Explicating Creativity and Design: The Nature and Meaningfulness of Work in Mad Men

Abstract

Scholars have infrequently explored meaningful work of creative industries despite a resurgence of interest in meanings of work. To address this gap, we took as our starting point the award-winning drama Mad Men. Although other cultural artifacts engage the imagination, Mad Men is distinctive in its depiction of careers, work-life considerations, and moral dilemmas associated with the nature and meaning of work. We critically analyzed the discursive framing of creative directors’ work as well as attendant moral dilemmas, drawing out the ways in which characters describe good work and those who perform this work. We note three themes that construct a hierarchy of meaningful work, foreground the narrative practices of work, and articulate the processes whereby meaningful work discourses can be used to navigate workplace politics. In doing so, we depict the intersections of popular culture, work, and professionalism. Finally, we uncover reasons for this drama's popularity and fascination with creative directors’ work.

Keywords:

• Meaningful Work
• Organizational Communication
• Popular Culture
• Professional

Acknowledgments

Both study feminist organizing and identity constructions around work, career, and leadership. The authors are especially grateful to the editor Bill Eadie and the reviewers for their assistance with earlier drafts of the manuscript. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the Central States Communication Association.

Notes

Mad Men has won the Golden Globe, awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, for the best drama on television for four seasons. It also has won international acclaim and its actors, stylists, and production crew have accrued numerous other awards (Koo, 2012).

What is “new” in new media is relative. In the 1960s, changes in U.S. media and advertising in the 1960s include satellites, color television, and three TV networks: In 1957, satellites were launched, and this began to change the scope and distribution of new media in the 1960s, and color became the big deal as television evolved into three powerful networks that became our primary source of news, entertainment, and advertising. (Steele, 2009, p. 289) These and other changes from 50 years ago are similar in impact to today's media platforms and distribution, advertising finances in revenues and costs, and online and digital “aggregators,” such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft's MSN (Dowling, 2009).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patrice M. Buzzanell

Patrice M. Buzzanell (PhD, Purdue University) is Professor in the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University.

Suzy D'Enbeau

Suzy D'Enbeau (PhD, Purdue University) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas.