The Real Mad Men: The Renegades of Madison Avenue and the Golden Age of Advertising

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Overview

Advertising is a business rooted in art, an art rooted in business, and it reached its peak in a specific place at a specific time: New York City at the end of the 1950s and through the ’60s.

AMC’s award-winning drama Mad Men has garnered awards for its portrayal of advertising executives. This engaging, insightful narrative reveals, for the first time, the lives and work of the real advertising men and women of that era. Just as portrayed in the series, these creative people ...

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The Real Mad Men: The Renegades of Madison Avenue and the Golden Age of Advertising

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More About This Book

Overview

Advertising is a business rooted in art, an art rooted in business, and it reached its peak in a specific place at a specific time: New York City at the end of the 1950s and through the ’60s.

AMC’s award-winning drama Mad Men has garnered awards for its portrayal of advertising executives. This engaging, insightful narrative reveals, for the first time, the lives and work of the real advertising men and women of that era. Just as portrayed in the series, these creative people were the stars of the real Madison Avenue. Their innate eccentricity, vanity, and imagination meant their behavior and lifestyle was as candid and original as their advertising. They had it and they flaunted it. People like Bill Bernbach, George Lois, Ed McCabe, Mary Wells, Marion Harper, Julian Koenig, Steve Frankfurt, and Amil Gargano, and others, who in that small space, in that short time, created some of the most radical and influential advertising ever and sparked a revolution in the methods, practice, and execution of the business. Including over 100 full-color illustrations, the book details iconic campaigns such as VW, Avis, Alka Seltzer, Benson & Hedges, Polaroid, and Braniff Airways.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Written by a former copywriter working during the Creative Revolution of the 1960s, Cracknell's account of the heyday of advertising-currently being explored on AMC's hit show Mad Men-is a terrific supplement to the show, as well as a primer on the evolution of the industry. Weaving quotes from the groundbreaking show into his historical narrative, Cracknell illustrates how iconic campaigns such as "The Man in the Hathaway Shirt," the VW "Think Small" ads, and Avis' "We Try Harder" revolutionized the industry, and what it was like to toil in the agencies that produced such work. Populated by colorful characters like David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach, Carl Ally, and the beautiful, tough-talking Mary Wells, it's clear that the TV series is-for the most part-true to life. From flagrant sexual harassment on account of the prevalent boys' club atmosphere to a violent fight just before a Christmas party resulting in a bloodied office, there was plenty of drama to go around, though the offices weren't as liquored up as Mad Men may lead one to believe. Still, agencies like DDB, PKL, Wells Rich Greene, and others created some of the most compelling and lasting promotional work. Advertising geeks will gobble this up, but even those completely unaware of Don Draper and Sterling Cooper will appreciate this lively and spirited account. Photos.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780762440900
  • Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers
  • Publication date: 2/28/2012
  • Pages: 224
  • Sales rank: 300,139
  • Product dimensions: 7.12 (w) x 9.92 (h) x 1.06 (d)

Meet the Author

Andrew Cracknell served as Executive Creative Director for many major international agencies, on both sides of the Atlantic, for every business category and in every available medium. For this book, he undertook extensive in-depth research and recorded many hours of interviews with the advertising women and men of the era, from secretaries to directors. He also writes regularly for The Financial Times and Campaign magazine. He can usually be found in London, New York, or sailing his boat in the Aegean.

Sir John Hegarty was an award-winning art director at Benton and Bowles, London, and later started Bartle Bogle Hegarty, Campaign’s Agency of the Year in 1986, 1993, 2003, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, the International Clio Awards awarded John with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in London.

Fred Danzig was the executive editor for Ad Age from 1968 to 1995. He is the coauthor of How to be Heard: Making the Media Work for You with Tim Klein and was adjunct instructor at the New School in NYC.

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Sort by: Showing 1 Customer Review

  • Posted February 29, 2012

    Decade began with Lemon and ended with It's Ugly But It Gets You There

    In between, Volkswagen changed the tone and tint of advertising, marketing, and (going too far?) the culture. Cracknell does the best job I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot) of capturing the times that the TV series uses as fodder.
    Sort of a combination of The Best and The Brightest and Helter Skelter, two other books about advertising in a way.
    The TV series will break on March 25th. Good time to buy the book and enough time to read it.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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