Running head: MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

Mad Men//Cultural Studies: A Communication Analysis

Sarah McBeath
Indiana Wesleyan University
December 4, 2015

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

Introduction
Madison Avenue--1960s. S. Washington St.-- 2015. We are simultaneously in our own
time and space (twenty-first-century viewers across the globe in front of television and computer
screens) and in the time and space of Mad Men (the work and personal lives of the men and
women of a 1960s Madison Avenue advertising agency) (Bourdage, 2014, p. 164). Location and
time are two very different factors separating the audience from the set of Mad Men, which is a
TV show set in a time of gauging civil rights and feminism, increasing consumerism in the postwar period, and scheming in the advertising world of Donald Draper--creative director for the
Sterling Cooper Agency. As college students who grew up in a very different world and culture,
time and space separate our knowledge from the truth of that culture. Even so, we tend to
conform to ideological norms portrayed through media. By maintaining an active posture toward
media, we can become more critical in our approach to messages we receive in our culture.
Mad Men is a show known for great production technique; everything down to the dress
and brochures included in the show are apt to the time being portrayed in each episode. For the
first four seasons produced, Mad Men won the annual Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding
Drama Series, and continued to be nominated for the remaining three seasons. Widely consumed
by audiences throughout the country and around the globe, Mad Men is a seemingly perfect
medium to analyze under the Cultural Studies model posited by Stuart Hall in 1968.
In this present communication analysis, the pilot episode of Mad Men called Smoke
Gets in Your Eyes-- first streamed in 2007-- was dissected by way of textual analysis of the
script in addition to the drawing of inferences from previously published, peer-reviewed
academic articles. Firstly, the researcher qualitatively analyzed the words and setting portrayed in
the pilot episode, critiquing the hegemony and marginalization embedded into the very fabric of

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

the series produced by Matthew Weiner. Secondly, various articles were studied with a focus on
audience perception of the show and the cultural implications that Mad Men presents in the
present day American culture.
Cultural Studies
Stuart Halls critical view of media led to the birth of Cultural Studies Theory, which
focuses research not on what information is presented but [rather] whose information it is
(Griffin, 2012, p. 348). The main aspect of the theory that Hall seeks to understand and unmask
is power and its influence on what exactly is portrayed through media. He believes that large,
power-hungry corporations suppress the ideology of many smaller parties by perpetuating a
dominant philosophy of thought regarding society. Griffin states that, Hall defines ideologies as
the mental frameworksthe languages, the concepts, categories, imagery of thought, and the
representationwhich different classes and social groups deploy in order to make sense of,
define, figure out and render intelligible the way society works (2012, p. 344). In Mad Men,
there are different classes representedspecifically based on race, gender, occupation, and level
of education. For example, in a brochure Peggy (Dons secretary) is reading during the first
episode, the front-page reads, Its your wedding night. What every bride should know-- How to
be a Good Wife (Mad Men 2007a). This showed on a meta-level that the dominant message of
women submitting to mens desires was being portrayed through print materials-- the primary
media outlet of the day. There are also various publics represented by the audiences of the show,
who interpret the messages, coming from different backgrounds and holding different ideologies.
By critically analyzing the messages embedded into Mad Men, the dominant ideology can be
uncovered and thereby revealed to active audience members to remove current power structures
existing today.

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

The main purpose of Halls theory is not simply to challenge power structures in place,
but to also empower those living on the outskirts of society. Halls ideas were not birthed out of
thin air, however. Karl Marx and Michael Foucault both had a profound impact on Halls lifes
work. As Griffin noted, the Marxist golden rule suggests that he who has the gold, rules (2012,
p. 346). With this thought process in place, Hall asserted that those in society who hold power
whether by wealth, background or educationrule over the lesser or the other. He
explained the mountainous divide between the haves and the have-nots (p. 346). In the case of
Mad Men, he would distinguish the clear power distinction between men vs. women, white man
vs. black man, and the creative director vs. secretary, with the former people holding hegemonic
control over the latter. Foucault, on the other hand, was more concerned with what people were
saying, what people were not saying, and who got to say it (Griffin, 2012, p. 347). By focusing
on external features included in the show-- rather than simply the textual cues-- a researcher can
better understand the unspoken tensions and power dynamics as well as focusing on the
messengers of these nonverbal cues. In addition, we must look to the producers voice in the
production of his content. He noted that, I am a mixture of Roger, Peggy, Don, Pete, Joan,
Betty. They all behave in ways Im embarrassed to behave, and they all have qualities I wish I
had. Theres a lot of Joan in me: she has the sexual confidence, which I wish I had. Pete is the
guy I tried to be in high school (Konigsberg, 2010, p. 46). In this way, we see that the audience
must not believe that there is no underlying influence within the plot, theme, and characters.
Weiners own culture directly influenced the quality and content of what we know as Mad Men
today. As Foucault would recommend, the researcher must then ask the audience, Whose voice
from the 1960s are we not hearing? Why is this the case? Following, audience reception of
media messages is a main deciding outcome analyzed by Hall. He describes three possible

