Draper iconography

So I don't actually read the New York Times (sorry folks .... but my business partner does!), but this was brought to my attention by a Crazy Savvy fan. Aha! The latest bit of Draper-related ephemera. After taking a moment to pay my proper respects to the lovely picture (hope there are no drool stains...), I dug into the article — only to discover that it has nothing whatsoever to do with Mad Men, and is only tangentially related to the notion of advertising at all.

Hm. What could this mean? It strikes me that Mr. Draper, in all his fedora-ed glory, has become a symbol .... a proxy not just for the ad world itself, but for brand awareness, mystery, style, je ne sais quoi. The article discusses the symbolic implications of car ownership in the 21st century .... but pose Don Draper in front of a fancy Zipcar and the piece becomes a meditation on, what?, consumerism? brand-as-self-image? As far as I can tell, Don is the brand — for a certain type of man, a certain image. Fine, fair enough. I can think of a few Draper doppelgangers from my experiences in the biz.

But what does this mean as a modern woman in advertising? What do we bring to the table? Who is our cultural icon, our symbolic representation of what it means to be, well, us? In short, I don't know. I watch, I observe, I raise my eyebrows in surprise or consternation or amusement at times — and then I go back to doing my thing, and not worrying too much about what it all "means." Nevertheless, this latest Draper caper is highly intriguing .... it's fascinating to watch our cultural vocabulary twist itself around this icon-as-idea. But love him though I do, I'll leave Mr. Draper his tweed coats and skinny ties and zeitgeist-altering mystique.... I'll take my Betsey J and call it a day, thank you very much.