Mad Men as Culture Jamming

Meeting Date: 10/3/2010

Episode 5: 5G

Attendance: Candace, Catherine, Charlie, Clay, Lauran, Marshall, Tim

Culture jamming is a way of resisting the ideologies and practices of dominant culture. It aims to disrupt messages of ideology dominant culture sends through the media by subverting the meanings of the tools originally used by the dominant culture. This episode contains elements that suggest Mad Men is culture jamming on a larger scale.

Set in the 50s, the show chronicle’s the lives of ad men, their families, and other players in the business. The fact that it is written and produced now allowed for more reflection on the practices of the day. While not outright condemning the activities of the time, the way the show as a popular media form to give viewers a critical look at the world of advertising and past generations allows for enlightenment on particular subjects.

While mass media today is used to promote consumerism and materialism and uphold dominant ideology, Mad Men is culture jamming because it is a form of mass media that does not send those messages. Though not as blatant as Barbara Kruger’s work, Mad Men sheds light on the lives of those in advertising and the strategies they use to sell. Highlighting the jobs of ad men inside the office gives viewers a look into the world that affects them behind the scenes. It has the effect of possibly making more conscious consumers of modern advertising and texts out of the audience.

Through the personal lives of the characters, the show comments on the ideas and practices of that time period, many of which still exist today. Again, using mass media, the show gives a view of women smoking and drinking while pregnant, racist and sexist attitudes, and other things that have changed for the most part in society today. While the show itself does not explicitly do so in a negative light, the frequency of the practices in light of modern knowledge causes the viewers to be critical of the practices and reflect on how they were common and supported back then. Viewers see women smoking and drinking while pregnant and are in awe. They hear racist and sexist remarks, and the lack of political correctness of it strikes them and reaffirms current egalitarian feelings toward race and sex. The frequency of drinking and smoking in the show serves not to popularize it or to glorify the time period, but instead to cause viewers to have a critical view of the practices. The inclusion of these activities and attitudes makes the reader reflect on modern society and the ideas, attitudes and practices today that might in later years be viewed in the same light.

While Mad Men is wonderfully entertaining, it uses popular media and the television drama form to make statements through the portrayal of its characters. It is critical of the materialistic and lavish lives of the characters. This is in contrast with the usual uses of mass media to promote this consumerism and materialism.