Ad men mad about Mad Men

IN a case of life imitating art, ad men from Universal McCann Manchester have been working on a campaign for tonight’s fifth series of the hit US drama Mad Men.

Mad Men is an acclaimed drama, set in the 1960s, about the life and times of womanising New York advertising guru Don Draper.

The commercial breaks in the first two episodes will feature ads from the 1960s and the McCann team has been working with client American Airlines to find an authentic commercial from the period.

The commercial, entitled ‘Firsts’, highlights the fact that American Airlines were the first to market with a number of aviation initiatives, including being the first airline to cuse compuerised check in, run a stewardess college, and provide credit.

Richard Johnston head of TV for Universal McCann Manchester said, “We felt this was a great opportunity to celebrate the heritage of the American Airlines brand in a highly relevant piece of programming.

“We’ve been working closely with both American Airlines and Sky to find a
commercial that perfectly captures the mood of the era’’

Steve Davis, American Airlines marketing director at EMEA, said ‘‘We are delighted to be involved with this initiative as it provides an opportunity to showcase our historical advertising, which is then a great segue into the present day with our Kevin Spacey/Individual campaign currently on air. Mad Men is the perfect environment to be aligned with from a vintage point of view’”.