We open on Donald Draper, a man sitting in a bar scribbling on a napkin. A waiter (African-American) approaches him, and the two discuss the merits of cigarette brands. It transpires that Don is the creative director at an advertising agency, Sterling Cooper, and is having trouble coming up with ways to suggest Smoking Is Cool in light of studies conclusively proving the health detriments of tobacco, not to mention government regulations against Very False Advertising. As the episode wears on, it becomes clear that Don — despite being the genius nucleus of Sterling Cooper — has absolutely no idea how to convince the public to buy something they now know, definitively, will kill them.
Simultaneously, we open on Peggy Olson, having her first day in the Sterling Cooper secretarial pool. She's almost immediately assigned as Don's secretary. The office manager, red-headed bombshell Joan Holloway, helps Peggy get oriented, not only showing her around the office but letting her know the expectations that will be placed on a working girl in The '60s — something on the order of "Be a Whore to Get Your Man." Accordingly, Peggy uses her lunch break to visit an OB/GYN, who prescribes her the recently-released oral contraceptive pill — even though, at the time, it was only prescribed to married women with the express consent of her husband. Later, when Don defends her from unfair comments, she offers thanks of a personal nature; Don turns her down, as he's already got a sexual partner: the artist Midge, whom he has been airing his frustrations with the Lucky Strike account with.
One of Don's Cast Herd at Sterling Cooper is a younger executive named Pete Campbell. The office is abuzz: his bachelor party will occur tonight. He makes unkind comments to Peggy when he first sees her, deriding her fashion sense, but also isn't afraid to suck up to Don... which Don sees through. He's the low man on the totem pole, with his ambition far exceeding his talent — and, to be sure, he's not a bad advertiser, it's just that everyone else is better. This general incompetence extends to his bachelor party, where all the others — copywriter Paul Kinsey, account executive Ken Cosgrove, and even Salvatore Romano, the Everyone Can See It Closet Gay art director — succeed at picking up women. (Well, except for media buyer Harry Crane, who is Happily Married.) Instead, he stumbles, drunk, to Peggy's apartment, and the two act on their mutual attraction.
Roger Sterling (whose name is on the building) wanders into Don's office and asks if the firm employs any Jews: he and Don are to meet with the head of Menken's, a high-end Jewish department store, in he wants them to feel welcome. (While Roger is some 10 years older, and Don's boss, both are veterans of military service, and their working relationship has clearly been superseded by a genuine friendship.) Don, walking into the meeting, confidently greets Mr. Menken... which turns out to be the Jew from the mailroom; he's actually here to meet Rachel Menken, who has taken over the firm from her ill father. Don is flustered by not only this but by Rachel turning down his ideas, which are identical to the ones she received from Jewish advertising firms: she came to Sterling Cooper to transform her store into something that can compete with Sak's Fifth Avenue, but all she's gotten (from anyone) are ideas that will broaden and coarsen her customer base. Don, unused to being criticized this way by a woman, storms out. However, at Roger's behest, Don invites Rachel to dinner and apologizes. He lets some of his Byronic Hero soft side show, and Rachel recognizes him as a kindred spirit and Anti-Nihilist. She agrees to consider Sterling Cooper's business.
Meeting with the Lucky Strike executives, Don tries to pretend he's got any ideas whatsoever. Pete kicks in an idea which the firm's psychologist suggested — that cigarettes are a way for people to indulge their Death Seeker tendencies; and since they're now a known carcinogenic menace, why shouldn't Lucky Strike lean into that? "Be a man and flirt with death" and all that. The answer is, because the Lucky Strike execs think that's a terrible idea; they pack up and prepare to leave. Don, in desperation, asks about their process, and in doing so has a "Eureka!" Moment that allows him to pull their famous slogan — "It's toasted" — from thin air and/or his anus. "We have six identical companies with six identical products; we can say anything we want. ... Everybody else's tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strike is toasted."
- "Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car... It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you're doing is okay. ...You are okay."
He then drives to a large house in the suburbs. His wife, Betty Draper, is surprised but glad to see him. Before he goes to bed, he checks in on their two sleeping children. Even though the entire Pilot Episode revolved around him, the Hidden Depths of Donald Draper, Living a Double Life, have only barely been explored.
This episodes contains examples of:
- Analogy Backfire: Pete's attempts to assuage the Lucky Strike men in the face of the reports that cigarettes are dangerous. His slogan essentially amounts to "you're going to die anyway, why not do it in style?" Lee Garner Jr. is momentarily intrigued by it, but Garner Sr. is offended and asks if Pete is insane.
- Bait-and-Switch: Roger tries to sway Don into helping to advertise for the 1960 Presidential election. The candidate they're stumping for is young, handsome, and a Navy hero. Surely, they're talking about John F. Kennedy? Nope! note Roger: Honestly, it shouldn't be too difficult to convince America Dick Nixon is a winner.
- Blatant Lies: Don's attempts to come up with a pitch during the Lucky Strike meeting starts very awkwardly. His opening line of "I've been thinking a lot about this" is to mask the fact that he actually has nothing. It isn't until later in the meeting that he's able to spin gold.
- Cardboard Box of Unemployment: Inverted as Peggy Olson arrives at her new job at Sterling Cooper carrying a cardboard box
◊ with her work supplies in it. - Deliberate Values Dissonance: Don asks a Black waiter for his opinion on different cigarette brands. After a brief exchange, the bartender comes over to ask Don if the waiter is "bothering him", then dismisses the waiter anyway.
- Dr. Jerk: Dr. Emerson, to whom Peggy goes to get birth control pills. He tells her she needn't be embarrassed because there's nothing wrong with being prudent. He then spends the entire rest of the conversation Slut-Shaming "easy" women.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Don has one during the Lucky Strike meeting, just as the heads are about to leave. He notes that, since the health studies are saying that all cigarette brands are harmful to smokers, then they don't have to worry about appearing healthy. All they have to do is worry about appearing cooler than the other brands, and consumers will flock to them regardless.Don: Everybody else's tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strike's...is toasted.
- The Ghost: A lot is made of Pete's engagement to his fiancee, Trudy, and we even see him use a phone to speak to her. However, she doesn't actually appear in the episode.
- Have You Told Anyone Else?: Not as dire a case as usual. When Don is confronted with reports about the dangers of cigarettes. When presented with a report on it, Don asks if anyone else has seen it. Upon being told that no one else has, Don immediately trashes the binder of information.
- Naïve Newcomer: Peggy Olson. Full stop. The episode features her first day as Don's secretary.
- Precision F-Strike: Pete gives a quiet "Fuck you" to Don after one of their little talks, having felt somewhat jilted by him by this point.
- Smoking Is Cool: Mostly played straight, despite the emphasis of
Values Dissonance. The one major subversion is at the Lucky Strike meeting, where several people start coughing simultaneously. - Twist Ending: The revelation that Don, this suave, handsome, ladies man, is in fact a married father of two.
