Publicis' Sue Higgs: Mad Men and Me

With the Mad Men finale upon us (this Sunday), fans of the show are gearing up for the ultimate conclusion of one of the best box set series to hit our screens. Based around ad agency Sterling Cooper and starring fictional protagonist Don Draper, the show has offered an interesting interpretation of the industry in the 1960s over the past eight years. But how has it been received in adland during that time?

For Publicis London creative director Sue Higgs it's been more of a case of weeks after starting the show at Easter and below she reveals how despite being a late beginner, her enlightenment has come better late than never and she has enjoyed cramming in the drama.

I confess. I am a very late joiner to the Mad Men party. I’d actively shunned it thinking it would be like a Busman’s holiday. Do nurses watch Casualty? Will it be like Campaign, that late 80s toe curling attempt at agency life? What a mad woman I was.

In layman’s terms, it's bloody brilliant! I started Season 1 on Good Friday and binged on it like Don Draper through a bottle of the finest Scotch. I was hooked.

I am now, five weeks later, up to date – that's seven seasons with 13 episodes in each. The bags under my eyes and my neglected kids attest to that. It is quite simply perfect, a cacophony of everything that makes us human.

Drama, identity, romance, failure, humour, relationships… Oh yes and then there’s the advertising. And the incredible time perfect styling of the sets and costumes.

Of course the ads that Sterling Cooper present are terrible, but that’s not the point. I’m sure I heard rumour that brands paid to be advertised in the show; brilliant product placement if true.

It's people and their foibles... Burt Cooper and his OCD making everyone take their shoes off when they enter his office, and who could forget his song and dance for Don upon his death?

Rogers’ amazing one-liners: "Have a drink. It'll make me look younger", "I told him to be himself. That was pretty mean, I guess.”

Betty Draper, Don’s first wife annoyed me but she personified beautifully the American Dream not being all it's cracked up to be.

The madness of the British fella having his foot amputated after a lawnmower goes loco on the office. And put me down for the end song compilation, what tunes. I could go on, and have been known to!

Being a woman in a predominately man’s world, I have some sympathy with Peggy and Joan. I caught the tail end of the Mad Men era when I started way back in the late 80s. I can identify with some of the stuff they went through. On my first shoot, I was asked if I was ‘cooking up’.

I remember the smoking in the offices, the wine allowances, the two-day lunches, the lecherous behaviour. Health and safety and HR have put pay to that. I often wonder what Don Draper would have made of time sheets, Maconomy and conference calls.

I feel bereft at the thought of this beautiful timepiece finishing. I do hope the titles are metaphorical, the fall of Don Draper not prophetic. I couldn’t cope with his beautiful self face-planting the sidewalk.