One of the things I love (out of many, many things) about Mad Men is the advertising, business, and social history that serves as a background to much of what goes on in the lives of the characters on the show. For example, Conrad Hilton has been a character on the show this season, hiring Don and Sterling Cooper as an ad agency. I assumed that Matt Weiner and his writers approached the Hilton family and/or the Hilton chain about using him on the show. But that's not what happened.
The Hilton chain actually approached the show.
That's one of the great tidbits in this Wall Street Journal article about how Conrad Hilton became a character on the show. Weiner met with Hilton executives over lunch after they called and they talked about what Conrad Hilton was like and the hotel execs even gave Weiner a copy of Hilton's book Be My Guest, which the hotel chain used to put in all of its rooms.
I find Hilton an interesting character on the show. It would be funny if Mad Men had a scene where Sterling Cooper does an ad for Hilton hotel in Paris, France and Conrad says, "Paris... I've always liked that name." Though I don't think the show would be that cheesy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-03-2009 @ 4:51PM
Jack said...
I would barf if he said that. The writers are better than that.
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11-03-2009 @ 5:31PM
chaosrain said...
Though this is an interesting bit of Mad Men trivia, the Paris comment was downright dumb. You are obviously not aware that Paris is Conrad's son's son's daughter. That makes him a great grandfather to Paris...and a distant one at that. Conrad died in 1979 and Paris wasn't even born until 1981 so he never even saw her as a baby bump...
Wikipedia is your friend...
Also, he's due to get the bump from President to become the chairman of the board in 1966...it's 1963 in Mad Men time so Connie's days on the show are numbered...
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11-03-2009 @ 6:12PM
Jimmy said...
Read this in yesterday's WSJ. Thanks for re-posting!
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11-03-2009 @ 7:04PM
Laura said...
i laughed when i read your Paris line, Bob...
As for Conrad, i've loved this part of the show - calling Don out for bad copy and ideas...LOVE IT!
Wouldn't be surprised if more companies approached the show.
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11-03-2009 @ 7:37PM
jim said...
2001 came out in 1968 and had a Hilton Hotel in it. It took years of production to make that movie. Soon Sterling Cooper will be approaching Kubrick about some Hilton product placement...
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11-03-2009 @ 8:39PM
Bob Sassone said...
chaosrain: I never said that Conrad was Paris' father. Family members make suggestions for baby names all the time. Plus it was just a joke.
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11-03-2009 @ 8:57PM
Tommy said...
Bob,
You threw that "Paris" line out there, identifying it as something "too cheesy", but the fact of the matter is -- you thought it. You wrote it. You even commented that it was a joke, but that's the problem, it was a bad joke.
I'd like to give you more credit. I'd like to believe you didn't read your own article before posting it. The sad truth is, I'm sure you did.
11-03-2009 @ 9:55PM
jffm said...
Bob's not my favorite blogger here, but come on, it was just a silly, not even half way serious joke he threw out, not a submission to join the show's writing team. Give the guy a break.
An interesting bit of behind the scenes on the show though.
11-04-2009 @ 12:11AM
L'Emmerdeur said...
I see a row of sticks shoved deep into a multitude of nerd-rage-reddened buttocks that should be removed forthwith.
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