‘Mad Men’ kicks off farewell tour with ad spot during Oscars telecast

Leave it to Don Draper to land an ad spot during the Oscars telecast.

That “Mad Men” is ending its seven-year run is no longer a distant notion -- and much is being done to make people aware of that reality. The latest was a 60-second ad spot that aired Sunday night during the Academy Awards.

The patchwork promo features memorable moments from the period drama -- incuding Peggy’s introduction to Don, touching moments between Joan and Roger -- as statements from Jon Hamm’s Draper are spliced together to pitch to the audience in his signature stylistic manner, saying things like: “There’s the rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash” or how he plays to the nostalgia factor, saying it’s “delicate, but potent.”

FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2015

The spot plays to the idea of it being the end of an era. For the characters of the AMC drama, that era is the 1960s -- the first half of the final season ended soon after the moon landing in July 1969. For viewers of “Mad Men,” it signifies the end of what some consider to be one of the top dramas on television. The final seven episodes roll out on AMC beginning April 5.

A commerical during the telecast of film’s biggest night is somewhat fitting. “Mad Men” marked AMC’s first original hit series -- one that had a transformative impact, helping the overlooked basic cable channel known for airing classic movie reruns become a destination for prestige television programming.

And a spot during the big-ticket event, in which a wide section of viewers are more likely to be watching live and catching commercials, certainly didn’t come cheap. As we reported last week, the price of a 30-second commercial spot during the telecast reached an average of $1.95 million.

The ad comes less than a week after the companies behind the drama -- cable network AMC and producer Lionsgate -- announced a slew of exhibitions, panel conversations and screenings planned at major cultural institutions in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., starting next month in the run-up to the show’s final stretch.

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