Dunkin' Gets the Mad Men Treatment

After a grueling contract dispute and a 17-month hiatus, Mad Men finally returns this weekend for its fifth season on AMC, and fans everywhere are dusting off their scotch decanters to prep for the premiere. Over at Newsweek, Tina Brown and co. decided to take things a bit further, and with the help of local ad agency Hill Holliday, they put together an entire retro issue, complete with throwback ads.

Hill Holliday’s Chief Creative Officer Lance Jensen says the “brain drizzle” of an idea happened while they were meeting with Newsweek and flipping through old issues — after all, you really can’t do a Mad Men themed issue without actually including stylized ads. The Newsweek team took the idea and ran with it, and Jensen and his team approached some of their well-known clients, Dunkin’ Donuts and John Hancock, who referenced their archives for the ads posted below. Jensen himself didn’t get to rub shoulders with Jon Hamm and January Jones at Monday night’s launch event — scheduling conflicts — but he’s a fan of the show, and looking forward to the premiere this Sunday. “I need to ice up my martini glasses,” he says.

The throwback ad for Dunkin’ Donuts. I doubt the phrase “It’s a real humdinger” will be replacing “America runs on Dunkin'” anytime soon.

John Hancock’s ad channels the coolness of Don Draper, but does make a slight misstep by mentioning the internet. What’s the World Wide Web?