don-draperIt is the last season of Mad Men. Of course, I enjoy the show. How could I not? I live it here, right down to smoking in the office (don’t tell the city please). We even have a retro martini bar that is our favorite stop after work.

But there is one thing about the show that bugs me. In advertising, the era of the 60s was famous for its use of advertising icons. In fact, many of those icons have endured until today. Tony the Tiger, The Green Giant and Mr. Clean were but a few still in use. But Josephine the Plumber, the Ajax White Knight and the Frito Bandito were all icons created in the Sixties as well.

So why do we never see Don Draper pitching the use of an icon in the show? It almost seems deliberate that they ignore that part of 1960s advertising. Perhaps an episode that showed Don Draper pitching Cap’n Crunch would be bad for his image. More likely, creating an advertising icon is a lot more work than can be whipped out in a show that has enough realism on its plate to begin with. Either way, to me it is the most glaring omission in an otherwise wonderfully realistic show.

In case you wonder just how prevalent these icons were in that era, here is a list of some that were either created or had their most popular days in that era.

Tony the Tiger                          Norelco Santa                                    NBC Peacock
Jolly Green Giant                     The Pillsbury Dough Boy                Speedy Alka-Seltzer
Marlboro Man                          Aunt Jemima                                     Betty Crocker
Madge from Palmolive           Josephine the Plumber                     Mr. Clean
Cap’n Crunch                            Count Chocula                                   Quisp and Quake
Frankenberry                            White Knight from Ajax                   Frito Bandito
Hawaiian Punchy                     Mr. Whipple                                       Maytag Repairman
Juan Valdez                               Mr. Peanut                                          Campbell Kids
Charlie Tuna                             Elsie the Borden Cow                        Lucky Charm Leprechaun
Sonny of Cocoa Puffs              Toucan Sam                                         The Twenty Mule Team
Trix Rabbit                                Geoffery The Giraffe                          Mrs. Olson
Raisin Bran Sun                       Quaker Oats Man                               Ronald McDonald
Wendy of Wendy’s                   Morris the Cat                                    Choo-Choo Charlie
Cornelius the Kellogs Corn Flakes Rooster                                       The Hamm’s Bear