Sounds like the Coca-Cola Company would like to buy Don Draper a Coke right about now.
The soft drink supplier has offered its reaction to AMC’s “Mad Men” series finale, which used the company’s iconic “Hilltop” ad to great effect on Sunday night, praising the “rich story” that the AMC period drama told as it came to a close.
In a statement from a spokesperson, the company also noted that the finale “gave everyone inside and outside the company — some for the first time — a chance to experience the magic of ‘Hilltop’ within the context of its creation and the times.”
“We’ve had limited awareness around the brand’s role in the series’ final episodes, and what a rich story they decided to tell. Mad Men is one of the most popular TV shows of all time, and ‘Hilltop’ is an iconic piece of Coca-Cola history,” the company’s statement reads.
In the final moments of the finale, Don Draper, who had lately been on a quest of self-discovery, is seen at a spiritual retreat with others. The episode then cuts to the iconic commercial.
While the finale led some viewers to theorize that they were intended to think that Draper had dreamed up the iconic ad, the “Hilltop” spot — which became a cultural phenomenon upon its release in the early 1970s — was actually conceived by Bill Backer, then-creative director on the Coca-Cola account for the McCann Erickson advertising agency, in 1971.
The agency offered its own thoughts on the finale after it aired on Sunday.
“Thanks, Don. About time you came up with a good idea,” the agency wisecracked via Twitter.
Thanks, Don. About time you came up with a good idea. https://t.co/0IdUE4KFoR #MadMen #MadMenFinale
— McCann (@McCann_WW) May 18, 2015
While Coca-Cola did allow “Mad Men” to use the ad, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap that it was unaware of how the ad would be utilized, nor did the company provide compensation in exchange for its inclusion.
Watch the final moments of the “Mad Men” finale below.