Public Relations (Mad Men)
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"Public Relations" is the season premiere of the fourth season of the American television drama series ''
Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...
'', and the 40th overall episode of the series. It was written by series creator and executive producer
Matthew Weiner Matthew Hoffman Weiner () (born June 29, 1965) is an American television writer, producer, and director best known as the creator and showrunner of the television series ''Mad Men'', and as a writer and executive producer on ''The Sopranos''. ...
, and directed by
Phil Abraham Phil Abraham is an American cinematographer and television director. He worked on all six seasons of ''The Sopranos'', initially as a camera operator, then as a cinematographer and eventually as an episodic director. He won the 2008 Primetime Emm ...
. It originally aired on
AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...
in the United States on July 25, 2010. The episode takes place in November 1964, as the advertisement agency Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce has just started up, and
Don Draper Donald Francis Draper, born Richard “Dick” Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. Up to the Season 3 finale, Draper was creative director of fict ...
(
Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televis ...
) is struggling with his divorce. The agency partners are concerned about the narrow breadth of their client base, which is not helped by Don coming across as less than sympathetic in an interview with a trade magazine.
Peggy Olson Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character and the female lead of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', and is portrayed by Elisabeth Moss. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director of the advertising agency ...
(
Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
) attempts a
viral marketing Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...
stunt to bring back a disgruntled client, with unexpected repercussions. Meanwhile, Don's ex-wife
Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...
(
January Jones January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She played Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Pr ...
) is struggling to fit in with her new family, and Don encounters problems in his romantic life. "Public Relations" was heavily promoted in the weeks leading up to its airing, with an endorsement by President
Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
and product tie-in by
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
toys helping with publicity. Weiner expressed displeasure with what he considered a media revelation of plot details, though other journalists called his objections unwarranted. "Public Relations" was critically acclaimed by television critics, who expressed that the series returned to form. Upon airing, the episode was viewed by 2.92 million viewers and attained a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen ratings.


