I love the second level to this line. It’s a quick quip by Roger but the deeper meaning is Don Draper isn’t his name, Dick Whitman used Don Draper’s name to “end their business in the newspaper” and Roger was asking if it was indeed the man in front of him using Don Draper’s name or if it was someone else.
@@JakeLesser No, he did not. He did reveal his past to Roger when he had his Hershey chocolate meltdown, but never his double identity. The "second level" is for us, the viewer.
Pay very close to how Roger Sterling is reading the room. When Don was getting out of line he told him off, but when the others were firing up he was in bomb defusal mode. He was paying attention to and tempering everyone's mood from start to finish. Superb accounts man.
Most people don’t get the funniest line in this amazing scene. “Emerson Foote” was a bigwig in advertising who worked on Lucky Strike and eventually turned on tobacco, quit advertising as a result and then did tons of anti tobacco work.
I don't know why, but the name popped into my head right now. I googled it, feeling some vague association with Mad Men and this scene. And saw that he was an Anti-tobacco ad man.
@@Egilhelmson I think it's meant to be an anachronistic writers' joke for viewers. The secretary might not know the name, but all these mad men would. Foote's agency (Foote, Cone, & Belding) had taken a stand against tobacco advertising in 1948, and then he took a personal and very public stand in 1964, resigning as chairman from McCann-Erickson, which, like most big agencies, was still doing tobacco advertising.
His holding the cigarette is to show that it was purely a political move, not out of a genuine feeling. He later leverages an apology for this letter to land an even bigger tobacco account. Weiner was careful to not let Don be a hero.
I love how the voiceover changes at 1:21; his inner monologue gets overpowered by the domineering and confident variation of his own personality, subtly showing how stark the contrast between the 'real' and 'artificial' Don Draper is.
Wasn't my interpretation. I thought it was a transition from Don reading out loud a draft of his thoughts to him reading the final copy, confident in the tone.
@@ykMMD That's what we're both saying. It was a way to show other people reading it, in a tone that Draper didn't pronounce himself. That's the tone that other people were imagining it while reading it.
"Someone named, Emerson Foote" What a brilliant name to cite. Read about Emerson Foote in the Ad game and how he resigned Lucky Strike around 1949-50. Mad Men is the greatest show ever
Agreed. Shows them that he has the power to choose the playground, which is his office, in which he has the power. If he went to the conference room, it would have gave the power to the other 4 guys.
After losing lucky strike and losing Marlboro he knew the agency wouldn't be able to take in any tobacco brand companies. He was really protecting the agency from being rejected from another company and have their name be looked at like "not good enough". That's just my thought
Actually, it made it seem like all the other agencies didn't care about people's health. If you pay attention he reads the companies in his letter (by name), it marks them as not progressive, greedy as if they don't care about people's health. If you think about this move was genius.
It was sour grapes, if he had booked off luck strike it would have been different. The others were right, he made a decision that concerned the whole business, good play or bad he was out of line. One of the many reasons he was outsted later on.
@@anti-russbot5127 It goes in line with what Peggy said, he changed the conversation. They would still be able to bring in new business, it would just be even harder for them to get the bigger guys. At the same time, it generated enough publicity that they were clearly able to build off of, but Don didn't realize how much he had alienated himself.
@@solarydays Agree, which is why it pisses me off when companies try to use some sort of social problem in their marketing. It's like religion and state, both should be separated.
In all honesty it wasn't until Qui-Gon's death that Dooku finally decided to leave the Jedi Order and the Republic. But I do agree with you entirely on your last point, the cheese boy from that scene in the Sopranos was my favourite character too. I wish we had seen more of him.
Slept? Really? You weren't smiling thinking about the taste of shit that would be in every body's mouth over breakfast today? - One of my favorite quotes ever.
This show reaaally did a number with this scene. It's an almost perfect copy of the ''Penalty of Leadership'' ad by Theodore F. MacManus. A letter to save a company, a letter that in fact saved their businesses and a letter that changed the ad world (wellll in Don's case their semi-fictitious ad world). They both acheived diferently the same purpose, to save a product. In MacManus case it was the Cadillac companny, in Don's case, well it was more grand than a simple company, it was to save the ad business itself from the lack of honesty they were adressing their public about the tobacco companys, and so they took the leadership and abandoned the tobacco business. Don in the end is receiving the penalty for that leadership as told by MacManus in his letter, and when Don tells Pete that '' this is an ad for the agency and if you don't understand that you shouldn't be in the business'' he is absolutely correct and the only one that seems to understand what was really happening was obviously Cooper by saying to him that he should've put their names on the letter. Not because he was afraid of beeing seen, like the others, in a sinking boat on wich Don delivered the final blow, but because he sees that Don left them out of being leaders as well. He as well as MacManus ended the letter in a similar fashion and while Don's is an adequate ending by saying that he is certain that their best work is ahead o them, MacManus raises his to a level hard to achieve : ''That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live-lives''.
