fact highlighted by The 3% Conference, named for an estimate of female creative directors when the group was formed. Its survey last fall, called “What Women Want,” found that women make up 46.4% of the advertising industry as whole but only 11% of creative directors. The movement, dedicated to supporting more female creative leadership in agencies, reached out to 328 women in both creative and non-creative roles for the survey, 60% of whom said their current employer falls below the 11% mark.
The New York Times published diverted diversity drivel via a report titled, “For Women in Advertising, It’s Still a ‘Mad Men’ World.” The article ultimately underscored that it’s an even worse ‘Mad Men’ World for minorities, as the only woman of color featured was Publicis Groupe Chief Diversity Officer Sandra Sims-Williams. Meanwhile, FCB Global CCO Susan Credle is suddenly feeling “invisible” and discriminated against, despite once insisting advertising was not tougher for women. Hey, it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. Is it still a ‘Mad Men’ World for White women in advertising? Well, whining aside, the Joan Harris and Peggy Olson types have progressed quite nicely. Dawn Chambers and Hollis, on the other hand, remain stuck in segregated and stereotypical roles.
“Crisis Experts Say WPP May Have Been Too Hasty in Defending JWT’s Accused CEO” is the title of a story published by Adweek. It’s somewhat hilarious that “crisis experts” are weighing in on the JWT CEO WTF, as the scenario hardly warrants to be labeled a crisis—except by self-absorbed advertising agency denizens. Sure, it could reach crisis-level status if the story exploded to reveal how Madison Avenue has denied diversity for decades, leading to client defections and a public backlash that forced the industry to change. But that’s about as likely as Gustavo Martinez being honored by the 3% Conference and ADCOLOR®. “If [JWT] flubs it,” said crisis consultant Terence Clarke, “they’ll be accused of living in a Mad Men age where behavior of this type was rampant.” Um, the Commodore’s Crew is living in a Mad Men age where behavior of this type is rampant. Hell, former JWT Worldwide Chairman and CEO Bob Jeffrey once gushed that AMC series Mad Men was “a positive recruiting thing for our industry.” This entire mess isn’t a crisis—it’s a comedy.
Adweek reported Jon Hamm won a Golden Globe for best actor for his portrayal of Don Draper on AMC series Mad Men. The Black actors in the show were shut out from contention by being grossly underrepresented in the final season. As always, Mad Men perfectly reflected the modern advertising industry. Somebody give Hamm an ADCOLOR® Award too.
Jon Hamm’s Mad Men Performance Earns One Last Golden Globe, His First Since Season 1
Mr. Robot, Mozart in the Jungle also honored
By Jason Lynch
Mad Men might be done, but there are still a few more awards for the show—and star Jon Hamm—to add to its tally.
Tonight, Hamm won a Golden Globe for best actor in a drama, continuing the awards streak for his long run as Don Draper after taking home his first Emmy in September after being nominated seven previous times.
It was the second Globe that Hamm has won for the role, but it was the first time his win was televised. When Hamm took home his first Globe in 2008 for the show’s first season, there was no awards telecast because of the Writers Guild strike, which in essence shut down Hollywood for 100 days.
Finally getting to take the stage in front of a worldwide audience, Hamm thanked Mad Men creator Matt Weiner, “who wrote this horrible person all the way through to the end of the ride, and for picking me to play him.”
And, referencing the show’s already-iconic finale, Hamm jokingly added: “And thanks for not taking my suggestion and ending the entire series on Chumbawamba. You picked the right song.”
All told, Mad Men won five Golden Globes over its seven seasons—three awards for best drama and two for Hamm as best actor in a drama.
Speaking with reporters backstage, Hamm said he is still figuring out his post-Mad Men career plans.
Other Golden Globe Winners
Aside from Hamm’s win, the television-related picks were all over the map, which is typical for the eclectic and somewhat mysterious voting body.
