Sterling Cooper in its various incarnations went through several purchases and mergers in seven seasons of Mad Men. However, Donald Draper (Jon Hamm) maintained his position as creative director each time Sterling Cooper went through an upheaval.
Mad Men takes place over 10 years, from 1960 to 1970. As culture and society changed throughout the tumultuous 1960s, so did Sterling Cooper, which was run by Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) and Roger Sterling (John Slattery) when Mad Men begins.
As glamorous and ambitious as Sterling Cooper was, with Don Draper as its crown jewel, it was still a small agency on Madison Avenue competing with giants like J. Walter Thompson and McCann Erickson. Sterling Cooper did land some big accounts, which made it attractive to be swallowed up by bigger fish.
After multiple mergers and transformations, the final version of Sterling Cooper at the end of Mad Men was substantially different before it was finally absorbed and dissolved. Here is every time Sterling Cooper was bought, resurrected, and merged with in Mad Men.
Putnam, Powell & Lowe Buys Sterling Cooper
The original version of Sterling Cooper was bought by the British firm Putnam, Powell & Lowe in Mad Men season 2. In late 1962, Herman ‘Duck’ Phillips (Mark Moses) , the head of Accounts Services who replaced Roger Sterling, coaxed his former bosses at PPL to buy Sterling Cooper.
Phillips’ gamble was twofold: Duck was to be installed as the new President of Sterling Cooper, and wanted Don Draper either hobbled or fired. When Don revealed he never had a contract with Sterling Cooper, Duck had a meltdown and ended up leaving Sterling Cooper.
In Mad Men season 3, PPL presented its new restructuring plan, with Guy MacKendrick (Jamie Thomas King) meant to run Sterling Cooper. When secretary Lois Sadler (Crista Flanagan) ran over Guy’s foot with a lawnmower, MacKendrick’s career as an ad man was over, and PPL was forced back to the drawing board.
However, Mad Men season 3 introduced Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) as Putnam, Powell & Lowe’s liaison overseeing Sterling Cooper’s finances, and Lane would end up as a key player in the next incarnation of Sterling Cooper.
McCann Erickson Buys PPL & Sterling Cooper
At the end of Mad Men season 3, Don Draper learned from Conrad Hilton (Chelcie Ross) that McCann Erickson was planning to buy Putnam, Powell & Lowe, which effectively meant McCann would also own Sterling Cooper.
Since even before McCann Erickson attempted to manipulate Don into joining by going through his wife, Betty (January Jones), Draper avoided working for that “sweatshop” at any cost.
Once Don, Bert Cooper, Roger Sterling, and Lane Pryce confirmed PPL and Sterling Cooper were bought by McCann, they hatched a scheme for Lane to fire all of them so they could start their own agency.
As Roger put it when the four partners broke off from Sterling Cooper, “Well, it’s official. Friday, December 13th, 1963. Four guys shot their own legs off.”
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Formed
Don Draper’s new agency, which took the name Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, was formed in late December 1963, setting up shop in a hotel before eventually purchasing new offices on Madison Avenue.
The new SCDP launched with a handpicked crew, including junior partner Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss), Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), and Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks). By November 1964, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce was a thriving agency.
However, SCDP suffered a near fatal blow when American Tobacco and Lucky Strike, responsible for over 50% of their billings, jumped ship. This led to Don Draper writing a controversial op-ed in the New York Times announcing that SCDP would no longer accept tobacco companies as clients.
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce rallied from the loss of Lucky Strike with clients like Vick Chemical, Heinz Baked Beans, Jaguar, and Mohawk Airlines, but they remained a small, scrappy agency. At the end of Mad Men season 5, Peggy Olson joined Cutler, Gleason & Chaough as their new Copy Chief.
Joan Harris was made a partner of SCDP, but Lane Pryce tragically committed suicide near the end of Mad Men season 5, after Bert Cooper and Don Draper caught Lane’s embezzlement and Don fired him.
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Merges With Cutler, Gleason & Chaough
Mad Men season 6 saw the next unexpected evolution of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. While in Detroit competing for General Motors’ Chevrolet account, Don Draper and Ted Chaough (Kevin Rahm), realized their agencies were ultimately too small despite their superior creative.
Don and Ted’s solution, along Roger Sterling and Jim Cutler (Harry Hamlin), was an impromptu merger, which won them the Chevy account. On October 27, 1968, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and Cutler, Gleason & Chaough formally announced they were becoming one company.
Eventually, SCDP & CGC settled on the simpler corporate moniker: Sterling Cooper & Partners. SCP also opened up a satellite office in Los Angeles occupied by Pete Campbell and Ted Chaough.
Sterling Cooper & Partners Bought By McCann Erickson
Mad Men season 7 finally saw the end of Sterling Cooper. On July 20, 1969, Bert Cooper died while watching the moon landing. Roger Sterling then contacted McCann Erickson and suggested they buy Sterling Cooper & Partners and make Roger President.
With Jim Cutler pushed out, and Don Draper’s job as Creative Director saved by Roger’s deal, McCann Erickson purchased Sterling Cooper & Partners. However, McCann soon learned SCP was too expensive to maintain as a subsidiary agency.
McCann Erickson fully absorbed and dissolved Sterling Cooper. Roger Sterling, Joan Harris, and Pete Campbell found they had no place with McCann, with Roger retiring, Joan starting her own agency, and Pete going to work for Lear Jets.
As for Donald Draper, his nightmare of working for McCann came true.
As for Donald Draper, his nightmare of working for McCann came true, and Don infamously vanished, choosing to drive cross-country to Los Angeles. While there, however, Don hatched the genius idea that became Coca-Cola’s greatest ad.
Mad Men‘s ending implies that Don Draper did go back to work for McCann to make Coca-Cola’s famous “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” ad a reality, which would be Don’s greatest triumph in his post-Sterling Cooper career.
- Release Date
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2007 – 2015-00-00
- Showrunner
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Matthew Weiner
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Elisabeth Moss
Peggy Olson
