I want to stand and salute that.
The Agency is looking to land an advertising contract to promote tourism to Israel. Don and his team try to come up with a theme but know so little about the country that they're stumped. So Don calls Rachel Menken to see if she has any ideas. Roger Sterling is getting tired of sneaking around with Joan Holloway and suggests she should get her own apartment but she knows better. Peggy comes up with an advertising concept during a testing session for a new line of lipsticks and she's subsequently asked to write copy.
This episode contains examples of:
- Hidden Depths: In-universe, Peggy's comments after the presentation alert Freddy Rumsen to her savvy nature.Freddy: It was like watching a dog play the piano.
- I Just Want to Be Special: Peggy tells Freddy she doesn't think anyone just wants to be "one of a hundred colors in a box".
- I Know You're Watching Me: The point of Joan purposely bending over and turning around to look, she is aware they are not only looking at the girls but also insulting them and making comments about their looks.
- Male Gaze: The shot focusing on Joan bending over. It's noticed by all of the men watching from behind the glass, too, and they stand up to salute. Subverted as she turns around and gives the glass a knowing look.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Freddy doesn't have a high opinion of womens' intelligence (although impressed by Peggy's comments, he comes across as being surprised that she made them in the first place), yet is a good-natured guy who notices that Peggy is talented. Also, unlike most of his colleagues, he doesn't treat Joan like a sex object.
- The Reveal: The first episode to touch on Roger's affair with Joan.
- Second-Face Smoke: The (rather bitchy) researcher receives one from Joan while the other secretaries are trying on lipstick.
- Separated by a Common Language: The Israeli tourism board all speak English, but it's not their first language. The staff of Sterling Cooper are put off when the Israelis say they came to them because they wanted something "old fashioned", since that is almost an insult in the advertising world. One of the other members has to explain that they meant "classic".
- Shout-Out: Several to Exodus, both the book and the film adaptation with Paul Newman.
- Spoiled Brat: What Roger theorizes that his daughter Margaret has become. Joan thinks the the two might be the same.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: When Don slips and falls on the stairs, he flashes back to when he was a kid and Adam was born.
