[0:01]Advertising is based on one thing. Happiness.
[0:12]AMC's hit series Madmen about 1960s ad men in New York City is not about appreciating what you have, but about being driven by what you could have or what someone else already has. Advertising sneaks its way into your subconscious by tying itself to much deeper needs than the product in question. A vacation away is sold as an opportunity to rediscover yourself or to reinvigorate your relationship. Perfumes or aftershaves are sold as the key to unlocking sexual desires. An insurance company or healthcare provider is sold as your reliable family that are here to back you in your time of need. And bigger ticket items like a car is sold as either a status symbol, a protective shield for your loved ones or a best friend yearning for adventure just like you. But psychologically, human beings tend to lose their captivation in any product soon after buying it. A 1991 study concluded that the novelty effect falls to a minimum after just eight weeks. So if the new exciting car that was meant to be the solution to all those problems is now just your car, it has melted into the status quo just like everything that had come before it. And whatever deeper needs that inspired you to buy it remain unresolved. If you were unhappy in an old car, just eight weeks later, you are now unhappy in a new car. And thus the search continues. This scene perfectly encapsulates Mad Men's observations about the human condition. You know what? It's just so easy for you from your throne on 73rd and Park. Some of us act for a living and we wait tables when we don't. That's not fair. No, it isn't. Don's new wife Megan and her actress friend both want what the other has. Megan's friend is convinced that if she lived in a fancy apartment like Megan, that she would finally be happy. She is convinced that her problems are all financial. It's just so easy for you from your throne on 73rd and Park. Megan used to believe the same thing. She was once just Don's new secretary who wanted to become a copywriter and had a crush on her boss. She thought that Don was the perfect man that could fulfill her in every way. He was taken by someone else at the time, but she would give anything for just a night, just a taste of that good life. Let's be clear. I'm not going to run out of here crying tomorrow. I just want you right now. Don chose her, but once that wish was fulfilled, months later, Megan quickly fell out of love with writing copy. Once certain needs are met, new needs emerge that need quenching. She has now promised herself that once she has a successful actress, then she will be truly happy. What do you want me to say? That I'd kill for an audition in this piece of crap? I would. Are you happy? If Don's love and lifestyle was not enough, maybe an audience's love will be. So while her friend is envious of what Megan has in consumer enrichment, Megan wishes she had more acting experience that her friend possesses. Look, I'm sorry. I'm nervous. I haven't had a job in a while and you're lucky. That's all. I am. And this creates a tension between both characters. To her friend, Megan appears ungrateful. As her friend motivates herself with the idea that having a nice apartment like this and all these fancy clothes and furniture would fulfill her, which is exactly what Megan used to believe too, but she wasn't. You're lucky. That's all. I am. This means that Megan's current dissatisfaction undermines her friend's current ambition. Both are pursuing the same goal, but with different expectations of how it will heal them internally. For the characters in Mad Men, happiness is always just one decision away. For Harry, he's convinced that once he makes partner, that he will be a big deal and people will finally respect him. For Joan, she thought getting married would complete her. Roger leaves a steady marriage for the allure of some new eye candy at work. But his second marriage doesn't even last as long as his first, leaving Roger alone and yearning for another solution. Pete believes that he would be happy if he was just more like Don. More money, a perfect portrait of family life, and some more women on the side, but happiness is always just out of reach for him. His domestic life is plagued with problems, arguments and expectations, even his affairs are always messy or not quite as flashy as he had hoped. Where things appear to just go smoothly for others, Pete can never quite find where he belongs because he is always convinced someone else is doing better than he is. Peggy's desire is to prove others wrong and find career fulfillment in a male dominated world. She tells herself that once she advances from a secretary to a copywriter, that she'll be happy. But once that becomes the status quo, she needs more. She needs to be creative director. She, like most, is sold on the image and lifestyle of Don. Convinced that once she has what he has, that she will be satisfied, despite the fact that Don is chronically unhappy. And then there's the man himself, the apparent envy of the world, who appears to have it all. Don Draper. But for Don, like most of the characters in Mad Men, happiness is always something, someone, or somewhere else. But then why is Don so good at his job? Well, only an expert in unhappiness can tap into that yearning for a solution. To avoid examining his past or looking inward, he looks forward to that next great Eureka moment that resolves his tortured soul. I have a life and it only goes in one direction. Forward. He can sell you family, because as an orphan, he longs for one himself. I was an orphan.
[6:26]I grew up in Pennsylvania. in a whorehouse. He can make you sentimental about the childhood you never had, because he never had it either. And I read that some orphans had a different life there. I can picture it. I dreamt of it. And he can make you lust for the perfect relationship that he still can't find. Closest I got to feeling wanted was from a girl who made me go through her John's pockets while they screwed. If I collected more than a dollar, she'd buy me a Hershey bar. Don yearns for a sense of belonging, a place to truly call home, as he felt so unwanted that he abandoned his past identity in the pursuit of something or even someone better. Once he's incapable of running away from himself any further, Don tries to find a home in other people, in others' perception of him. Betty seemed like the answer at first because she helped Don show the world that veneer that he craved, that perfect couple and perfect happy family image, straight out of a catalog. But Betty was never enough for Don, just like advertising, Don is all about the thrill of the chase. The excitement of what could be as opposed to what is right here in front of him. With no real mother figure in his life, Don is always trying to find the woman that will end his inner turmoil and make him want to stay still. He cycles through affairs, finding temporary glimpses of happiness in each of them, almost a new identity in each of them. Almost like sampling competing brands in the market. But once anyone gets too close and wants to know the man behind the veneer, they are searching for answers he doesn't even know. This causes Don to lose faith that this person is the solution to his problems as they want to know more than the commercial and the image. They want to dig deeper into the terms and conditions of the product, whereas Don just enjoys the captivation of the sale. Just like Megan gets used to the lifestyle she thought could end her yearning for more, Don gets used to Megan and seeks out increasingly high risk affairs. Divided by their career choices, the two physically separate before spiritually separating and then inevitably legally separating too. Despite thinking being a TV actress would make her happy, once she has it, Megan discovers that is actually not enough for her either. Now she wants to be a movie actress. Meanwhile, Don finally gets his dream job after a crisis sabbatical from work.
[9:05]It's the top client he's always wanted, Coca-Cola. This is his opportunity to prove how talented he is on a world stage. But once he has the opportunity, true to form, he runs away from it because it doesn't end his inner suffering like he had promised himself that it would. Making it seem as if there is no external solution to his unhappiness. He had sold himself on the idea that the answer to his problems is always just one decision away. And I would eat it. alone in my room, feeling like a normal kid. And you shouldn't have someone like me telling that boy what a Hershey bar is. He already knows. And that's what Mad Men is all about, unhappy people selling happiness. Not just to you, but to themselves.
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