Product placement
May 5, 2011 10:29 AM

What boozes and other items would go well in a Mad Men themed gift basket?
posted by Artw to Media & Arts (26 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
I don't know about what particular whiskeys or gins have shown up on the show, but my god, there's got to be a bottle of Heineken.
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:31 AM on May 5, 2011


J & B

Johnny Walker Red
posted by Dr-Baa at 10:38 AM on May 5, 2011


Oh, and Lucky Strikes.
posted by Dr-Baa at 10:40 AM on May 5, 2011


Don Draper drinks Canadian Club whiskey.

Roger usually drinks vodka, and in one episode he brags about having a bottle of Stoli (tough to get during the cold war), and refuses to share it with the lower ranks.

The most essential item, though, is a pack of Lucky Strikes.
posted by susanvance at 10:41 AM on May 5, 2011


Don Draper drinks Canadian Club.

Who is the gift basket for, a man or a woman?

You can easily make a basket exclusively of Sterling Cooper and SCDP clients that still exist today: Lucky Strike, Right Guard, Kodak, Dr. Scholl's, Utz, Clearasil, Chiquita Banana, Heineken, Maidenform, Gillette...
posted by juniperesque at 10:42 AM on May 5, 2011


The basket is unisex.
posted by Artw at 10:44 AM on May 5, 2011




A tube of red lipstick and liquid eyeliner
posted by lizbunny at 10:46 AM on May 5, 2011


Brylcreem -- and yes, it's still being sold!

Maybe a cigarette holder if you don't feel good about gifting ciggies.

Bar glasses -- martini, highball or maybe those old-school shallow champagne glasses like the one Betty drinks out of on their anniversary.

Pen on a necklace, like Joan wears.

A paper "while you were out" pad.
posted by missjenny at 11:03 AM on May 5, 2011


Definitely a nice cold bottle of milk to go with that vodka. You know, for your ulcer.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:05 AM on May 5, 2011


Pearls.
Cufflinks.
Lighter/Ashtray.
Meditations in an Emergency book.
Martini glasses.
Cocktail shakers.
Utz chips/pretzels (did they do pretzels on the show?).
posted by schnee at 11:12 AM on May 5, 2011


A few bottles of Heineken.
Some small danish, if you can find them. (Weiner insisted on small ones appropriate to the era, not like the huge ones we have now. Also for the A&P produce)
Vintage office supplies and desk accessories
A lighter and other smoking paraphernalia
Cocktail accessories
posted by jgirl at 11:19 AM on May 5, 2011


Travel-size can of hairspray
Playboy bunny keychain
posted by JoanArkham at 11:19 AM on May 5, 2011


Some Dorothy Thorpe Roly Poly glasses.
posted by SNACKeR at 11:26 AM on May 5, 2011


A classic Zippo lighter.
Retro swizzle sticks
Coca-Cola in a glass bottle
1960s LIFE magazines can usually be purchased for $5-$15
Old-timey chewing gum
posted by castlebravo at 11:26 AM on May 5, 2011


Meditations in an Emergency book.

This is brilliant! On a similar angle, a record of The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart.
posted by Dr-Baa at 11:31 AM on May 5, 2011


Old Overholt Rye, which although never prominently script featured, appears to consistently be Don's drink.

Best scene is the one where he meets Connie and makes Old Fashioneds with it.
posted by mwhybark at 11:40 AM on May 5, 2011


IBM Selectric.
posted by mwhybark at 11:46 AM on May 5, 2011


Miltowns!
Vintage costume jewelry
Vintage hats
posted by jgirl at 11:57 AM on May 5, 2011


Draper makes Old Fashioneds with Old Overholt Rye because a proper Old Fashioned is made with Rye (and Mad Men likes product placement, and Old Overholt is one of the few nationally available brands of Rye that is still around yet period appropriate).

Don's liquor of choice is Canadian Club, as mentioned above.

Though Rye, any Rye really, is tres mid-century.

A hat = brilliant!

One of those huge crystal cigarette lighters which doubles as a paperweight.

Utz potato chips. The plain jane regular kind which has seemingly not updated their packaging since 1970 or so.

Chianti in the round bottle with a basket bottom. I'm not sure this has been prominently featured in any episode, but it's so 60's Greenwich Village, which is where Don lives now.

If you don't go with Meditations in an Emergency, HOWL would be a good second choice.
posted by Sara C. at 12:31 PM on May 5, 2011


I would also throw in this book
posted by stormpooper at 1:19 PM on May 5, 2011


A clean shirt. Very Mad Men, very pimp.
posted by WaspEnterprises at 4:02 PM on May 5, 2011


An address finder
posted by jgirl at 5:04 PM on May 5, 2011


A martini kit: gin (Tanguerey is good), vermouth (Martini & Rossi), martini glasses, those tiny plastic swords and a cocktail shaker. Heck, a set of bar tools and garnishes (jars of olives, pickled cocktail onions, maraschino cherries and the like) would be good to add to your basket, too.

Include the classic martini recipe: fill the martini glass with gin, add a dash of vermouth; garnish with either a couple olives, a cocktail onion or a twist of lemon peel. If you want it cold, pour the ingredients over ice in the cocktail shaker, then into your martini glass --- DO NOT SHAKE the martini/ice mixture, it just breaks up the ice and waters down the martini. Trust me, James Bond was a wimp with his silly 'shaken not stirred' line.
posted by easily confused at 5:37 PM on May 5, 2011


In the pilot, Joan advises Peggy to buy some bath salts, candy, and flowers as gifts for the phone operators. She also recommends to keep aspirin, band-aids, and a needle and thread. Me, I'd put everything into a big paper bag with the eyes cut out.
posted by mochapickle at 5:48 PM on May 5, 2011


Now I'm curious - have you decided what you'll be putting in the basket?
posted by schnee at 6:22 AM on May 6, 2011


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