Why I’m Quitting Tobacco: A Mad Move From The Mad Man At Madison Avenue
Tags: Advertising, Don Draper, Mad Men, Insights, Marketing

Don Draper is a sophisticated fictional character who works as a creative director at Sterling Cooper and Partners, an advertising agency from AMC’s Mad Men. Aside from the plot that mainly focused on middle-aged ad executives in Madison Avenue, it’s a well-portrayed series of Manhattan life in the 1960s with fascinating cultural scenery based on real-life events. Don is the mastermind of advertising campaigns for Kodak, Chevrolet, Life Cereal, and more. But cigarettes have a special spotlight in representing the 60s lifestyle on AMC’s Mad Men.

In the pilot episode Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (2007), Don earned his name when he successfully landed a deal with Lucky Strike, a famous tobacco company. When people started to take great concern about tobacco dangers, Lucky Strike wanted to hide the link between smoking and lung-health risks.

“Everybody else’s tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strike… it’s toasted.” Just like that, Don Draper, the suave guy, saved the day.

Ever since he invented that catchphrase, Lucky Strike has always been the heart that pumps up hard cash for Sterling Cooper and Partners — until they decided to move their company away to another place.

Sterling Cooper and Partners were nearly going downhill after losing Lucky Strike (Blowing Smoke, 2010). Amid all the madness, Don takes out a full-page ad in The New York Times after losing Lucky Strike with a bold letter ‘Why I’m Quitting Tobacco.’

When you see the scene where he spends his entire booze-filled evening writing his ‘confession letter’ while still taking a big puff on cigarettes, alongside his voice in the background — reading what he writes, it’s quite a coup.

Don’s PR stunt may feel like a new breath of fresh air. But around the 1960s, the tobacco industry is a valuable commodity in the U.S. as the number of smokers exploded and made it to over 40% of the adult population (National Center for Health Statistics, 2005). So, while many other companies are trying not to play games with their smoked moneymaking machine, Don’ helped’ his firm fall. Still and all, he thought he did what was the best for the company.

With all the chaos and uncertainty happening in the office, his statement seemed rather unbelievable. They wanted new clients to save them from collapse. But Don took a different approach than many people could understand.

“When Lucky Strike moved their business elsewhere, I realized, here was my chance to be someone who could sleep at night, because I know what I’m selling doesn’t kill my customers.” (2010)

The column sparks public attention. With Don’s staggering mind and brave move, he is hoping this serves as a way to get started with new potential clients. His standpoint clearly shows some authenticity and integrity that set his firm apart from others. While it’s nice to hear a company being open about their issue with a sentimental reason added behind it, he put himself at significant risk in the public interest.

His action raised doubt at the beginning. But in the following episode of the series, Don proves that his attack on their ex-client was worth a shot. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked him to create an anti-smoking campaign. Even though it was quite an inconsiderate professional decision, Don’s bravery to bash Lucky Strike and the rest of the tobacco companies blatantly on media is utterly admirable.

These days, we can find plenty reminiscent of Don Draper’s ‘Why I’m Quitting Tobacco’ manifesto. Still, it’s a very tricky move since what matters most is the result. But suppose you ask me why so many people always do this kind of stunt. In that case, my answer is none other than because it’s interesting to hear — it’s everyone’s favorite trumped-up story that constitutes excellent advertising.