Richard Rotman, Humber College media studies professor, is also known as @rotmanprwriter.
The imminent demise of AMC’s Mad Men assures its entry into the television pantheon, with reruns unspooling on into infinity, like Seinfeld or Breaking Bad. With only two episodes left, Don Draper and crew are either getting their just desserts or being put out to pasture, as is the case in many ad industry mergers.
The last episodes of what has been a very strong final season feature conflicts stemming from McCann Erickson breaking a promise of independence for the fictional agency Sterling Cooper, taking it over and moving it into its own premises. The McCann chief Jim Hobart tells the Sterling execs that they “have won,” promising major accounts a level above Sterling’s, tantalizingly enunciating “Coca-Cola” in about 10 syllables, as if he was offering the agency world’s Holy Grail.
Meanwhile, John Hamm’s Don Draper, previously wooed like a visiting hero, floats out of a meeting with Miller that is destined to produce the groundbreaking brand Miller Lite and sets off on an AWOL road trip. Peggy the copy genius doesn’t have an office and must work out of the deserted Sterling premises until hers is ready. Proto-feminist Joan, in her red dress, and a partner, soon confronts sexism, chauvinism and a dominant McCann culture, selling out for 50 cents on the dollars she is owed. Silver-haired Roger, now with a 70s porno moustache, muses on fate, saying “everything is for sale” and plays an old organ, drinking vermouth with Peggy in his old premises, not quite able to move on.
This most likely sounds all too familiar to those who have experienced agency mergers or acquisitions. And in the Sorrellization and Nadalization of the agency universe, who hasn’t? I participated in what O’Dwyer’s PR Newsletter then called “the largest merger in PR history,” when Ruder Finn merged with Harshe-Rotman & Druck to form Ruder Finn & Rotman. It was also one of the PR world’s biggest disasters as both sides never bridged each other’s culture and eventually went their separate ways.
Sterling Cooper’s painful realization that its time in the independent sun is now over must also bring back forlorn memories for former employees of now-disappeared agencies who were promised the sun and the moon and mostly received neither and a pink slip. There also must have been tears shed for the ones that didn’t happen like Omnicom and Publicis Group.
In these mergers, there is a notable absence of change management experts, a euphemistic title if there ever was one. No psychologists or other caring consultants help the Mad Men merger along at all. The takeover is conducted agency to agency with McCann’s Mr. Hobart clearly calling the shots. Looking beyond the final two episodes, in which series creator Matthew Weiner will no doubt tie up all of the Mad Men (and women’s) fates, one can write new episodes beyond the last one, much like fans create new Star Wars or Seinfelds.
And here’s what happens, fellow Mad Men fans, you heard it in Marketing first. Are you ready: no one survives but Peggy of the main characters. Not Don, not Roger or Ted — though Pete is so slimy and he might make it. Everyone is turfed out and winds up somewhere else or out of the business. They all have payouts and enough money, so it’s not rent-party days for them.
The reason is this: mergers are really acquisitions. Someone is bigger and stronger. They make good business sense, with all the typical reasons, reduced overheads, and shared services and staff reductions. But they almost make no people sense; those who thrive in creative cultures do so for a reason, but changing to something else is extremely difficult as Draper and company are discovering.
It’s almost like immigrating to a new country; you can take the person out of the country but not the country out of the person. It’s so sad. Most lower-level employees have no choice but to smile and take it. The Drapers and Roger Sterlings of the world — the top execs — often do have a choice, which is why they pull the strings of the golden parachute and jump out.
A realistic and informed end to a great series is at hand. Watch it if you can.
