We were latecomers to the Mad Men party.
Our first introduction to the hit-series which gives you a fly-on-the-wall look at the 1960s advertising industry in New York was just a couple of years ago. It was a dreary weekend winter so we decided to hire the first season on DVD. That was it … let’s just say the next two weekends were devoted to seasons two and three.
We were officially “caught up”. And obsessed.
I wasn’t suddenly contemplating dyeing my hair red and wearing stilettos around the house (although that may have met with approval 
). No, it was more the style of the era that had both Mr Styling You and I hooked.
For me it was the clothes, the hair, the lippy, the “put-togetherness” of everyone.
Ahh Joan ... how do you look so together everyday? You had a baby, right?
Mr SY? I think he fancies himself as a modern-day Don Draper … without the bad-boy, messing-around-behind-his-wife’s-back issues.
... just another day at the office, whiskey in hand
Now, while Mr SY is not contemplating swapping his flat whites at work for a drinks sideboard in his office, he has embraced the concept at home.
Where once a trip to the bottle shop would involve making sure the beer fridge was stocked up, he now first checks his drinks cupboard to see whether the whiskey needs a top up.
He is a CHANGED man.
Ok, so he hasn’t dropped the beers altogether (I’m told you can’t mow the lawn WITHOUT drinking a beer afterwards) but when wanting a drink – a “real” drink, he has embraces his inner Don and fixes himself a whiskey on the rocks. Straight up.
Now, if he’s still in his work suit, let’s just say I’m liking what I’m seeing. A. Lot
... just call him Don
And it seems I’m not alone in this “appreciation” of men who are happy to ditch the beers now and again for a little bit of refinement.
A Newspoll* study of 1000 Australian women (undertaken by Canadian Club) suggests that Australian women are OVER beer and OVER those who prefer drinking beer to other alcoholic beverages.
I’m just going to throw some of the stats at you because they didn’t really surprise me but they might you.
- 57% believe that beer is the most boring and predictable alcoholic beverage a man could choose to drink at a bar.
- 68% of females associated beer bellies with men who drink beer.
- 53% of females thought it would be a refreshing change from the norm for a man to choose an alternative alcoholic beverage to beer.
- 27% of those surveyed who had a partner said they’d prefer their partner didn’t drink beer at all.
- 41% of females said they would be interested in talking to a man who offered to buy them a spirit with a mixer, compared with 29% who would be interested in a man who bought them a beer.
OK, so granted the survey was commissioned by Canadian Club, so they kind of have a point to prove, but this whiskey itself is already scoring big ticks in Australia as the fastest growing spirits and premix trademark for the second year in a row, so clearly people are increasingly happy to try something different.
Maybe the “Don” effect is alive and well in bars and in homes other than ours?
Mr SY's whiskey glass is for the purposes of whiskey drinking only. Anyone else daring to use it does so at their own risk.
... BTW in the glass are Whiskey Rocks. I bought them for Mr SY for Christmas. You keep them frozen but unlike adding ice to your Canadian Club, they won't water it down. Apparently that's very important.
I could use the word “apparently” again here in describing what Mr SY liked about Canadian Club – compared with some other whiskeys – but there is no need.
I tried it too. Yep. Straight up. And was surprisingly impressed.
The word smooth was first to come to mind. There was none of the fiery after-taste that can come with some whiskeys.
Plus, we’re not living in the 1960s anymore. Who says I can’t have a drinks tray of my own?
If your partner drinks alcohol, what’s his drink of choice? Does he fancy himself as Don Draper too?
* The Newspoll study was conducted online in April among 1000 females aged 18-64. Respondents could choose from beer, alcoholic cider, spirit with a mixer or wine. Canadian Club is made by Beam Inc and is committed to social responsibility. Please visit www.drinksmart.com
Mad Men photo credits: here and here
