74 real-world brands feel the love during season 4 of 'Mad Men'
By T.L. Stanley on Tue Oct 19 2010Lucky Strike cigarettes dropped its fictional ad agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, but still managed to reap the rewards from its association with Mad Men. According to tracking firm Joyce Julius & Associates, the smokes landed $360,000 worth of (real-world) unpaid media exposure from AMC's hit series. (Never mind that the playboy scion of the ciggies' controlling family is portrayed as a drunken lout, which is less than flattering even though it's make believe.) The 13 episodes in the '60s-set drama's just-ended fourth season contained 74 brand references, including Clearasil, Honda, Ponds, Life cereal and Samsonite, the Joyce Julius study found. Sunday night's finale packed in the American Cancer Society, Dow Chemical, the Salvation Army, Disneyland, Saran Wrap and Corning. Those are all worth money, which will no doubt come as welcome news to marketers who don't have to cough up any green to be featured on the show. But now that the fourth season's finished, where's the solace for the rest of us?