Real Ads From Real 'Mad Men'

The popularity of AMC’s Mad Men has inspired books like Mid-Century Ads that recall a consumer culture and its Eisenhower-era values. The man in the Hathaway shirt, for instance; in real life the model had a fondness for drink — not ideal after a few hours on the set.

A testimonial describing the lengths to which employees would go to keep fliers happy on American Airlines paints a perfect picture of the utter woodenness of early 1950s advertising. 

Lucky Strike’s tag line — "It’s Toasted" — was known as a "preemptive claim," says Mad Women author Jane Maas: "You say something your competition could just as easily claim, only you say it first, you keep on saying it, and you end up owning it."

This Lawn-Boy ad took a "hard-sell" approach, browbeating buyers that “it is folly to buy any other brand.” It also typified "product-as-hero" ads, which placed the item being hawked on a pedestal — or desk, in this case. 

This pitch for Pontiac’s Star Chief Catalina Sedan may seem laughably static now but was bold for its time. The modernist building in the "background" practically clobbers you over the head. 

Was there another bra to wear besides a Maidenform? Not in the Marilyn Monroe era. But on TV, models had to wear a black leotard under the bras they showed off. 

Sam Bronfman, Seagram’s head honcho, was shocked by the sexy Wolfschmidt Vodka ads.  But his vodka became the party vodka in America, so he was shocked all the way to the bank. 

Volkswagen blew the doors off stodgy 1950s ad campaigns when its ads started poking fun at its own products (“Lemon”; “Think Small”).