The best musical/comedy award again went to Amazon, but for Mozart in the Jungle, not Transparent, which won last year. Mozart’s Gael Garcia Bernal won for best actor in a comedy or musical, beating Transparent’s Jeffrey Tambor.
USA Network’s Mr. Robot took home best drama, with Christian Slater winning for best supporting actor in a TV drama. Star Rami Malek, however, lost his chance at a best actor nod thanks to Hamm’s victory.
Rachel Bloom won best actress for her musical-comedy series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, likely guaranteeing a second season for the critically acclaimed yet low-rated (just a 0.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demo) series, which CW president Mark Pedowitz pledged his support for earlier today.
And in a classic Golden Globes oddity, Lady Gaga won a best actress award for her role as the Countess on American Horror Story: Hotel.
Adweek reported how the 67th Emmy Awards semi-mirrored the advertising industry. That is, a drunken White creative director grabbed the spotlight while a groundbreaking Black woman barely received backstage status. Perfect.
Jon Hamm Finally Wins an Emmy for Mad Men’s Don Draper
Andy Samberg spoofs the show’s finale, gives out real HBO Now login
By Jason Lynch
The eighth time was the charm for Jon Hamm.
The actor, who had been nominated for Emmys seven times previously—and gone winless—for his iconic role as Mad Men’s Don Draper, finally won the trophy Sunday night, in his eighth and final year of eligibility.
“There has been a terrible mistake, clearly,” said Hamm at the 67th Emmy Awards, as he accepted his award to a standing ovation.
Without the win, Hamm would have joined an esteemed-but-snubbed list of actors who had shockingly never won Emmys for their iconic TV roles, including Steve Carell (The Office), Hugh Laurie (House), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) and Amy Poehler (whose Sunday night loss meant that she’ll never be recognized for Parks & Recreation).
While Mad Men lost outstanding drama series to Game of Thrones (more on that below), it was also the subject of a hilarious video package from host Andy Samberg. He spoofed Mad Men’s fantastic series finale—which strongly implied that Don Draper had dreamed up Coca-Cola’s famous 1971 “Hilltop” ad during an Esalen retreat—with his own take of the classic ad. But Samberg’s version, which changed the lyrics from “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” to “I’d Like the Buy the World an Emmy,” concluded with an unexpectedly violent twist: A man (played by Parks and Recreation’s Jim O’Heir) ends up stabbed by an Emmy trophy.
How to Get Away With Murder’s Viola Davis, who became the first African-American to win an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama, took the industry to task for its dearth of roles for black women. “The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” she said. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”
HBO’s Game of Thrones swept most of the drama categories. HBO had 14 wins in total on Sunday night, and 43 Emmys in all this year, including last week’s Creative Arts Emmys. The network’s comedy Veep also ended Modern Family’s five-year reign as outstanding comedy.
Samberg gave out a functioning HBO Now login and password, explaining that since CEO Richard Plepler said he didn’t have a problem with subscribers giving out their passwords, he would do the same.
Later on in the evening, as Twitter users began to report they were no longer able to log on, HBO Now suggested they sign up for their own accounts. The network did not respond to inquiries Sunday night as to whether they had advance knowledge of Samberg’s Emmy stunt, or how long that HBO Now account would remain active.
Comedy Central had four Emmy wins Sunday night (eight in all), including three for The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Amazon also won its first two Primetime Emmys ever for Transparent—outstanding actor in a comedy series (Jeffrey Tambor) and directing (Jill Soloway)—to go along with the show’s three Creative Arts Emmy wins last week.
The telecast boasted several emotional moments, including a surprise appearance by Tracy Morgan, stepping out for one of the first times publicly since his near-fatal car accident in June 2014.
