Is it wrong that I am more worried about Kale than the nation's oil supply on Rubicon?

No. I am in your camp.

MM: I have a negative feeling about Faye because she didn't accept Peggy's offer for a drink. We don't really see Peggy reach out the way she's done and Faye kind of shot her down. Why do you think that was?

Le nubian, I was wondering if despite what Faye said to Don about taking their relationship public, she didn't want to tell Peggy that she had dinner plans with Don.

But then why didn't she just say: I have plans tonight, but what about next week?

I think that Peggy & Faye have different takes on being a woman in a man's world. We've seen consistently that Peggy craves to be a part of a larger group, from her disappointment at not fitting in with any of the cliques at the firm, to her comment (I forget when) about not being able to go to the clubs that the men go to, to her hanging with the beatniks and generally going outside of her comfort zone in the hopes of connecting with something larger. Faye, on the other hand, seems like more of a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps person. She's done it all herself and doesn't need anyone else.

I feel like the wedding ring Faye wore and Faye's getting Don the Heinz meeting (Peggy wouldn't have) are significant here as well, but I'm having trouble verbalizing.

Faye's reaction to me seemed like "Dear god, as if dealing with Don wasn't enough, I don't need both of you hitting on me!" I think she was more upset than she let on about losing the job and just wanted as clean a break with SCDP as possible.

Do we think this is really the end of Bert Cooper?? "Get my shoes" was fantastic.

Also loved Don smoking while writing the anti-tobacco letter. I hope it pays off, but I think he may have written it about ten years too early.

It occured to me that firing Roger would save the firm a TON of money...

I think she was more upset than she let on about losing the job and just wanted as clean a break with SCDP as possible.

Maybe, but she's not going to get that if she keeps dating Don.

I think he may have written it about ten years too early.

I'm not so sure. The labeling law (Surgeon General warning) was passed in '65, the Fairness Doctrine rule (requiring stations to carry free anti-smoking ads) started in '67 and the TV ad band started in '71. Part of Don's motivation was what Megan said: "You didn't break up with me; I broke up with you." But I think Don was also motivated by Peggy's comment about changing the firm's name. Changing their name would have been silly but changing focus is not. The only way SCDP is going to survive is by standing out from the rest of the pack. Being a forward thinking company is a great way to do that.

The labeling law (Surgeon General warning) was passed in '65, the Fairness Doctrine rule (requiring stations to carry free anti-smoking ads) started in '67 and the TV ad band started in '71.

But it took a long time after that for smoking to become unpopular, in large part because there was so much pro-tobacco advertising around.

In the long run, Don will have history on his side, but it's an incredibly risky move to throw that much money down the drain.

Alan Sepinwall points out that one of the people who called Don was Emerson Foote:

Meanwhile, one of Don's other phone messages was from Emerson Foote, an advertising giant who in 1965 quit his job as chairman of McCann-Erickson because he didn't want to represent tobacco anymore.

it's an incredibly risky move to throw that much money down the drain.

I think Don figured they weren't getting that money anyway so why not take a chance.

one of the people who called Don was Emerson Foote

Thanks, Theo. I meant to check up on who Foote was but forgot.

Some googling of Foote reveals two interesting tidbits: He had the Lucky Strikes account in the '40s when he dropped all tobacco advertising. And he was the president of the American Cancer Society in 1965. Was it the ACS that wants SCDP to produce anti-smoking ads?