Ad legend Jerry Della Femina plans to launch his own series on wild 70s ad world – “will make ‘Mad Men’ look like ‘Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm!'”
NEW YORK POST – Jerry Della Femina — the legendary ad exec who Matt Weiner said inspired his hit AMC series “Mad Men” — is planning to launch his own series on the wild ad world of the 1970s, which he vows “will make ‘Mad Men’ look like ‘Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm!’ ”
Della Femina — who created iconic campaigns from the singing Meow Mix cat to lying Joe Isuzu — says his in-the-works series will be based in part on his 1970 best seller, “From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor.” (That title was dreamed up by the author as a joke tag line for Panasonic.)
“ ’Mad Men’ was a show about the 1950s and ’60s,” Della Femina told us, explaining his series will be “a total crazy celebration of the not-PC ’70s, back when advertising was fun.”
Della Femina recalls the scene back then was so wild, his agency at the time held an annual “sex contest” in which up to 500 employees voted on whom they’d most like to bed at the company, in categories including “male, female, gay and ménage à trois.” The winners were annually revealed at the same “Mexican restaurant, where everyone would go a little crazy. READ MORE…
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Read this book. And weep.
30 ago, this book was the ‘manifesto’ for the entire advertising business, and why every ‘Kook’, ‘Genius’, ‘Freak’, ‘Maverick’ and ‘Chancer’ ( Read: ‘Outlier’, ‘Game Changer’ and ‘Tipping Point Generator’) fought tooth and nail to get a job in Advertising
A snapshot of an entire industry which Jerry della Femina summed up in one line.
‘Advertising is the most fun you could have with your clothes on.’
I wonder what happened?
Bigpom, would you believe it was actually 45 years ago – the book was first published in 1970 – but I know it was still read and loved well into the 80s and 90s.
I read it 20 years ago on recommendation of a CD whilst I was doing work experience. An absolute cracking read. I’d still recommend it.
An entertaining and memorable book. Will make a terrific series.
Look foreward to it .
Hope it will show far we had we have gone backwards trying to be so f……g politically
correct.