Image credit: http://www.someecards.com/confession-cards/im-like-don-draper-on-mad-men
It is almost impossible to avoid our most endeared and abhorred cultural icons on the internet. Facebook, Twitters, blogs, articles, and fan generated websites create alternate realities where characters live and act in the everyday. Idolization and adoration are no longer limited to the 40 minutes in which a television show is aired; now it exists via mere google search. Don Draper epitomizes this expansion of character, with his life, style, sayings, charisma, sex appeal and emotional distress reaching not only a cult like adoration but also are qualities to be emulated by any man looking to attain his suave. Through a constant stream of social media, parody YouTube Videos, and newspaper articles, Don Draper is just as alive as any real influential celebrity for his persona is even more accessible and relatable.
Wait, What?
Askmen.com honored Don Draper as the most influential man of 2009 noting that even though he is a fictional character, his “male identity…is enduringly captivating.” They assert that while he is valued for being “values driven and thoroughly masculine” but his “human flaws” allow his character to seem relatable and relevant in the modern world. On the internet Don exercises his ability to reflect old school and the modern world. He exists through his fictional 1960s world through 2010 tweets directed at Connie Hilton and other characters. His old school style influences how the modern man hair styles his hair and how the modern worker bee presents themselves through Draper inspired career tips such as “Play your position” and “Keep your mouth shut.” Don has also managed to pitch ‘pick up’ tactics, so that all men may revel in while attempting to attain his unattainable charm on Saturday Night Live. He is not limited to joyful parody; in fact, there is a tumblr solely devoted to “Sad Don Draper” with photographs even Don couldn’t create a sufficient tagline for. Take this gem…
Image credit: http://saddondraper.tumblr.com/
Don is truly a Renaissance man, with his hand in every media, projecting his image like the advertising agent he is, or at least is on the show. All this Don Draper mania, attention and idolization makes me wonder what the actual character, the real Don Draper would make of it, seeing as he did not even enjoy talking to the newspaper reporter at the start of season 4 in “Public Relations." Then again, the “What Would Don Draper Do?” (WWDDD?) tumblr provides some insight:
91. Dear Don Draper, Do you have any views on men using Facebook?
Yes, the same ones I have of men wearing brassieres.
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