Advertising Age published a perspective titled, “Back to ‘Mad Men’—What the Future Holds for Ad Agencies,” where Luma Partners CEO Terence Kawaja presented five strategies for advertising agencies to survive in the current competitive arena. According to Kawaja:
“Mad Men” has recently finished its seven-season run, and no TV show has ever captured the hearts and minds of the inner workings of Madison Avenue. Or at least, how it was. Much has changed in the agency world since then, and that change is accelerating with the growing presence of data and software in the mix. This change poses significant, if not existential, strategic challenges to agencies.
Actually, not much has changed since the Mad Men era, especially in regards to White exclusivity and cultural cluelessness. And of course, Kawaja’s five big ideas do not touch on diversity—not even the contrived dodge of “diversity of thought and skills” that typically appears in these instances. Kawaja ultimately makes Roger Sterling look downright progressive.
How apropos. Don Draper lands in California and AMC asks the Hollywood elite to consider Mad Men for awards.
Adweek asked a predominately White group of advertising industry VIPs, “If You Could Pick Only One, Would You Hire Don, Peggy or Joan?” Imagine if the same people were asked, “If You Could Pick Only One, Would You Hire Dawn, Shirley or Hollis?” They would undoubtedly choose Don, Peggy or Joan. Or Roger. Or Pete. Or Ken. Or Harry. Or Megan. Or Betty. Or Sally as an intern. Then they’d give Glen a shot. And eventually they’d even offer positions to the deceased Bert and Lane before considering minorities.
If Coca-Cola wants to run a Mad Men billboard in Harlem, here’s a targeted version.
Coca-Cola responded to its appearance in the final episode of AMC series Mad Men by presenting the Times Square billboard depicted above. Nice. Coke goes from celebrating diversity with “Hilltop” to saluting exclusivity with Mad Men. Shirley and Dawn don’t deserve a bottle?
The online recap of the final episode of AMC series Mad Men—Person to Person—featured no persons of color. Ironically, the show ended with the classic Coca-Cola “Hilltop” commercial from 1971, which celebrated diversity. Mad Men ultimately and accurately reflected today’s advertising industry by singing about inclusiveness, yet doing absolutely nothing to realize the vision. Have a Coke and a smile—while making a tax-deductible donation to ADCOLOR®.
The website recap detailing the sixth of the seven final episodes of AMC series Mad Men—The Milk and Honey Route—didn’t appear to integrate any chocolate milk. That is, based on the text-only description, there were no minorities in the story.
The website recap stated the fifth of the seven final episodes of AMC series Mad Men—Lost Horizon—sent Shirley walking off into the horizon. That is, she turned in her resignation to Roger Sterling and remarked, “Advertising is not a very comfortable place for everyone.” Actually, Mad Men Creator Matthew Weiner’s cultural cluelessness makes incorporating non-Whites into the plotline an uncomfortable task.
The website recap stated the fourth of the seven final episodes of AMC series Mad Men—Time & Life—brought Dawn Chambers back into the picture. Seems Dawn was still employed at the agency after all. However, she was almost fired by Roger Sterling for allegedly failing to pay the rent for the office. It turned out that Dawn was not to blame, but she and Shirley continued to fear for their jobs. If creator Matthew Weiner weren’t so culturally clueless, he’d show Dawn and Shirley leaving Sterling Cooper & Partners to launch their own Black advertising agency—and BET could pick up the spin-off series. Bring in Tyler Perry as producer and call it: “Diary of a Mad Men Black Woman.”
Decided to review the second and third of the seven final episodes of AMC series Mad Men by simply reading the recaps posted at the show’s website. New Business apparently provided another token cameo appearance by Shirley—the last Black secretary standing—who assisted Roger Sterling’s White secretary. The Forecast didn’t seem to feature any people of color, at least based on the recap transcript. Joan Harris visited Sterling Cooper & Partners’ LA office and met Dee, the receptionist. Can’t tell from the text is Dee is Black, but it’s unlikely, given the agency’s past opposition to letting Black women work in reception. Must admit that reading the recaps versus actually watching the episodes is a quicker and more efficient waste of time.
