Tag Archives: Mad Men

What Happened to the Martini Lunch?

The three-martini lunch was a viable business meeting venue, when I got into the ad/PR biz in 1976.  Accomplished a lot and, moreover, forged solid friendships.

My old boss and our agency founder WAS the guy from Mad Men, who sold the clients and had all the great ideas.  At 82 and retired 27 years now, he STILL drinks martinis and is sharp and quick-witted as ever.

Today, we’re lucky to see clients more than a few times, each month.  Email, conference calls and the vid conference or webinar are the norm, for us and clients.  One web conferencing service runs TV commercials, actually mocking business travel as arcane, costly and pointless.

Who remembers the classic United campaign, where the boss handed out plane tix to the sales guys, admonishing them to get back to direct contact with customers?  Business lunches are still conducted, but the business and social sides of client relationships have changed radically.

Wonder what others are experiencing, both on the agency and client sides, as well as in the media?

We ad/PR guys invented the three-martini lunch, of course, right after the golf outing and the last-minute deadline!
Happy New Year,
TD