Plot

In November 1964,
Don Draper Donald Francis Draper, born Richard “Dick” Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. Up to the Season 3 finale, Draper was creative director of fict ...
(
Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televis ...
) is being interviewed by a reporter from ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...
'' and declines to speak about his personal life. As a result, he comes across as arrogant and a cipher in the published story, a fact that senior partners
Roger Sterling Roger H. Sterling Jr. is a fictional character on the AMC television series '' Mad Men''. He formerly worked for Sterling Cooper, an advertising agency his father co-founded in 1923, before he became a founding partner at the new firm of Sterling ...
(
John Slattery John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director widely known for his role as Roger Sterling Jr. in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award fo ...
) and Bert Cooper (
Robert Morse Robert Alan Morse (May 18, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American actor, who starred in ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (musical), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', both the 1961 original Broadway production ...
) lament, as they had hoped the interview would act as advertising for the company. One effect of the bad publicity is brought home just after Harry Crane (
Rich Sommer Rich Sommer (born February 2, 1978) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Harry Crane on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men''. He is also known for his roles in the comedy-drama films '' The Devil Wears Prada'' (2006), ''Celeste and ...
) has sold a
Jai Alai Jai alai (: ) is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker ''cesta''. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term ''jai alai'', coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also of ...
special to
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
. It must be pulled because the client, Pete Campbell's ( Vincent Kartheiser) college friend, Horace Cook Jr., nicknamed "Ho Ho", fires the agency because Draper did not mention the client in his interview. Because of the agency's narrow client base, the loss is financially detrimental. Bert suggests Don do an interview with ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' to make amends, but Don demurs. Meanwhile,
Peggy Olson Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character and the female lead of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', and is portrayed by Elisabeth Moss. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director of the advertising agency ...
(
Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
) comes up with an idea to regain the Sugarberry Ham account. She hires two actresses to fight over a ham in a grocery store. The plan goes awry when the fight turns real and one of the women presses charges against the other for assault, and Peggy has to ask Don for bail and hush money. Don disapproves of the stunt (which was carried out behind his back), but Peggy points out that they did retain the account. Also a new part-time member of the creative team has been added: Joey, whom Peggy has a friendly relationship with. Don settles in as a bachelor after last season's divorce from his wife
Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...
(
January Jones January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She played Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Pr ...
). Roger sets him up on a date with Bethany, a friend of his wife Jane, who is a petite blonde, like Betty. After the date, Bethany (
Anna Camp Anna Ragsdale Camp (born September 27, 1982) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as the villainous Sarah Newlin in the HBO vampire drama ''True Blood'' (2009, 2013–2014) and Aubrey Posen in the musical comedy '' ...
) expresses interest in seeing Don again, but rejects his sexual advances. On
Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
, Don spends time with a prostitute, and Betty has problems fitting in with the family of her new husband Henry Francis (
Christopher Stanley Christopher Stanley (born December 1965) is an American film and television actor. He appeared in the Ben Affleck-directed film ''Argo'' and in ''Zero Dark Thirty''. His most notable TV role was as politician Henry Francis, the second hus ...
). At Thanksgiving dinner with his family, Betty's daughter Sally (
Kiernan Shipka Kiernan Brennan Shipka (born November 10, 1999) is an American actress, best-known for her roles as Sally Draper in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), Sabrina Spellman in the Netflix series '' Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (2018 ...
) complains about the food. The childish action blows up into a scene when Betty yells at Sally, treats her brusquely, and causes problems by forcing food into Sally's mouth. Henry's mother later privately expresses displeasure with her son's new wife, observing that her children are clearly scared of her. However, in bed, Henry and Betty get along. The next day, Don picks up his two oldest children for an overnight visit, and Don is disappointed he can't see baby Gene, whom Betty sent to Carla's. Betty curtly tells Don to have the kids back by 9. When he returns the next evening, the house is empty and he has to wait for Betty and Henry to come back. When they return, well past 9 pm, an argument ensues about the house; Don, at his lawyer's instigation, angrily reminds them they were supposed to be out a month ago, and he demands they either buy him out, pay him rent, or leave. A minor argument later sparks between Henry and Betty when Henry agrees with Don's point. Betty stubbornly reiterates that they will leave on her timetable, not Don's. A different client, Jantzen swimwear, asks for help to maintain a family-friendly image in a field where
bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coverin ...
s are becoming more common and more revealing. They insist they do not sell bikinis, which they call underwear you wear to the beach; they sell two-piece bathing suits. Don Draper tries to sell a pitch wherein the model's breasts are obscured by the slogan, "So well built, we can't show you the second floor". The Jantzen representatives reject the ad as overly risqué, and Draper - exasperated by the clients' refusal to acknowledge a changing culture and the realities of their business - ends up throwing the men out of the meeting room. As they leave, he finally agrees to do the interview with ''The Wall Street Journal''. As the episode ends, Don is seen telling the journalist the swashbuckling story of how he instigated the formation of SCDP by having
Lane Pryce Lane Pryce is a fictional character in the television series ''Mad Men'', portrayed by Jared Harris. An English newcomer to the United States as of 1963, he initially acts as financial officer at Sterling Cooper, but eventually leaves, along with ...
(
Jared Harris Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the AMC television drama series ''Mad Men'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Seri ...
) fire them.


