It serves him well as he only enjoys the beginning of things. It's incredible how badly he screwed them up going public. "You don't care, you're ALREADY RICH!!" - Peter, being rich.
Mad Men season 6 (spoilers)
- Thread starter ALF
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It serves him well as he only enjoys the beginning of things. It's incredible how badly he screwed them up going public. "You don't care, you're ALREADY RICH!!" - Peter, being rich.
It seemed odd that two big decisions were apparently made without all the partners consulting: Bert, Pete and Joan cooking up the public offering, and Don and Roger putting together the merger.
Don always hated the Jaguar guy, and rightly so, he was an ass. But what Joan said was right, what she did was her own business. OTOH, if word got around that SCDP's work was being "made over" by someone outside the firm, it would not be good for their reputation and making it into the big leagues.
The Chevy Vega... what a piece of crap that turned out to be. But it was supposed to be the "next big thing," GM's answer to the compact imports, very interesting from the marketing side.
I loved the whole "Northwest Orient" lounge and the hostess' uniform. Was the wig part of the hat, or what?
Don always hated the Jaguar guy, and rightly so, he was an ass. But what Joan said was right, what she did was her own business. OTOH, if word got around that SCDP's work was being "made over" by someone outside the firm, it would not be good for their reputation and making it into the big leagues.
The Chevy Vega... what a piece of crap that turned out to be. But it was supposed to be the "next big thing," GM's answer to the compact imports, very interesting from the marketing side.
I loved the whole "Northwest Orient" lounge and the hostess' uniform. Was the wig part of the hat, or what?
That little stewardess (who looked like a high school student in bed with Roger) looked exactly like Joan. Put red hair on her and she could be Joan's daughter.
So....Don wins again even though he's such an overbearing ass. Blech.
Poor Peggy. You could tell she wanted to vomit. If old Teddy wants some nookie now he sure won't get it after bringing Don in. And how many people would lose their jobs in a merger? I just don't understand how that could be done on the fly like that.
So....Don wins again even though he's such an overbearing ass. Blech.
Poor Peggy. You could tell she wanted to vomit. If old Teddy wants some nookie now he sure won't get it after bringing Don in. And how many people would lose their jobs in a merger? I just don't understand how that could be done on the fly like that.Yeah, rust was a huge problem with it. I was little back then, but I do remember hearing about that car. Maybe that's the end goal--the bottom dropping out of the new company because of its reliance on the Chevy account. Maybe that's what finally pitches Don out a window a la the opening credits....if that comes to pass.
Man, Pete should have told his hypocrite father-in-law that he was having a potental client entertained. Plausible deniability. Daddy dearest can cheat all he wants, but no one cheats on his princess. Ugh. Pete will be thrilled that Peggy's back, but Peggy....oh man, poor Peggy. Can you imagine how deflating that would be to finally prove yourself in a buiness world that doesn't give women many positions of power....and then once again be subservient to your former asshole boss? It's not like there are that many jobs for Peggy where she would be in the same position of authority. She could find another job, but not one like the one she has. Oh, poor Peggy.
Loved Joan's rant at Don.
Get them yourself.
Man, Pete should have told his hypocrite father-in-law that he was having a potental client entertained. Plausible deniability. Daddy dearest can cheat all he wants, but no one cheats on his princess. Ugh. Pete will be thrilled that Peggy's back, but Peggy....oh man, poor Peggy. Can you imagine how deflating that would be to finally prove yourself in a buiness world that doesn't give women many positions of power....and then once again be subservient to your former asshole boss? It's not like there are that many jobs for Peggy where she would be in the same position of authority. She could find another job, but not one like the one she has. Oh, poor Peggy.
Loved Joan's rant at Don.
Get them yourself.
I think Don has had a yen to stick a big middle finger in Jaguar Guy's face ever since Joan prostituted herself to him. Brings back too many childhood memories.
I like "Advo-Rama"...but I'm pretty sure Bert Cooper won't.
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God did they rust. Then came the burning oil by the quart.
Well, the Vega sold and sold for a few years, a solid success. The firm could certainly argue that its inferior engineering was hardly their fault, if they're even still involved at that point. It will be interesting to see. One thing is sure, though: having an account from the biggest division of the biggest company in the world definitely puts the new company-to-be-named-later on a different level than they have known before.
As for the opening credits: Don -- if that's who it is -- doesn't go out a window, the floor drops out from under him and the whole room sort of falls with him. His world coming down around him, I always thought. I've never taken that too literally.
Oh man, wouldn't that be something? I don't expect Weiner to be that obvious but... there is a great feeling of "putting all the eggs into one basket" with this latest episode, which resonated quite differently than the others so far this season.
^ I'm beginning to wonder if that's Pete Campbell in the opening credits. Someone finally grabs him by the throat and hurls him out a window. The likelihood of such an event and the number of potential hurlers seems to grow with every episode. 
Since the point of the merger was to create a larger firm that could rival the size of the others, I should think that layoffs would be minimal.
Was I the only one thinking that the firms would merge since the first eps of the season?
