The real-life story behind that Coke ad in the Mad Men finale

(Image credit: YouTube.com/Coca-Cola Conversations)

last updated 18 May 2015

Last night, Mad Men ended its run by implying that protagonist Don Draper had a hand in Coca-Cola's famed 1971 "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" ad, which posited that sharing a sugary beverage with friends was a shortcut to "the real thing":

As Backer tells the story, the inspiration for the ad came during a business trip, when poor weather conditions forced his plane to land in Ireland. When he saw his fellow waylaid travelers relaxing and commiserating over bottles of soda, he came up with the kernel of what eventually became the "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" ad. "That was the basic idea: to see Coke not as it was originally designed to be — a liquid refresher — but as a tiny bit of commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes," said Backer.

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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.

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