Production

"Public Relations" was heavily advertised in the weeks prior to its broadcasting. Producers of the series' entered into a cross-promotional deal with
Banana Republic In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring c ...
, and Janie Bryant, the show's costume designer, collaborated with
QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pen ...
to design a clothing line inspired by
mod subculture Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in London and spread throughout Great Britain and elsewhere, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries, and continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and f ...
. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
, a fan of ''Mad Men'', had sent series creator Matthew Weiner a letter to express his admiration. Attention was further boosted by the release of a series of
Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...
dolls based on characters from the show by toy manufacturer
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
. A week prior to the premiere of the episode, recurring cast member
Crista Flanagan Crista Flanagan (born February 24, 1976) is an American actress and comedian, best known for her work as a cast member on the Fox sketch comedy series ''MADtv'' from 2005 to 2009, various roles in films made by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, ...
(who plays Lois Sadler) posed nude for ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
''. Screenings for the episode were shown in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on July 21, 2010, and again five days later at Duffy Square in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
an hour before it was televised nationwide. The designs of costumes were altered, according to Bryant, to reflect the general fashion development and changes in mainstream pop culture during the 1960s. In an interview with the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'', she teased: "My characters are in an office environment in New York; it's very different from what was going on in London at the time. But there will be some progression in their costumes, just like in real life. The press were given advanced copies of the episode. Matthew Weiner pronounced himself shocked by what he considered spoilers in the review. Weiner criticized the episode's review by
Alessandra Stanley Alessandra Stanley (born October 3, 1955 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American journalist. As of 2019, she is the co-founder of a weekly newsletter "for worldly cosmopolitans" called ''Air Mail'', alongside former ''Vanity Fair'' editor-in-ch ...
of the ''New York Times'', expressing that the publication revealed too much information. He continued: "I'm kind of powerless. It's the bargain you make. I wanted to have press, and it was nice to get that kind of space with those pictures. The alternative is not to share these things with the press any more – but how can you expect journalists to write about the show if you don’t? It was all very disappointing to me. "Public Relations" features several references to media, music, film, and other pop culture phenomena. Peggy and a coworker engage in a humorous conversation, in which they subsequently refer to "A Dear John and Marsha Letter" by Stan Freberg. The episode depicts the growing acceptance of the
bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features two triangles of fabric on top that cover the breasts, and two triangles of fabric on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but exposing the navel, and the back coverin ...
in mainstream popular culture in the United States during the 1960s.


Reception

"Public Relations" first aired in the United States on July 25, 2010 on AMC. It was watched by 2.92 million viewers, and attained a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen ratings. Total viewership increased 5% from the previous season premiere, "Out of Town", which was viewed by 2.76 million viewers. In contrast, ratings for "Public Relations" were constant to that of "Out of Town". Likewise, total viewership were significantly up from the previous episode, "Shut the Door. Have a Seat", which attained 2.32 million viewers. The episode was critically acclaimed by television critics. Alessandra Stanley of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' opined, "Those cues also hold out the promise that the coming season will once again pivot the story on the workplace. It’s where ''Mad Men'' started and where it was best. A fresh start at the rat race is just what the series needs." Eric Goldman of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the episode a nine out of ten, signifying an "amazing" rating. Goldman felt that it started the season on a strong note, writing, "It's a clever beat to start out with, leading into a strong premiere that quickly drops us into what can be described as ''Mad Men'' 2.0." Praise was also directed to the musical selection of the episode, which Goldman described as excellent. In concurrence, Keith Phipps of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the episode an 'A' grade, praising the character development of Don Draper and Peggy Olson. Expressing that she had more confidence, Phipps said of Peggy: "
he's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
the person who's changed most notably over the last year. She drinks at work like the boys and ..goes into a Don-like trance as she searches for inspiration. She bosses Joey around and tells him when he’s gone too far. And she’s not afraid to get creative to sell ham and wants credit for her idea, even if it encounters a minor disaster along the way. Most significantly, she’s standing up to Don at every turn now. He bullies her in front of her
fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
but hears about it later. And she provides a devastating mixture of admiration and chiding when she reminds Don that everyone at SCDP is there because of him and out of a desire to make him happy." Similarly,
James Poniewozik James "Jim" Poniewozik (; born July 12, 1968) is an American journalist and television critic. He is the chief TV critic for ''The New York Times''. Earlier in his career, he wrote ''Time'' magazine's ''Tuned In'' column for 16 years. Early life ...
of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' praised the performance of
Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...
, exclaiming that "she has come a long way." ''TV Fanatic'' Dan Forcella felt that "Public Relations" was a fantastic episode, and asserted: "All in all it was a great start to the fourth season of ''Mad Men''." In conclusion, Forcella gave the episode a 4.5 out of 5 stars. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' journalist Cheryl Berman opined that the episode had a "little bit of everything we love about ''Mad Men''." William Bradley wrote in ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' that the series got off to "a cracking start" with "Public Relations". Similarly, Scott D. Pierce of the '' Deseret News'' found it to be "a very good episode and a very promising restart", after what he considered a disappointing third season.


References


External links


"Public Relations"
at
AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...
* {{good article Mad Men (season 4) episodes 2010 American television episodes