There's an interesting post on AdPulp about "Mad Men" which airs on AMC on Thursday night. Several of the comments resurrected that old chestnut about DDB in the sixties being the only place an Italian or Jew could get a job... Which is horseshit. Here was the comment I posted... My first job in the US was at B&B in 1964 and my Art Director was Gene Federico... And if you don't know who he was, you should be shot. You're also forgetting that long before Ally & Gargano... Who's AD wife I also worked with at B&B, there was PKL... The L being the legendary (I'll punch you on the fucking nose) George Lois. In fact there were quite a few hot shops in the sixties besides DDB... DeGarmo and Jack Tinker were classic examples, and I worked at both. Yes, I am an old fart, and yes, I will be reviewing Mad Men on Friday on AdScam... So stay tuned. Oh, and all the people I worked with in those days were Americans. I don't understand the American obsession with calling themselves another nationality. I once worked with a woman who insisted she was Irish. I asked her, "So whereabouts in Ireland where you born?" She said "I was born in New York, but my grandfather came from Ireland." To which I replied... "If you are born here... You're a fucking American. Live with it." Boy, was she pissed!
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Why does everyone want to be Irish on St Patricks day?