Mad Men’s New Art Has Don Draper Between Mannequins

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The newest Mad Men ad features Don Draper’s wistful reflection centered between two mannequins: one in men’s pajamas, sitting in regal repose, and the other a nude female form, standing with what looks like her dress around her ankles. What does it mean? “This is a dreamlike image,” Matt Weiner told the Times. “[It’s] a nonverbal representation of where my head is at and where the show will be … By the end of the season, I guarantee you’ll know what it is about.” Does that mean it’s about Don’s damaged ideas about femininity and parterning, and how he likes to use advertising (in this case, a display window) as a projection of his fantasies, and how the show uses said projections to explore the male gaze and the damage it can wreak? Probably!