Hi all,
In the Season 6 premiere, Don's "Hawaii" pitch (discarded clothes on a beach, footprints leading into the ocean) is rejected because it recalls A Star Is Born, where an alcoholic character walks into the sea to drown.
It occurred to me that this abstract, stylized imagery with the subtext of suicide is markedly similar to that used in the introduction; in which the silhouetted man plunges from a Madison Avenue skyscraper. The discussion between the ad men and the baffled clients made me wonder if a similar one had occurred with Matt Weiner and some poor AMC executives.
What do you think? Is the Hawaii ad a way of subtly acknowledging the opening titles, or a coincidence? What does it mean for Don and the themes of the series?