That's a pretty interesting history lesson about MacManus, but no, Pete was absolutely right. Don doesn't care about smoking. He's just butthurt and scorned that Lucky Strike left. Just because it worked out doesn't mean it was a good idea. He acted unilaterally and probably should have been fired. As for Burt, I don't think he necessarily agrees with Don's stance on smoking. He's irritated that Don didn't consult the other partners.
Pete says Don is "impatient and childish" but I would replace childish with impulsive. Sometimes it works against him. Here, it seemed to work. Their biggest client ditched them which was bad PR for the agency. Don's ad basically said they didn't dump us, we dumped them. It was a bold move to save face and save future business. Pete claims that Don puts himself ahead of the company but I don't think Don separates the two. What's good the company is good for him. He didn't consult because he knew they didn't have the vision to pull the trigger and the opportunity would have been lost. He left their names off so that if it backfired they could scapegoat him to save face for the company. The scene does show us what Don should have known, that Burt got it, and if Don had consulted him privately he probably would have approved and made Roger execute Don's plan.
I just wanted to say great comment Super insightful and interesting, the reason I love the comment section, especially under Mad Men videos Keep it up!
Cooper said the truth, though. Yes, it was an ad for the company. Yes, it was shortsighted because it showed potential clients that Don was someone who would take their money but then turn on them when they moved on. But, from the partners' perspective, it was also a statement that they were irrelevant.
Don: tells off multiple clients while the company is recovering, puts out a letter that says fuck you to tobacco and tells off Jaguar, and pitches while drunk to life cereal. Don to himself: I did nothing wrong and I improved everyones life. An everyone else is wrong. Lane: takes out a loan an pays it back because of money problems. Don to lane: you're fired because you can't be trusted.
DAMN. You're right. I hate that this show killed Lane. The show contemplated existential anxiety, loss, shame, and dread all throughout and it had to deliver that blow to somebody, but I still hate that it killed Lane. Helps to be someone like Don, who is the boss and can also get away with that shit. I knew they had to kill somebody, but I wish he had just tried to ask for a damn loan. Business men do it all the time
Too right. Don got away with all sorts. He eventually got what was coming though when he got suspended. But it could have happened sooner. Don’t forget to add all the times he just fucked off for the day, even weeks at a time. Constantly napping . Basically not putting the work in.
Whats make this even heavier is that its supposedly the first time in many years Don has produced something textual for or in the name of the company. He has such a great sense of what people want and how they want it delivered. So good he doesn´t even need to produce it himself, just pick the best option
Hate to (jk I love it) be that guy but that’s not a soliloquy. A soliloquy is a speech that is purely made of ones thoughts, usually used in plays where you can’t rely on facial expression to convey thought. This is a narration of something that is written. No one can hear a soliloquy except the character delivering it and the audience.
@@811chelseafc honestly, the other characters reading the newspaper, combined with Don's initial draft thoughts make this feel like a soliloquy, and at the very least, hybrid between soliloquy and narration.
"something needed to be done" -- a true statement that is often the rationale for stupidity and yet sometimes is the rationale for brilliance. For Don's character it seems he wandered into brilliance.
I love this scene and get what the letters accomplishes, but if he had done this in a real company, he would have been kicked out. Not consulting your partners when using the name of the company is unthinkable.
Not only was it a bad move on Don's part, but a hypocritical one as well. Giving bad press to Big Tobacco while lighting a ciggie is like claiming to be vegan while biting into a steak.
obv, you're completely entitled 2ur opinion, but I'm gonna have to 1000% (respectfully) disagree w/u. I personally loved it. Madison Ave agencies were, & still are, a microcosm of blank suits distinguished mostly by certain reputable qualities. Draper's ad was incredible, & for the very reason you mentioned. Money & accounts were the driving force. Yes, what Draper did was disingenuous, foolhardy, flippant, & petty. It was also brilliant. It said "fuck you, assholes " to LS, loud & clear, who deserved it. It took two words "killing," & "other" & managed 2 alienate and humiliate the competition-associating THOSE agencies with death. It shut out big tobacco. It also opened the door for endorsements & major accounts w/ANYTHING REMOTELY health-related: Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Serutan, Alka-seltzer, Vicks, Exedrin, Tylenol. It broke the rules, yet immediately eliminated any timid, fearful institutions, attracting instead, powerful companies unafraid of risks. It was unique, bold, smug. I thought it was brilliant.
I think the title was a tongue in cheek ruse. Don meant quitting advertising for tobacco, rather than literally stop smoking. It was a smokescreen for his provocative article.
It's pretty gangster that when he gets a call from Robert Kennedy, he straight picks up the phone. Doesn't tell them to leave the room. He is always in the moment.
Dumping them, before they can dump you. I know at this stage, SCDP has already lost the Lucky Strike account, but this manoeuvre allows them to get their name out there. You close one door, but your actions IE the letter, allows them to open it up to so many more opportunities.
it takes balls of fcking steal to write something like that and have it printed in the newspaper. a back-handed insult to an industry of whose key market share players literally kept SCDP afloat for so long. and, though it has been mentioned before in the comments, the mention of Emmerson Foote in this scene is absolutely brilliant. God damn. Mad Men was just so well written.
I love how Don doesn’t back away from the overwhelming criticism from his colleagues. He knows he’s right, even if that means being ostracized. He’s not being overconfident or insecure; Just confident in his own choices, and it pays off almost immediately. Be nice if real life worked like that most of the time.
In the end, it hurt their business, not helped. They were essentially saved by Pete's accounts and smatterings of a lot of others. They were eventually swallowed up, so the letter did not do much.
3:52 Another example of why Don is the leading man. He understood risk taking. He took out a risky and bold ad. And even though Lady Chaough-gah-gah's call was fake, you have to pay attention to the reality that when the call came in, the Directors look at Don for the answers.
You know that's actually the best point anyone has made in support of the letter. That said, everyone else was still right. He should have consulted his partners, though I understand why he didn't (Jon Hamm explained in an interview that the other partners likely would have neutered it). And it still freaked out the other clients and potential clients.
Another alpha male power move from Don, not going into the conference room to face the music from the others, instead forcing them to come into his office to whine about it and show their desperation.
Always surprised me that they put Don on leave for his Hershey's meltdown but not this. Yes it worked out in the end to be for their benefit but it was a betrayal of trust to the other partners that he didn't at least run it by them
It's called big TOBACCO, ergo, it's a given within that world, as an advertising executive, that he isn't referring to quitting smoking, but stating that he will no longer work for TOBACCO companies.
This wasn't leadership. They all had valid objections and in reality, would've resulted in Don being forced to sell his stake or be sued. He made a massive decision with zero consultation with his partners.
That is NOT leadership. It was a stupid ass move. if a partner did that in real life, he'd be kicked out on his ass and sued and the company would write a retraction in the paper to follow up.
Somebody could explain to me please why Don wrote down the lucky strike letter right after staring for a long time the painting he bought from Midge and was about to throw away? I think this was the only thing I didn't understand from the shows narrative
She was addicted to heroin and dying from it, and she knew it. He sold a product that promised the same death, only slower, and everyone knew it. He saw himself as no different than the dope pusher on the corner.
Don is quick to fire Lane when he forges Don's name, but this he find ok and defendable. He's an excellent portrayal of the self made man who, because of his own ability and luck, thinks he's above everything else, and that he's always in the right.
@@JudgeJulieLit yea I get that but again it’s totally different. Don did what he did to escape poverty and his abusive/unstable household and rather it’s forgery or not he made something of it. Lane used another (alive)man’s signature and gave himself money because he was too prideful to ask for it up front. Money he would have gotten easy if he just asked but he didn’t which lead to a bunch of bad things happing to him. Two different situations
@@milosmilosmilos Very probably true, but Don did keep Pete around. I think he knew he couldn't openly challenge Lane and be sure to win that fight. And Don is highly impulsive. It's not like he's very consistent throughout the show, apart from his womanising.
What I love about 'the letter' is that we never get a straight answer about how we are 'supposed' to feel about it. At least, that is how it comes across to me. On the one hand, the message is somewhat virtuous. On the other, it also cynical (it is an ad for the company). It feels like a step in the right direction for Don, yet I cannot help but feel that the partner complaints are all valid too, and their exclusion in the decision highlights it as a childish act by Don, who relies a lot on others whilst also wanting an easy way out of trouble.
Mannnn the fact that Roger asks THIS particular question: "SOmedbody used your name to end our business in the newspaper. It wasn't YOU was it?" He doesn't even know how loaded of a question that really is!!
Pete was right though - when Don was getting the award in the Codfish Ball, he was told there that nobody wanted to do business with him because he stabbed a client in the back.
Don: So, you didn’t say what you think about the letter” Peggy: “I thought you didn’t go for this kind of shenanigans” Earlier on the season, Don said that he didn’t like shenanigans when Peggy and Pete hired two actresses to fight for a ham. I love how Mad Men connects the dots between the story.
And Robert Kennedy was calling for Don Draper and just as he's about to pick up the phone, THAT is where you cut the clip? Seriously? That aside, I find it a bit mordantly ironic that Don Draper was "quitting cigarettes" while puffing away on one like a chimney.
"Somebody used your name to end our business in the newspaper. It wasn't you was it?" Brilliant lol
Roger is hillarious lol
Hahahaha it was epic
I love the second level to this line. It’s a quick quip by Roger but the deeper meaning is Don Draper isn’t his name, Dick Whitman used Don Draper’s name to “end their business in the newspaper” and Roger was asking if it was indeed the man in front of him using Don Draper’s name or if it was someone else.
@@Ani2301 I might be wrong but did Don ever reveal to Roger his past? I know Pete and Cooper knew from the firm.
@@JakeLesser No, he did not. He did reveal his past to Roger when he had his Hershey chocolate meltdown, but never his double identity. The "second level" is for us, the viewer.
I like how Bert is mad that he didn’t include everyone while the rest of the partners want nothing to do with it.
Bert was the wisest
It’s better to look in control and unpopular than unpopular and weak.
It showed he'd rather go down with the ship then to point the blame at his shipmate
I think he rathered that the letter wasn't out at all, but if it was out he at least wanted his name on the news paper.
Whoever writes Roger Sterling's lines should have written mine.
Now I feel like we're all in our own series, so someone tell my writers my show needs a giant fantastic surprise
That was a good line, though.
Pay very close to how Roger Sterling is reading the room. When Don was getting out of line he told him off, but when the others were firing up he was in bomb defusal mode. He was paying attention to and tempering everyone's mood from start to finish. Superb accounts man.
Most people don’t get the funniest line in this amazing scene. “Emerson Foote” was a bigwig in advertising who worked on Lucky Strike and eventually turned on tobacco, quit advertising as a result and then did tons of anti tobacco work.
I don't know why, but the name popped into my head right now. I googled it, feeling some vague association with Mad Men and this scene. And saw that he was an Anti-tobacco ad man.
Mad Men has tons of subtle humor.
Would they have known that, at the time?
thank you
@@Egilhelmson I think it's meant to be an anachronistic writers' joke for viewers. The secretary might not know the name, but all these mad men would. Foote's agency (Foote, Cone, & Belding) had taken a stand against tobacco advertising in 1948, and then he took a personal and very public stand in 1964, resigning as chairman from McCann-Erickson, which, like most big agencies, was still doing tobacco advertising.
I like how he's saying he's quitting tobacco with a cig in his hand. Just like every other person that's tried to quit before.
You know you can't just quit immediately right? You have to quit slowly, taking lesser dose or sticks everyday..
@@louieg7676 uhh no dude. You either quit cold turkey or you don't quit at all. there is no tapering a nicotine addiction
His holding the cigarette is to show that it was purely a political move, not out of a genuine feeling. He later leverages an apology for this letter to land an even bigger tobacco account. Weiner was careful to not let Don be a hero.
Lol you clearly dont get it.
Did you even watch the show?
Slattery destroys every line he has in this scene.
William McCormick Slattery destroys every single line he says in all seven seasons.
William McCormick is that good?
degree7 he Slattered them.
John Folsom wouldn’t like to speak for him but I think so.
I love him so much, I think Sterling may well be my favorite character after Draper
"Dawn, ah, this is, ah, Sennatuh Kennedy, ah..."
underrated comment
Great impression.
I love how the voiceover changes at 1:21; his inner monologue gets overpowered by the domineering and confident variation of his own personality, subtly showing how stark the contrast between the 'real' and 'artificial' Don Draper is.
Wasn't my interpretation. I thought it was a transition from Don reading out loud a draft of his thoughts to him reading the final copy, confident in the tone.
It's a common device to show other people reading someone's words in their head, not everything is that deep lol
You're spot on. The audio editing at 1:21 overlapped of the two tones on purpose.
Erwin D Nah it was a way to show other people reading it.
@@ykMMD That's what we're both saying. It was a way to show other people reading it, in a tone that Draper didn't pronounce himself. That's the tone that other people were imagining it while reading it.
"You slept, really?... You weren't smiling thinking about the taste of shit that would be in everybody's mouth over breakfast today?!"
"Someone named, Emerson Foote" What a brilliant name to cite. Read about Emerson Foote in the Ad game and how he resigned Lucky Strike around 1949-50. Mad Men is the greatest show ever
cite.
@@marydestefano9487 Their citation is google. Just look it up.
ilove how the`re all waiting for him and he, fully aware of that, just walks into his office.
Agreed. Shows them that he has the power to choose the playground, which is his office, in which he has the power. If he went to the conference room, it would have gave the power to the other 4 guys.
Given the time Roger and the others walked in, they must have bolted really fast from the conference room. I would have.
2:06 so much respect in three little words
wow sharp, sharp observation
Love it. Stan and Don always has mutual respect.
After losing lucky strike and losing Marlboro he knew the agency wouldn't be able to take in any tobacco brand companies. He was really protecting the agency from being rejected from another company and have their name be looked at like "not good enough".
That's just my thought
Actually, it made it seem like all the other agencies didn't care about people's health. If you pay attention he reads the companies in his letter (by name), it marks them as not progressive, greedy as if they don't care about people's health. If you think about this move was genius.
It was sour grapes, if he had booked off luck strike it would have been different.
The others were right, he made a decision that concerned the whole business, good play or bad he was out of line.
One of the many reasons he was outsted later on.
@@anti-russbot5127 It goes in line with what Peggy said, he changed the conversation. They would still be able to bring in new business, it would just be even harder for them to get the bigger guys. At the same time, it generated enough publicity that they were clearly able to build off of, but Don didn't realize how much he had alienated himself.
He basically pulled a "You can't fire me, I quit!"
@@solarydays Agree, which is why it pisses me off when companies try to use some sort of social problem in their marketing. It's like religion and state, both should be separated.
I think this scene really marks the time where Jimmy McGill finally became Heisenberg.
How even
I’d say VERY even
Larry Stevens you’re welcome and may you have blessings on all your journeys
In all honesty it wasn't until Qui-Gon's death that Dooku finally decided to leave the Jedi Order and the Republic. But I do agree with you entirely on your last point, the cheese boy from that scene in the Sopranos was my favourite character too. I wish we had seen more of him.
* Saul Goodman
Slept? Really? You weren't smiling thinking about the taste of shit that would be in every body's mouth over breakfast today? - One of my favorite quotes ever.
"Idk its good not being the reason this place went down anymore" what a guy
This show reaaally did a number with this scene. It's an almost perfect copy of the ''Penalty of Leadership'' ad by Theodore F. MacManus. A letter to save a company, a letter that in fact saved their businesses and a letter that changed the ad world (wellll in Don's case their semi-fictitious ad world). They both acheived diferently the same purpose, to save a product. In MacManus case it was the Cadillac companny, in Don's case, well it was more grand than a simple company, it was to save the ad business itself from the lack of honesty they were adressing their public about the tobacco companys, and so they took the leadership and abandoned the tobacco business. Don in the end is receiving the penalty for that leadership as told by MacManus in his letter, and when Don tells Pete that '' this is an ad for the agency and if you don't understand that you shouldn't be in the business'' he is absolutely correct and the only one that seems to understand what was really happening was obviously Cooper by saying to him that he should've put their names on the letter. Not because he was afraid of beeing seen, like the others, in a sinking boat on wich Don delivered the final blow, but because he sees that Don left them out of being leaders as well. He as well as MacManus ended the letter in a similar fashion and while Don's is an adequate ending by saying that he is certain that their best work is ahead o them, MacManus raises his to a level hard to achieve : ''That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live-lives''.
That's a pretty interesting history lesson about MacManus, but no, Pete was absolutely right. Don doesn't care about smoking. He's just butthurt and scorned that Lucky Strike left. Just because it worked out doesn't mean it was a good idea. He acted unilaterally and probably should have been fired. As for Burt, I don't think he necessarily agrees with Don's stance on smoking. He's irritated that Don didn't consult the other partners.
Pete says Don is "impatient and childish" but I would replace childish with impulsive. Sometimes it works against him. Here, it seemed to work. Their biggest client ditched them which was bad PR for the agency. Don's ad basically said they didn't dump us, we dumped them. It was a bold move to save face and save future business. Pete claims that Don puts himself ahead of the company but I don't think Don separates the two. What's good the company is good for him. He didn't consult because he knew they didn't have the vision to pull the trigger and the opportunity would have been lost. He left their names off so that if it backfired they could scapegoat him to save face for the company. The scene does show us what Don should have known, that Burt got it, and if Don had consulted him privately he probably would have approved and made Roger execute Don's plan.
I just wanted to say great comment
Super insightful and interesting, the reason I love the comment section, especially under Mad Men videos
Keep it up!
Thank you.
Cooper said the truth, though. Yes, it was an ad for the company. Yes, it was shortsighted because it showed potential clients that Don was someone who would take their money but then turn on them when they moved on. But, from the partners' perspective, it was also a statement that they were irrelevant.
Don: tells off multiple clients while the company is recovering, puts out a letter that says fuck you to tobacco and tells off Jaguar, and pitches while drunk to life cereal.
Don to himself: I did nothing wrong and I improved everyones life. An everyone else is wrong.
Lane: takes out a loan an pays it back because of money problems.
Don to lane: you're fired because you can't be trusted.
Well, what Lane did was illegal and all know how Don feels about forgery and lying.
DAMN. You're right.
I hate that this show killed Lane. The show contemplated existential anxiety, loss, shame, and dread all throughout and it had to deliver that blow to somebody, but I still hate that it killed Lane. Helps to be someone like Don, who is the boss and can also get away with that shit.
I knew they had to kill somebody, but I wish he had just tried to ask for a damn loan. Business men do it all the time
Too right. Don got away with all sorts. He eventually got what was coming though when he got suspended. But it could have happened sooner. Don’t forget to add all the times he just fucked off for the day, even weeks at a time. Constantly napping . Basically not putting the work in.
What Lane did was embezzlement, not take out a loan.
FACTS ON FACTS ON FACTS
Sees the partners waiting for him. Waves, forgets them and heads into his office. They run into his office. Classic.
I love how Lane raises his arm in the background at 2:33, like, "Where the _fuck_ does he think he's going?!"
Don was like: “Bitch I gave you IT’S TOASTED!”
Im glad Im not to blame for this place going down anymore.
That was a huge advertisement of the company, really so practical, useful, clever idea!
Whats make this even heavier is that its supposedly the first time in many years Don has produced something textual for or in the name of the company. He has such a great sense of what people want and how they want it delivered. So good he doesn´t even need to produce it himself, just pick the best option
"So, no one is happy about this?"
"I don't know, it's good not to be the reason this place went down anymore"
Oh, Roger... XD
2:09 Love that he knows that he's about to get an earful from the other partners and he just gives them a friendly wave lol
soliloquies and the writing of mad men at it's best
Hate to (jk I love it) be that guy but that’s not a soliloquy. A soliloquy is a speech that is purely made of ones thoughts, usually used in plays where you can’t rely on facial expression to convey thought. This is a narration of something that is written. No one can hear a soliloquy except the character delivering it and the audience.
@@811chelseafc honestly, the other characters reading the newspaper, combined with Don's initial draft thoughts make this feel like a soliloquy, and at the very least, hybrid between soliloquy and narration.
You left out the part where the rival agency pretends to be RFK.
And when Cooper says "Get my shoes!" 🤣
If I would have been him, I would probably have had a faux conversation as if RFK was really on the line, and waved them out.
Don Draper's comeback move: "Why I'm quitting Tobasco"...
"something needed to be done" -- a true statement that is often the rationale for stupidity and yet sometimes is the rationale for brilliance. For Don's character it seems he wandered into brilliance.
I love this scene and get what the letters accomplishes, but if he had done this in a real company, he would have been kicked out. Not consulting your partners when using the name of the company is unthinkable.
Cooper was right, it made him and the other partner look like idiots.
little did he know that that wasnt bob kennedy
Not only was it a bad move on Don's part, but a hypocritical one as well. Giving bad press to Big Tobacco while lighting a ciggie is like claiming to be vegan while biting into a steak.
obv, you're completely entitled 2ur opinion, but I'm gonna have to 1000% (respectfully) disagree w/u. I personally loved it. Madison Ave agencies were, & still are, a microcosm of blank suits distinguished mostly by certain reputable qualities. Draper's ad was incredible, & for the very reason you mentioned. Money & accounts were the driving force. Yes, what Draper did was disingenuous, foolhardy, flippant, & petty. It was also brilliant.
It said "fuck you, assholes " to LS, loud & clear, who deserved it. It took two words "killing," & "other" & managed 2 alienate and humiliate the competition-associating THOSE agencies with death. It shut out big tobacco. It also opened the door for endorsements & major accounts w/ANYTHING REMOTELY health-related: Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Serutan, Alka-seltzer, Vicks, Exedrin, Tylenol. It broke the rules, yet immediately eliminated any timid, fearful institutions, attracting instead, powerful companies unafraid of risks. It was unique, bold, smug. I thought it was brilliant.
+AnnaElisavetta Vonnedozza well put!
very insightful. did you come up with that analysis independently? very impressive.
I think the title was a tongue in cheek ruse. Don meant quitting advertising for tobacco, rather than literally stop smoking. It was a smokescreen for his provocative article.
It's pretty gangster that when he gets a call from Robert Kennedy, he straight picks up the phone. Doesn't tell them to leave the room. He is always in the moment.
