Hey my lovelies, today's review is of Memories of a Mad Man by Don Spector, which was provided to me for free thanks to World Wind Tours and Don Spector. Memories of a Mad Man is a memoir following Dons life in the marketing world in the 60's and 70's. To be quite honest I have never been a particularly big fan of memoirs and biography's, but I really enjoyed this one.
Author: Don Spector
Publisher: N/A
Pub. Date: January 30th 2016
Date Read: Tuesday 18th April 2016
Pages: 178
Rating:4.5/5 stars
Goodreads Summary: Mad Men. Don Spector didn’t just watch them on television. He was one of them.
Starting in a Madison Avenue ad agency in the ‘60’s, he actually lived the life captured in the TV show. In "Memories of a Mad Man" he shares with us an unforgettable era filled with humor, brilliance, wonderful heroes and big, bad villains.
The funny and fascinating stories he tells uncover the reality of the ad world behind the show.
• What was it like dealing with celebrities of the era?
• How did the advent of computers spoil one of the greatest boondoggles that Mad Men—and Mad Women—enjoyed?
• The Three Martini Lunch. True or false?
• What's the real truth about truth in advertising?
The book answers these and many more intriguing questions in this unique look into a unique profession.
Don Spector has a good voice, I found myself enraptured in the book reading page after page, and with the added bonus of the pictures dotted through out the novel. The book was also well written with me not only wanting to find out more about his life, but wanting to find out what happened to these people that he mentioned. Not only was it entertaining
As a business student myself reading how advertising was done was incredibly informative to me and definitely found me comparing myself how things have changed due to modern advancements.
The only negative I found was that due to me being english, and not knowledgeable of 60's/70's american radio presenters and actors, as I simply did not know who some of the people he mentioned were, so I did have to keep leaving the book in order to google who the people were at the time and who they went on to be. But apart from that it was all good.
About Don Spector
Starting as a junior copywriter in a Madison Avenue ad agency in
the ‘60s, Don Spector qualifies as a genuine Mad Man. Creating advertising for
the agency’s high-profile accounts like Smirnoff Vodka and Tareyton cigarettes,
he began his ascent up the creative ladder in several New York agencies. His
commercials and print ads for advertisers like Xerox, the Yellow Pages and
Jaguar ultimately led to an offer of a key position in Los Angeles-based
BBDO/West where he was soon named Creative Director. After moving to a
similar position at Foote Cone Belding/Los Angeles, he eventually started his
own agency where he served until his retirement. The advertising he
created for dozens of companies like ARCO, Absolut Vodka, Bristol-Myers and
S.C. Johnson won numerous awards. But, more importantly, it generated millions
of dollars in sales for them.
Recommend...
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys memoirs, business students and people who wish to find out more about the advertising/marketing industry in the 60s and 70s.
Book links
Another huge thank you to Don Spector and Tia from World Wind tours for allowing me to read and receive this book in exchange for a honest review.
0 comments: