Background: The television program Mad Men focuses on the lives and careers of people working in the field of advertising. The show is mostly set in the 1960s, when workplace behavior accommodated the worst kinds of masculine entitlements. The audience is invited to recognize how much has changed over the years, and how much has stayed the same in less overt ways. One of the characters, Peggy, started in the secretarial pool and made the transition to writing copy, a rare occurrence for a woman in the 1960s. Throughout the series, the audience witnesses her navigate the routine sexism of the office.
Episode Summary: The clip at the end of Chapter Six is from the episode “Maidenform.” In it, a long-time client, the undergarment manufacturer Playtex, want to reposition their product to compete with sexier brands. The creative team conceives of a pitch at a strip club, having left Peggy behind at the office.
Directions: Study the pitch the ad men come up with and then address the questions below in an organized, scholarly essay composition.
- Who do the ad men say is the actual customer? Who is the target for the ad? What does that say about them? What does it say about the people using the product?
- What does it suggest about how Playtex perceives their customers?
- How does it represent gender and celebrity? Marilyn and Jackie? Cultural perceptions of women?
- If the show “represents the past,” what does Peggy’s treatment say about the past? Does it speak to the present?
- Are there other representations at work in this clip?
Format:
- Use the standard format: 12-point Times New Roman font. Double-spaced. One-inch margins all around.
- Capitalize and italicize the titles of shows. Names of episodes are in “quotes.”
- Composition Structure: Introduction, Body Paragraphs, Conclusion. Your work must display organization and coherence.