Some New York City residents are not fans of AMC's new Mad Men ads.
The images in the billboards shown below are familiar from the show's opening sequence, and feature Don Draper "falling" in the figurative sense. But many citizens, especially the families of 9/11 victims, are taking serious offense.
Deborah Burlingame, whose dad piloted the jet that was forced to crash into the Pentagon, finds it "impossible to believe" that any advertiser would run such a campaign in New York and not evoke the "tragic memory of those poor souls on 9/11."
"I think this advertiser decided that creating a controversy, at the expense of thousands who will be hurt by this image of man falling to his certain death, is worth it."
The creators of Mad Men said in response:
"The image of Don Draper tumbling through space has been used since the show began in 2007 to represent a man whose life is in turmoil."
"The image used in the campaign is intended to serve as a metaphor for the events happening in Don Draper’s fictional life and in no way references actual events."
Mad Men ads in New York: Offensive?