Season Three, Episode Where Am I?

I have no idea what episode last night's was, I've been so remiss at my reviews that I've lost count.

Based on scenes from next week that show Betty packing her suitcase, I can’t help but wonder if she’s going to leave him?

God, I hope so.

I mean, what’s up with the hard-core philandering? You have a newborn baby! I don’t care how hot you are, you’re an asshole to your wife. And quite frankly, she’s hotter than you are. Have you seen her on the cover of GQ this month? Hello, new Queen of Lesbo Shag Island, take your seat next to Angelina and Jennifer. Actually, between them would be best.

Anyway, let’s get back to the discussion of advertising: a more noble pursuit than cheating on your wife, though just barely.

I have to say, I think the campaigns they discuss on the show are quite good. They may seem a tad familiar to those of us in advertising, because they’re indicative of ideas that have “been done.” Or do they just sound like ideas we’ve tried to sell and haven’t had the luck of an appreciative client? I can't put my finger on it, but wherever the sensation of familiarity is coming from, I have to thank the writers of the show for showing the smart side of advertising to the general public. Maybe there are ad writers on the staff? Does anyone know if that’s true?

Last week’s Hilton campaign was nice. How do you say comfort in Chinese? Hilton. How do you say breakfast in French? Hilton. I’m not sure those were the exact headlines, but that was the idea. And the tagline: Hilton. It’s the same in every language. It’s a clever way to say “get the predictable comforts of home no matter where you are.” Although the strategy is showing, it’s showing in a conversational way that nobody but an ad geek like myself could see.

Then last night’s idea session showed us what a good creative director does. A good creative director, in my humble opinion, can tell you that your idea isn’t a great one, while turning it into one that is. Which is exactly what Don did when Peggy and Paul presented their Western Union idea. On paper, it was crap. But the discussion went after the thought process that Peggy had used to get there, and Don expounded on it to arrive at a profound thought. “You can’t frame a phone call.”

It’s actually such a great line, it passes my “would you wear that on a t-shirt?" test of what makes a great tagline or not because, yes, I would.

Come to think of it, Don Draper is really hot. Because he’s really good at what he does. And Peggy is probably more smitten sitting in that chair across his desk than she would ever let on.

Which kinda reminds me of a certain creative director I used to work for, who will go unnamed.

--Stefani