The first time I ever heard of Mad Men I was in Lusaka, the morning was cold and wet with a brisk wind sweeping the rain across the town, I remember throwing myself into the lift, trying to make my way up to Suite 47 Millennium Village, I had a 8 a.m. meeting at Young & Rubicam Lusaka, in that lift there was young bright minds who later became my good friends, and they were talking about this new show called Mad Men, and they both hated it because they felt that the show was distorting history by not showing black ad men. So when I got back to Johannesburg I asked my industry peers if they’ve heard of a show called Mad Men, and let’s just say everyone looked at me like I had been living under a rock. And for a while I felt like a dummy, watching as many seasons back to back so I could be in with the in-crowd, eventually falling in love with the series, not only because I worked in advertising but because I could relate with Don Draper on so many levels.
Anyway, the series is coming to end and boy…am, I mad? I mean I just discovered the series for chrissake. Judging by Twitter, I am not the only one who is feeling a bit let down, and also, it seems like many a people have never heard of Mad Men, now allow me to feel you in so you too can be in with the in-crowd. Mad Men is an American television series, the brainchild of Matthew Weiner, one of the writers of the hit series The Sopranos. It’s now in its seventh and final season, it’s set in the 1960s, the lead character is Don Draper, a chain-smoking, workaholic, alcoholic, Creative Director at an advertising agency called Sterling Cooper on Madison Avenue in New York City. The series touches on many issues, from smoking, feminism, adultery, sexism, alcoholism, identity, memory to counterculture and modernism. The show has won many awards and has received widespread praise for its costume design, visual style, writing, acting and directing.
However, the show’s historical authenticity has been criticised, mostly by the black creative community, starting with my good friends in Zambia. Many of my friends who hate the show have said to me “Mad Men embodies and celebrates a certain type of whiteness and that makes me sick”, my other friends who don’t really hate the show and have seen it a few times are only annoyed by the exclusion of black creatives in the show, their argument is why would Matthew Weiner act like the was never a Roy Eaton or a Georg Olden. The former, a black copywriter and composer who was hired by Young & Rubicam in 1955, the latter, a black creative who designed the CBS logo as well the Clio Award, he started his career at BBDO and went on to become the Vice-President of McCann Erickson. I understand their frustrations, but Jay Z told us “it’s only entertainment” or maybe not, I am just mad the show has come to an end and maybe I must start writing a script about advertising in 2015, that would include young black creatives…no, wait, there is already a show like that on Vuzu.