Its pretty gangster until it turns out its a prank call lol
@@alecnickel4572 It makes it even more gangster
Damn it ..this show is perfect
Dumping them, before they can dump you. I know at this stage, SCDP has already lost the Lucky Strike account, but this manoeuvre allows them to get their name out there. You close one door, but your actions IE the letter, allows them to open it up to so many more opportunities.
it takes balls of fcking steal to write something like that and have it printed in the newspaper. a back-handed insult to an industry of whose key market share players literally kept SCDP afloat for so long.
and, though it has been mentioned before in the comments, the mention of Emmerson Foote in this scene is absolutely brilliant. God damn. Mad Men was just so well written.
The volume level on this clip is remarkably low.
THANK YOU for reminding me to turn down the volume before moving on to another video.
I love how Don doesn’t back away from the overwhelming criticism from his colleagues. He knows he’s right, even if that means being ostracized. He’s not being overconfident or insecure; Just confident in his own choices, and it pays off almost immediately. Be nice if real life worked like that most of the time.
But then confidence wouldn't be worth nearly as much.
So much group think these days, so much pearl clutching and egg shell walking ...
did you watch the series? it doesn't work he got prank called by another agency and cancer society didn't give them their business
In the end, it hurt their business, not helped. They were essentially saved by Pete's accounts and smatterings of a lot of others. They were eventually swallowed up, so the letter did not do much.
It didn't "pay off almost immediately" at all, they were hemorrhaging for a long while after this.
3:52 Another example of why Don is the leading man. He understood risk taking. He took out a risky and bold ad. And even though Lady Chaough-gah-gah's call was fake, you have to pay attention to the reality that when the call came in, the Directors look at Don for the answers.
You know that's actually the best point anyone has made in support of the letter. That said, everyone else was still right. He should have consulted his partners, though I understand why he didn't (Jon Hamm explained in an interview that the other partners likely would have neutered it). And it still freaked out the other clients and potential clients.
This is the "Reynolds Pamphlet" of Mad men
💯💯💯
Another alpha male power move from Don, not going into the conference room to face the music from the others, instead forcing them to come into his office to whine about it and show their desperation.
Always surprised me that they put Don on leave for his Hershey's meltdown but not this. Yes it worked out in the end to be for their benefit but it was a betrayal of trust to the other partners that he didn't at least run it by them
If he ran it by the partners they would have killed it. This was the only way.
This really was the Golden Age of TV
Don should have shown a draft to the partners and put their names on it. Good idea. Poor execution.
The exact moment Don became Jerry Maguire.
Why I'm quitting tobacco:
No one can hear me speak.
That Kennedy prank was hilarious!!! Was not expecting it 😂😂
it was the best storyline they did I think very powerful
It's called big TOBACCO, ergo, it's a given within that world, as an advertising executive, that he isn't referring to quitting smoking, but stating that he will no longer work for TOBACCO companies.
Man, I miss this show.
What an artist - the 4 others are just mainstream
This is the greatest written scene in television history and no one can convince me otherwise.
Shaw calls him pretending to be Kennedy haha so good
“I don’t know.. It’s good not to be the reason this place went down anymore”..
I freaking love this show it's bing worth watching on Netflix.
Like Bing Crosby? Or the search engine? Or the Bada Bing club in Jersey?
@@mwilliamshs I think he means a bada Bing a Bada Boom 🤷🏿♂️
This is one of the few times when Don shows leadership. He does the right thing knowing the company will face doubt and criticism.
Leadership would be convincing the board that this ad was a good idea, not going behind everybody's back.
This wasn't leadership. They all had valid objections and in reality, would've resulted in Don being forced to sell his stake or be sued.
He made a massive decision with zero consultation with his partners.
That is NOT leadership. It was a stupid ass move. if a partner did that in real life, he'd be kicked out on his ass and sued and the company would write a retraction in the paper to follow up.
@@simonr7097 Apparently only Bert would have been convinced.
Somebody could explain to me please why Don wrote down the lucky strike letter right after staring for a long time the painting he bought from Midge and was about to throw away?
I think this was the only thing I didn't understand from the shows narrative
She was addicted to heroin and dying from it, and she knew it. He sold a product that promised the same death, only slower, and everyone knew it. He saw himself as no different than the dope pusher on the corner.
Pinnacle of writing
Megan at the end starting to plant her seeds to win Don over. People think that she was such a great person.
Megan is my favorite character in the TV show.
No at this point she hero worshipped him
I thought it was genius when he did it
I love the detail that while he’s writing a letter denouncing the cigarette companies, he is…you guest it…smoking a cigarette.
