Cheryl Berman, former chairman of Leo Burnett and current principal of the new ad agency Unbundled, will be writing recaps of “Mad Men” for The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog.
In her opening salvo, Berman says she walked in to Leo Burnett 30 years ago as Peggy Olsen, but walked out as Don Draper. For the record, when she did descend and allow her feet to touch pavement on Wacker Drive, Berman had to sit on the sidelines for two years, due to a contractual agreement with her former employer. She pays them back with this zinger:
I was actually there to watch Europeans swoop in and rob a company of its integrity, its culture, and its soul (Leo Burnett is now owned by Publicis). So I’m anxious to see what happens to Sterling Cooper now that the Brits reign. Will Don Draper still be able to look us in the eye and seduce us with his big ideas? I sure hope so.
Sun Times columnist Lewis Lazare tells the Chicago creative community to “watch out” now that Berman is back. I don’t doubt her ability to land clients and service them well. But I do find the use of follow graphic reportedly from her firm’s Web site (which I can’t locate) unfortunate.
The Unbundled “beach house” is in Wilmette, a tony suburb on the North Shore.