Here's an interesting new article from the WashingtonPost.com's The Wonkblog:
Why Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce would be a terrible stock
Posted by Neil Irwin on May 6, 2013 at 12:22 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ooper-draper-pryce-would-be-a-terrible-stock/
Why Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce would be a terrible stock
Posted by Neil Irwin on May 6, 2013 at 12:22 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ooper-draper-pryce-would-be-a-terrible-stock/
That Washington Post column is pretty close to what I was thinking while I was watching the show.
On another note, Megan's comment about Don jumping off the balcony like Superman was interesting. On one level it's a call out to all the fanboys who said that Hamm should play Superman (though really he should be Batman
). On another level it's another call out to the opening credits and what may be Don's final fate.
On another note, Megan's comment about Don jumping off the balcony like Superman was interesting. On one level it's a call out to all the fanboys who said that Hamm should play Superman (though really he should be Batman
). On another level it's another call out to the opening credits and what may be Don's final fate.
I just finally was able to watch this episode last night on the DVR. I don't remember any mention of "Vega". I remember it being un-named. Only described as being smaller, with plenty of power and handeling. I also remember a vague mention of Ford's Mustang when discussing the un-named car. My first thought was Camaro, which better fits the description they were talking about and was the direct "answer" to Mustang by GM. The only rub is, I believe Camaro/Firebird had a limited production run in 1967.
Could be Vega, but the car would be in developement from 68 - 70 and not be launched until 1971.
Q2
Roger gave the car's in-house model number, XP-887. It's the Vega.
It's funny to see them get all excited about something we all know will turn out to be an absolute piece of crap.
The first wave of "import fighters" out of Detroit really were garbage. The Vega, the Pinto, the Mustang II and a slew of others. And that would persist for decades really as Detroit kept hoping consumers would eventually come back to Detroit iron. They just couldn't believe consumers would really abandon big cars and V8's and so they really weren't that committed to building a quality small car. It would take them decades to finally get the message.
Today I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Ford or GM over an import if I preferred the model, but twenty-five or so years ago there was no way in hell I'd have gone domestic.
The first wave of "import fighters" out of Detroit really were garbage. The Vega, the Pinto, the Mustang II and a slew of others. And that would persist for decades really as Detroit kept hoping consumers would eventually come back to Detroit iron. They just couldn't believe consumers would really abandon big cars and V8's and so they really weren't that committed to building a quality small car. It would take them decades to finally get the message.
Today I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Ford or GM over an import if I preferred the model, but twenty-five or so years ago there was no way in hell I'd have gone domestic.
It's funny to see them get all excited about something we all know will turn out to be an absolute piece of crap.
Season 3, episode 4, "The Arrangements." All that business with Jai Alai was hilarious and I think that may have been a more obvious lemon since most of the viewers despite their young age would have known that the sport doesn't exist today in any popular capacity (unless you live in Latin America or the Phillipines, according to wikipedia).
Sounds like a terribly brutal sport as well: "jai alai -- Basque for 'merry festival' -- can be decidedly un-merry on a bad point. The hard-as-a-rock pelota travels as fast as 180 miles per hour and can easily crush a player's skull or knock out a few teeth." http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2009/09/jai-alai.php
I wonder if the Vega will sink what's left of SCDP? The series' end is nearing, so it makes sense that there will be some posturing for that as the season completes.
Is it possible that Don will spend season 7 outside the realm of advertising? What did Don say to Ted? "The game is fixed," or something like that. Either way, brilliant writing to merge SCDP with CCS. Did anyone expect that to happen?
I don't see why. Like I said before, the Vega was initially quite successful. It was 1971 Motor Trend Car of the Year and sales went up every year through '74. If they follow real life the launch of the car should be a feather in the firm's cap, and they will have moved on to other projects -- maybe with Chevrolet, maybe not -- by the time the car's deficiencies catch up with it.
When I look at the opening credits the idea that comes to me is the recurring instance of someone get to or near the top and then having things fall apart around and/or under them. And yet the last image is of someone reclining in a chair with a cigarette. Taken as a whole I don't think it means someone will literally take a dive out a window. The whole sequence seems more symbolic rather than literal of success and setback then recovery.
Did we get any kind of explanation for this? If I were Don I'd be pretty pissed at being kept in the dark about something so big.
I loved watching Don kick Jaguar guy's ass. The guy deserved every word of it.
My mother bought one too. It was a great looking car but a real bucket. I don't know that much about cars but it always seemed the engine was way too small for the Vega's "small" body.
The merger was a complete surprise to me but ever since she left, I have had the feeling that at some point, somehow, Weiner would find a way to bring Peggy back to Cooper, Sterling. It seems that there is too much drama to be missed keeping her working for a different firm.
One word about Joan, in response to someone further upthread (I think it was bill cosby) her sacrifice has not gone for naught. She got a full voting partnership out of it even without the public offering and even though they lost Jaguar. So her ho'ing was not in vain.
And speaking of ho'ing, Peggy nearly pinched off a brick when she flounced into Ted's office and heard Don's voice. Cracked me up.
I do like the merger, though. Some great stuff ahead, I do believe.