SCENE: INTERIOR BERNSTEIN-REIN, STAFF LOUNGE, NINTH FLOORBrent Anderson walks over to the stand-alone bar in the corner. He fills his mug with beer from a freshly tapped keg and walks over to Krista Masilionis.BRENT: Cheers. Brent and Krista clink mugs. A handful of employees crowds around the bar, where a prize drawing is being held. Krista’s name is called. She walks to the bar and comes back with an envelope.KRISTA: Tickets to the Chiefs in the company suite.BRENT: Nice.Advertising — as a profession, an industry and an office culture — is glamorous again, thanks to AMC’s critically acclaimed series “Mad Men,” set in a fictional New York City advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the 1960s. But how much have we “learned” about real-life ad agency culture by following the dramatic story lines and pirate ship crew at the fictional Sterling Cooper agency?Which characters and recurring themes are spot on, and which preposterous? To find out, we decided to hang out with a single creative team from a prominent, longtime Kansas City ad agency, dropping in on its members at different times and in different situations over two weeks.Two agencies clearly fill the bill: Barkley and Bernstein-Rein are the largest independent agencies in town, and both were founded in 1964, the era the show takes place in.Of the two, Bernstein-Rein seemed the obvious choice because of its serendipitous address on Kansas City’s own Madison Avenue. How would our local Mad men (and women) stack up against the characters on the show? Is there a super-suave creative genius like Don Draper? A Cinderella story like secretary-turned-copywriter Peggy Olson? An eccentric founder like Bertram Cooper?“Beer Friday” at Bernstein-Rein is evidence that drinking in the workplace still goes on, but it’s limited to the last hour of the work week, kicking off around 4 p.m. every Friday.Compared to office parties at Sterling Cooper on the show, this is pretty tame stuff. No one is sitting on anyone’s lap, no one experiences loss of bladder control, no limbs are severed by tractor demonstrations gone awry. “The smoking, the drinking, the carousing, I don’t see that going on at all,” says vice president/group account director Vernon Williams. But the brashness and swagger associated with ad world inhabitants are easy enough to find. “Greed, ambition, confidence — you need a level of all that to be able to stand up in front of a client and sell an idea,” Williams says. “It can border on arrogance.”Fashion is a huge theme on “Mad Men,” which just ended its third season. (The fourth is expected to begin in summer.) It’s also much in evidence inside the halls of Bernstein-Rein. Clothing is more casual than on the show, but you get the feeling everyone is very much dressing a part. “We definitely enjoy the creative environment around us, and we dress to feed that,” project manager Amy Stafford says.For the guys in the creative department, jeans and good-quality T-shirts or polo shirts are the uniform, with the odd necktie or rakish cap to add flair. The key, senior copywriter Brent Anderson says, is to project a relaxed office atmosphere without looking like you just walked in from mowing the lawn. The women in the creative department wear a wider array of styles, from leggings to pencil skirts to flared trousers. Account execs dress more conservatively but still look chic.

Posted on Fri, Nov. 20, 2009 12:05 PM

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Spend some time with KC’s own 'Mad Men' (and women)

By CINDY HOEDEL

The Kansas City Star

Photos | TV's 'Mad Men' and KC's Bernstein-Rein

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SCENE: INTERIOR BERNSTEIN-REIN, STAFF LOUNGE, NINTH FLOOR

Brent Anderson walks over to the stand-alone bar in the corner. He fills his mug with beer from a freshly tapped keg and walks over to Krista Masilionis.

BRENT: Cheers.

Brent and Krista clink mugs. A handful of employees crowds around the bar, where a prize drawing is being held. Krista’s name is called. She walks to the bar and comes back with an envelope.

KRISTA: Tickets to the Chiefs in the company suite.

BRENT: Nice.

Advertising — as a profession, an industry and an office culture — is glamorous again, thanks to AMC’s critically acclaimed series “Mad Men,” set in a fictional New York City advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the 1960s.

But how much have we “learned” about real-life ad agency culture by following the dramatic story lines and pirate ship crew at the fictional Sterling Cooper agency?

Which characters and recurring themes are spot on, and which preposterous? To find out, we decided to hang out with a single creative team from a prominent, longtime Kansas City ad agency, dropping in on its members at different times and in different situations over two weeks.

Two agencies clearly fill the bill: Barkley and Bernstein-Rein are the largest independent agencies in town, and both were founded in 1964, the era the show takes place in.

Of the two, Bernstein-Rein seemed the obvious choice because of its serendipitous address on Kansas City’s own Madison Avenue. How would our local Mad men (and women) stack up against the characters on the show? Is there a super-suave creative genius like Don Draper? A Cinderella story like secretary-turned-copywriter Peggy Olson? An eccentric founder like Bertram Cooper?

“Beer Friday” at Bernstein-Rein is evidence that drinking in the workplace still goes on, but it’s limited to the last hour of the work week, kicking off around 4 p.m. every Friday.

Compared to office parties at Sterling Cooper on the show, this is pretty tame stuff. No one is sitting on anyone’s lap, no one experiences loss of bladder control, no limbs are severed by tractor demonstrations gone awry.

“The smoking, the drinking, the carousing, I don’t see that going on at all,” says vice president/group account director Vernon Williams.

But the brashness and swagger associated with ad world inhabitants are easy enough to find. “Greed, ambition, confidence — you need a level of all that to be able to stand up in front of a client and sell an idea,” Williams says. “It can border on arrogance.”

Fashion is a huge theme on “Mad Men,” which just ended its third season. (The fourth is expected to begin in summer.) It’s also much in evidence inside the halls of Bernstein-Rein. Clothing is more casual than on the show, but you get the feeling everyone is very much dressing a part.

“We definitely enjoy the creative environment around us, and we dress to feed that,” project manager Amy Stafford says.

For the guys in the creative department, jeans and good-quality T-shirts or polo shirts are the uniform, with the odd necktie or rakish cap to add flair. The key, senior copywriter Brent Anderson says, is to project a relaxed office atmosphere without looking like you just walked in from mowing the lawn.

The women in the creative department wear a wider array of styles, from leggings to pencil skirts to flared trousers. Account execs dress more conservatively but still look chic.

| choedel@kcstar.com, cindyhoedel on Twitter

Posted on Fri, Nov. 20, 2009 12:05 PM

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