I love how pissed Roger is reading the letter lol
Kingpin of the spin.
there is a nice odd filter on this that makes it look like it was timed in the mid-60's
I really wish that it would have really been Robert Kennedy...
True...but it being Teddy Chaugh was hilarious and perfect in its own right
In a later decade, a call from environmentalist RFK, Jr. would have been plausible.
This was Don Draper's Jerry Maguire moment.
Don is quick to fire Lane when he forges Don's name, but this he find ok and defendable. He's an excellent portrayal of the self made man who, because of his own ability and luck, thinks he's above everything else, and that he's always in the right.
Those are two totally different situations.
@@davidalan6354 Dick Whitman's entire life as "Don Draper" is a forgery.
@@JudgeJulieLit yea I get that but again it’s totally different. Don did what he did to escape poverty and his abusive/unstable household and rather it’s forgery or not he made something of it. Lane used another (alive)man’s signature and gave himself money because he was too prideful to ask for it up front. Money he would have gotten easy if he just asked but he didn’t which lead to a bunch of bad things happing to him. Two different situations
Also, he never reported Lane. It was just based on the fact that he can't trust him business-wise.
@@milosmilosmilos Very probably true, but Don did keep Pete around. I think he knew he couldn't openly challenge Lane and be sure to win that fight. And Don is highly impulsive. It's not like he's very consistent throughout the show, apart from his womanising.
3:25 Bert: "You humiliated us"
Also Bert: "I'm just going go ahead and blackmail you with the information I have on you."
What I love about 'the letter' is that we never get a straight answer about how we are 'supposed' to feel about it. At least, that is how it comes across to me.
On the one hand, the message is somewhat virtuous. On the other, it also cynical (it is an ad for the company).
It feels like a step in the right direction for Don, yet I cannot help but feel that the partner complaints are all valid too, and their exclusion in the decision highlights it as a childish act by Don, who relies a lot on others whilst also wanting an easy way out of trouble.
This letter had new meaning for Don after Betty gets lung cancer from smoking.
Mannnn the fact that Roger asks THIS particular question:
"SOmedbody used your name to end our business in the newspaper. It wasn't YOU was it?"
He doesn't even know how loaded of a question that really is!!
Damn lol
Pete is calling Don childish
In Pete's mind, not being "childish" is daily his top To Do.
sure but when I put out an ad on craigslist explaining why I ate all the macaroni no one cares. the games rigged man
Why I’m quitting Tobacco.. lights a cigarette 😂
Pete was right though - when Don was getting the award in the Codfish Ball, he was told there that nobody wanted to do business with him because he stabbed a client in the back.
you cut the best part
Man it's wild seeing Megan as his secretary.
Prime the audio...It happens to be crucial, yet we can't hear it.
anything important about the fact that he is destroying his actual notes about alcohol sobriety to make this “advertisement”
Got a nicorette ad before this
Slick and handsome from a distance. But you know Don stunk up close. Alcohol and cigarettes
Don: So, you didn’t say what you think about the letter”
Peggy: “I thought you didn’t go for this kind of shenanigans”
Earlier on the season, Don said that he didn’t like shenanigans when Peggy and Pete hired two actresses to fight for a ham. I love how Mad Men connects the dots between the story.
Google “Emerson Foote” and smile.
This show is too much...
R. Kennedy - "Er um..."
The scene after this🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is a bold decision he made
2:54 he's smoking there. WTH???
addiction. Most people in this time were. But he said to not advertise it anymore.
That music
Something tells me the partners were not in concurrence with Don's decision!
Can u please allow the subtitles youtube provides?
hahaha! That was good fullstop!
And Robert Kennedy was calling for Don Draper and just as he's about to pick up the phone, THAT is where you cut the clip?
Seriously?
That aside, I find it a bit mordantly ironic that Don Draper was "quitting cigarettes" while puffing away on one like a chimney.
To be fair, it was a piano by CGC and not actually a call from Kennedy, so OP prob didn't want to take away from the letter by including it.
Prank ** LOL
Funniest scene was after this when cooper left the agency 😂
Explain to me why he wasn't fired.
The tobacco business is a cynical, drug dealer trade. Tobacco is THEEE “gateway drug”.
Great episode!
Is there a follow up clip to this scene ?
No, this was the show's final scene.
Yes. It wasn’t actually Senator Kennedy. It’s season 4, episode 12
Yes: the one where he speaks with his wife for the last time before her death from a smoking-related disease.
Lucky Strike becomes their client again right after
@@PantsofVance *episode's
Why would you end this scene right before it got good
The start of getting woke, going broke.