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

options. The audience could [operate] inside the dominant code, [apply] a negotiable code,
or [substitute] an oppositional code (Griffin, 2012, p. 351). His hope is that media consumers
will not be passive in simply accepting messages that relate to the dominant ideology. Rather, he
hopes that consumers will become aware and active in their consumption habits, resulting in an
uprising or opposition against the dominant code in mainstream media.
Mad Men and the Dominant Code
To say that two people belong to the same culture is to say that they interpret the world
in roughly the same ways and can express themselves, their thoughts and feelings about the
world in ways that will be understood by each other (cited by Griffin, 2012, p. 347). This is
where the dialectic of the haves and the have-nots can be introduced. By acknowledging a
disparity in worldview, one can see a difference in culture and the interpretation of that culture.
Women in the 1960s approached the world in a highly contrastive way compared to the men of
the decade. In general, many agree that men and women have a hard time understanding each
other. In the 60s however, men did not seek to understand women because they believed a
womans place was nowhere in society except in the home. In the cultural study of the first
episode, the men seemed to believe a womans place was in the bedroom rather than the
boardroom. Specifically, looking at the initial conversation had between Donald Draper and Miss
Menken, a Jewish department store owner, the audience sees the first opposition to the dominant
code of the day. Draper feels as if his manhood is being challenged in two waysfirst by a
woman debasing his methods and second by a Jew telling him that his view of her was wrong.
Her plea was found when she said, I want your kind of people Mr. Draperpeople who dont
care about coupons whether or not they can afford it. People who are coming to the store
because it is expensive. He automatically displaces her idea as silly and promptly leaves the

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

meeting room saying, Im not gonna let a woman talk to me like this. The meeting is over. This
occurred because he believed he and she obviously have very different ideas (Mad Men
2007a), which suggested the presence of two very different cultural upbringings.
When cultures differ and conflict, hegemony can arise. Hall found that, media
hegemony is not a conscious plot, its not overly coercive, and its effects are not total (Griffin,
2012, p. 346). Even so, he believes that this hegemony is present and media tends to succeed in,
[convincing] readers and viewers that they share the same interests as those who hold the reins
of power (p. 346). Mad Men must not simply be analyzed by the culture of the 1960s in which
the time period is set, but must also be critiqued through a modern-day cultural view. Some
scholars have suggested that Mad Men challenges modern-day values-- as there has been a
transition from the nine-to-five commuter narrative with the introduction of work world defined
by 24-hour-a-day electronic networks (Black, 2012, p. 150). The culture that is receiving the
messages portrayed through a 1960s screen must be aware that culture has shifted dramatically
since that day. At the same time, however, the viewer, must be aware to aspects of culture that
have lingeredsuch as hegemony of men over women in the workplace and the lingering
racism, which we see all over the news today.
Mad Men is a media product situated in media-derived nostalgia that is a set of cultural
practices (Tudor, 2012, p. 334). Nostalgia is a common theme in Mad Men as a result of the
nostalgia that is charged in advertisements. Ad agencies tended to incorporate nostalgia into
promotion of products as customers then were reminded of past experiences, which increasingly
led them to buy the product. The Ad Men at Sterling-Cooper recognized that memory is in some
way a product, something that can be manipulated and sold (Groot, 2011, p. 279). In the first
episode, Donald Draper identifies advertising as, based on one thing. Happiness. And you know

