Here’s a question… Why was the TV drama Mad Men called that?
You might say, because it’s a play on “Ad Men.” You might also say, because it’s a nod to Madison Avenue. And maybe, because it hints at a certain madness - the ego, the recklessness, the bravado that once defined the so-called golden age of advertising, back in the days when our industry was still a leading force in the culture of the day.
But here’s different question: why men specifically? Why not Mad Women? Or Mad People?
For one thing, those alternative titles don’t quite have the same ring to them. That double ‘M.’ Because, as any 1960s copywriter would tell you, alliteration makes phrases memorable.
More fundamentally, the show was set in the 1960s. It was a time when women answered phones and men ran the meetings. The title reflected the world as it was, when 50% of the population had close to 100% of the power.
But that was then. This is now.
Or is it?
A couple of months ago, my learned colleagues wrote an opinion piece here in Campaign Asia about the importance of personality in advertising. It lamented the fact that our industry no longer leads culture and argued that to “break the rules and take back control,” the industry needs larger-than-life figures. They listed no fewer than 26 such personalities. All of them were men.
This isn’t exactly a surprise. For decades, advertising has celebrated the Mad Men-style archetype: loud, charismatic, arguably arrogant, rule-breaking men with their names etched above the door. That’s not to say there haven’t been trailblazing women - like Mary Wells Lawrence, the inspiration for the character of Peggy Olsen in the show. Way back in the male-dominated 1960s, she founded and led her own agency, Wells Rich Greene. She produced iconic work and shattered glass ceilings. But after decades of success, even her name was dropped from the door in a holding company-driven merger—and with it went her place in the collective memory of the industry. So the all-pervading image of an advertising personality remains decidedly male.
Let’s face it: advertising is not alone in its celebration of that archetype. Think Wall Street titans, tech oligarchs, or politicians - and who comes to mind?
Our industry has long aspired to lead culture as well as reflect it. So now more than ever, isn’t it time we led culture into a reassessment of what a “big personality” looks like? Because the kind of personality we need today isn’t just the kind that can build an agency or two - it’s the kind that can rebuild a whole industry.
At Cannes this year, UK adman-turned-comedian Rob Mayhew wore a T-shirt emblazoned with just four names: Gallop, Scaman, Ross, and Kean. It was a wry yet pointed acknowledgement of the kinds of personalities truly shaping our industry now - not through legacy structures, but through fearless ideas and future-forward thinking.
Cindy Gallop—unapologetic disruptor reshaping power dynamics around sex, gender, and advertising. Zoe Scaman is the strategist and founder of Bodacious, known for challenging industry complacency and inequality. Vicky Ross is the copywriting champion and social impact storyteller, redefining craft with purpose. And Amy Kean, author, strategist, and equality crusader helping people find their creative voice.
These women don’t run traditional global agencies. They haven’t put their names above the door. However, they are redefining influence—and they offer a different perspective on what success can look like. And perhaps that's what the future of agency leadership requires: not a return to the so-called golden age of advertising, and not a reboot of the old Mad Men mould, but a radical reimagining of what leadership and "personality" in this industry can be.
It's not about replacing Don Draper with Donna Draper. It’s about a new generation of leaders who understand the red thread that connects creativity with effectiveness; who embrace technological advances while valuing emotional intelligence; who foster collaboration over the cult of personality; who champion inclusion over exclusion. It’s about leaders who can sprinkle some undefined creative fairy-dust over all they touch - knowing how to evaluate it, invest in it, evolve it, and embed it into the fabric of the agency so it can flex and bend with the inevitable curveballs.
So yes, let’s hear it for the girls, and the boys, and anyone else brave enough to challenge outdated archetypes and redefine what "personality" means in our industry. The future of advertising won’t be built by clinging to the Mad Men mythology. But if we get it right, we just might break free from inertia- and step into something bold, inclusive, and better for everyone.
And maybe then, advertising can truly lead culture.
Kathryn Patten is the director of marketing and Sharon Powell, the strategy director at The Effectiveness Partnership.
