Maidenform (Mad Men)

Maidenform is a lingerie company that appears in the American period drama television series Mad Men. The show, set primarily in the 1960s, follows the lives of advertising executives working at Sterling Cooper, and later Sterling Cooper Draper Price, in New York City.

Maidenform is depicted as a client of Sterling Cooper, and the relationship provides insight into the advertising strategies and societal attitudes towards women and sexuality during the era. The show explores how advertising agencies of the time sought to understand and exploit female insecurities and aspirations to sell products.

Specifically, the episode "Maidenform" (Season 2, Episode 6) revolves around the agency's struggle to come up with a campaign for Maidenform bras that will appeal to women. The team grapples with how to portray women in advertising, exploring the dichotomy between the perceived "Jackie" (as in Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) image of respectability and the more overtly sexual "Marilyn" (as in Marilyn Monroe) persona. The creative concepts pitched in the episode highlight the marketing challenges and prevailing stereotypes of the time. The episode emphasizes that appealing to different types of women is a challenge in the advertising industry of the 1960s.

The presence of Maidenform in Mad Men serves as a commentary on the evolution of advertising, the changing roles of women in society, and the power of media to shape perceptions.