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. Its freedom from fear. Its a billboard
on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever youre doing is okay. You are
okay (Mad Men 2007a). This is not only nostalgia, but also a main media message that
promotes the dominant code, which says that everyone deserves to be okay no matter the means
one takes to obtain that happiness.
Today, Mad Men as a TV show provides a type of nostalgia all its own that reminds
viewers of the past-- charged with sensationalized drama and history. Tudor comments that this
nostalgia allows viewers to shift from nostalgia for Mad Mens fashion, sexism, and racism of
the 1960s, to the importation of the neoliberal idea of post-sexism/racism that makes celebrating
the series sexism/racism acceptable (Tudor, 2012, p. 334). This claim would classify Tudor and
other scholars who hold the same opinion to be ones who might operate inside the dominant
code. Neoliberalism assumes that, critiques of racism and sexism are no longer necessary
(Tudor, 2012, p. 335).
Some critics of Mad Men apply a negotiable code, where they accept the racism and
sexism of the show. While some may view depictions of discrimination as necessarily bad,
other viewers may find validation in seeing their personal experiences represented on the screen
(Bourdage, 2014, p.165). In Bouradges study of feminist fans reception and reaction to the
show illustrated how misogyny has not disappeared from the workplace, but rather is an active
part even today. One of the women interviewed spoke of an incident, and she reflected that, she
can distance herself by viewing it from her time and place, but when a similar incident occurs in
her own office, the closeness of the time and space of Mad Men is made apparent to her
(Bourdage, 2014, p. 172). Again, this proves how important location and time are to the cultural
studies approach.

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

One woman referenced the series by saying, When I see Mad Men, I think of my own
life. I look back with some melancholythe problem is that the women on Mad Men in that
period, be they on Madison Avenue or Whatever Avenue, they were told they didnt have a mast.
They were just this little dinghy hung on the side of a big ship, and they were so expendable, and
if there was a storm, they would be the first rope that would be cut (Bourdage, 2014, p. 170).
We can see how this woman relates the shows aspects to her own life and experience within this
dominant code. This point further illustrates how viewer perception of messages is dependent
upon background and culture in which that person grew up. Keeping with the negotiable code,
she looks at the depictions for lessons in both how far women have come in terms of equality
and as signifying areas where progress remains to be made (p. 170). Overall, the feminist
participants argued that there was a lack of discussion concerning the negativity of issues such as
abortion, racism, and smoking within Mad Men (p. 171).
Falkof asserts that Mad Men both toys with and unmasks aspects of what Kaja
Silverman calls the dominant fiction, that set of beliefs that [solicits] our faith above all else in
the unity of the family and the adequacy of the male subjectthis renegotiation of accepted
cultural knowledge about the 1960s (Falkof, 2012, p. 31). This almost places Mad Men on a
platform that challenges the very ideology of the day rather than perpetuating it. In the feminist
study mentioned above, one participant expressed a hope that women would feel empowered by
the women in the TV series that do stand up for themselves and that the viewing women would
follow in their footsteps.
In addition to nostalgia and opposition to the dominant fiction, the notion of selling
commodities is also an important theme of Mad Men. Tudor claims that, setting the series in an
advertising agency allows the characters to reveal how they not only produce consumer need for

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

cars, slide projectors, and makeup, but also how they produce their own lives as commodities
to buy and live a perfected life (Tudor, 2012, p. 335). In the series, the characters tend to sell
themselveswhether the women sell their bodies to men for affirmation or out of obligation, or
men sell themselves and their ideas to rise on the organizational ladder. For example, in the Pilot
episode, Peggy sells herself to Pete Campbell even though he is getting married Sunday (Mad
Men 2007a). She was overcoming culture shock of being a new secretary in an up-and-coming
agency with a culture of misogyny, which included the sexual objectification of women;
therefore, she thought that sleeping with an account executive was part of her new role. On the
other hand, Pete Campbell sold himself to Donald Draper when he said, A man like you, Id
follow into combat blindfolded, and I wouldnt be the first. Am I right? He extended his hand to
Draper, who refused it and belittled him by saying: I dont want to wake up pregnant, inferring
a feminine term on Campbell. Campbell replied, F*** you (Mad Men, 2007a). This showed
that Campbells respect was only a faade, in that he was just trying to sell himself to join Draper
at the top. This at the top analogy further illustrates the paradigm contrasting the haves and
the have-nots.
Evaluation of the Communication Phenomenon
Mad Men, as a TV show, is very persuasive in nature. The drama draws the audience in to
understand the complexity of Donald Draper, as evidenced in the first episode. Morally, the
program lacks, but, to some audience members, such as the feminists in Bourdages study, the
program almost acted as a voice for them. The producers of Mad Men did a fantastic job of
blending in cultural cues from the 1960s while also permitting cultural signs of our current day
and age. For example, the opening theme song and trailer shows a man falling by buildings
featuring advertisements such as Enjoy the Best America Has to Offer, and Its the gift that

