Advertisers do not like controversy. Advertisers have thin skin. Just a few of the valuable observations to be taken from Sunday’s rich episode of Mad Men, written by Matthew Weiner and Rick Cleveland, which provided a fascinating window into how the TV and ad business worked circa 1962 (and in some ways it hasn’t changed that much since then).One major subplot, with surprising personal and professional repercussions, hinged on a controversial episode of CBS’s groundbreaking legal drama The Defenders, with a shockingly blunt abortion storyline that was causing sponsors to flee. Schlubby Harry Crane, disgruntled after inadvertently learning how much less he was being paid than colleague Ken Cosgrove ($200 a week to Ken’s $300), brought the episode to his bosses’ attention at Sterling Cooper—prompting a screening for lipstick client Belle Jolie, the idea being that women would likely seek this episode out, despite the controversy. (Peggy was on hand to he...
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