I am missing Mad Men. The other day I was thinking about the scene from the finale of first season where Don is doing his presentation to the folks from Kodak about his take on their new product- the Carousel slide projector.....it is the series at its finest.
Don Draper: Well, technology is a glittering lure. But, uh, there is the rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash, if they have a sentimental bond with the product.
My first job, I was in-house at a fur company, with this old-pro copywriter, a Greek named Teddy. Teddy told me the most important idea in advertising is new. Creates an itch. You simply put your product in there as a kind of calamine lotion.
But he also talked about a deeper bond with the product. Nostalgia. It’s delicate, but potent. (lights switch off-slideshow with Don Draper's family begins)
Teddy told me that in Greek, “nostalgia” literally means “the pain from an old wound”.
It’s a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone.
This device isn’t a spaceship, it’s a time machine.
It goes backwards, forwards,takes us to a place where we ache to go again.
It’s not called the wheel. It’s called the carousel.
It let's us travel the way a child travels - around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know are loved.
To truly appreciate the presentation you probably have to know the character, but it is pretty powerful either way. The following is a link to the scene- see for yourself.....
