As you already know, we’re a fan of AMC’s Mad Men series. There’s some­thing about its clas­sic style we find appeal­ing, from the office fur­ni­ture to their time­less suits. Even the acces­sories make an impres­sion: tie clips, col­lar pins and cuff links all find­ing their place again in a man’s wardrobe. Of course, the snappy writ­ing ties it all together, along with the under­cur­rent of sex­ual ten­sion sim­mer­ing beneath Don Draper’s fear­less gaze.

But let’s dig a lit­tle deeper, beneath the gloss. Mad Men is a step back into another era, a dif­fer­ent time. We know what we can expect. Their way of liv­ing was sim­pler and slower than the hus­tle and bus­tle of today’s tech­nol­ogy and lifestyle demands. Per­haps this is what pulls us into the show, being able to unplug online and sink into our sofa’s, watch­ing their world unfold. They have safe jobs dur­ing the birth of cor­po­rate America.They work but can have a smoke and a drink dur­ing a stress­ful work­day. They live dur­ing a time when the econ­omy was hon­est and a man came home to dinner.

It’d be delu­sional, though, to want to be in that world. While it’s nice for an escape, the social bar­ri­ers regard­ing civil rights had yet to be bro­ken down. Women had few options for a career or lifestyle. Besides, using a type­writer could be cumbersome.

What’s inter­est­ing is the show’s premise. It’s at the dawn of adver­tis­ing with the rise of tele­vi­sion. Mar­ket­ing is about clever slo­gans, jin­gles and com­mer­cials. Now, that method is dying as we Tivo and block out direct mar­ket­ing noise. Instead, we con­nect online through social media, talk­ing directly with those cre­at­ing the con­tent we’re inter­ested in. So while we watch Don Draper swag­ger through the birth of his adver­tis­ing age, we are now expe­ri­enc­ing the decline of his time.

What we can embrace are the show’s old world fun­da­men­tals, great style and sub­stance. We could use more of this today, with every­one capa­ble of par­tic­i­pat­ing online with these new tools now at our fin­ger­tips. So while we enjoy the show, we can also bask in the new tech­nol­ogy that has allowed us to savor the moment.

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Categories: Style Trends For Men

Tags: 1960's, AMC, direct marketing, Don Draper, inbound marketing, internet marketing, Mad Men, men's fashion, men's style, online marketing, social media, television, typewriter