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

10

never fails. Groot relates this to the falling of the twin towers on September 11, 2001. He then
acknowledges the man in the trailer sitting on a couch watching television. This represents the
traumatic-therapeutic aspect of the show (Groot, 2011, p. 282). This also can be related to the
consumerism high after 9/11 when President George Bush invited all of America to spend
money, and since Mad Men is focused on advertising and capitalism, this was an apt choice for a
symbol.
A dominant message portrayed through the communication artifact that was particularly
striking was Drapers worldview. He told Ms. Menken over dinner, Youre born alone, and you
die alone and this world just drops a bunch of rules on you to make you forget those facts. But I
never forget. Im living like theres no tomorrow because there isnt one (Mad Men 2007a).
This is a very sad way to look at life. However, is anyone responding with an alternative to
Drapers claim? We must be careful to be attentive and active media consumers in order to
remove negativity from the dominant code and ideology of the day.
As a result of this communication analysis, the researcher became more concerned with
the dominant code related through mainstream media. There is a disparity of view concerning
whether Mad Men in-and-of-itself challenges the dominant code of the day or if it plays a role in
perpetuation of the messages. Even so, the way audiences perceive the messages is of higher
importance to Cultural Studies. Different cultures perceive and then choose to act on what they
have seen according to the acceptable norm of their current culture. Through this study, feminists
were seen to apply a negotiable code whereas many scholars and viewers simply operate within
the dominant codeof nostalgia, misogyny, and a pessimistic worldview. Not many people fully
oppose the dominant code. This is most likely due to the implications associated with this
societal rebellion against cultural norms.

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

11

Mad Mens influence does not stop at the end of the episodes, however. On Twitter, there
is a Donald Draper handle that periodically posts tweets that relate his values while coinciding
with the current culture. For example, one tweet said, I saw a male stewardess lose his mind on
the plane the other day. You should never hire a man to do a womans work (_DonDraper 2010)
(Groot, 2011, p. 278). Groot believes that this engagement with social media adds depth of
relation between characters of Mad Men and the audiences within the current culture. In addition,
Mad Mens characters are integrated within iTunes and even department stores such as
Bloomingdales and Brooks Brothers (Groot, 2011, p. 278). As one can see, mainstream media is
pervading in culture. With this in mind, we must be ever aware of the dominant code and our role
in interacting with that ideology.
What this study should awaken then is an understanding of a dominant code portrayed
through Mad Men and other mainstream shows, recognition of the poor and powerless in society,
and a fresh perspective on opposing the dominant code in order to empower the marginalized.
We, as a culture, must not view historical shows without the recognition of a present day cultural
influence embedded into shows via producers, directors, costume and set designers, and others
involved in the production of the show. We must analyze media for their implications on our
daily lives. As Foucault encouraged, we must find out what people are saying, who is speaking,
who is not speaking, and what is not being said within media. Stuart Hall believed that the
powerless were unable to fully oppose and change the dominant code, but rather the stronger
must oppose the domineering worldview for the defenseless in society. He called this dichotomy
pessimism of the intellect vs. his optimism of the will (Griffin, 2012, p. 351). We, as
communication scholars, must have optimism of the will to empower people in our society
who are the downtrodden and helplessthose on the margins of culture.

MAD MEN//CULTURAL STUDIES

12
References

Black, P., & Hardie, M. (2012). On Mad Men: Introduction. CSR Cultural Studies Review, 18(2),
147-150.
Bourdage, M. (2014). Not just another humourless bitch: Feminist fans' reception of Mad Men.
Continuum, 164-175.
Falkof, N. (2012). The father, the failure and the self-made man: Masculinity in Mad Men.
Critical Quarterly, 54(3), 31-45.
Griffin, E. (2012). A first look at communication theory (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Groot, J. (2011). Perpetually dividing and suturing the past and present: and the illusions of
history. Rethinking History, 15(2), 269-285.
Mad Men. 2007a. Episode 1: Smoke gets in your eyes. Dir. Alan Taylor. Weiner Bros et
al./AMC.
Tudor, D. (2012). Selling Nostalgia: Mad Men, Postmodernism and Neoliberalism.
SYMPOSIUM: POSTMODERNISM TODAY, 49, 333-338.