Sterling Cooper, in its various incarnations, has gone through several purchases and mergers over the course of seven seasons of Mad Men. However, Donald Draper (Jon Hamm) retained his position as creative director every time Sterling Cooper went through an upheaval.
Mad Men takes place over 10 years, from 1960 to 1970. As culture and society changed throughout the tumultuous 1960s, so did Sterling Cooper, led by Bert Cooper (Robert Morse) and Roger Sterling (John Slattery) when Mad Men begin.
As glamorous and ambitious as Sterling Cooper was, with Don Draper as its crown jewel, it was still a small agency on Madison Avenue competing with giants like J. Walter Thompson and McCann Erickson. Sterling Cooper landed a few big accounts, which made it attractive to be gobbled up by bigger fish.
After multiple mergers and transformations, the final version of Sterling Cooper at the end of Mad Men was noticeably different before finally being absorbed and dissolved. Here’s every time Sterling Cooper was purchased, resurrected and merged with Mad Men.
Putnam, Powell & Lowe buys Sterling Cooper
The original Sterling Cooper version was purchased by the British firm Putnam, Powell & Lowe in Mad Men season 2. In late 1962, Herman ‘Duck’ Phillips (Mark Moses), the head of accounting who replaced Roger Sterling, persuaded his former bosses at PPL to buy Sterling Cooper.
Phillips’ gamble was twofold: Duck was to be named Sterling Cooper’s new president and wanted Don Draper hindered or fired. When Don revealed that he never had a contract with Sterling Cooper, Duck fell apart and ended up leaving Sterling Cooper.
In Mad Men season 3, PPL outlined its new restructuring plan, with Guy MacKendrick (Jamie Thomas King) expected to lead Sterling Cooper. When secretary Lois Sadler (Crista Flanagan) ran over Guy’s foot with a lawnmower, MacKendrick’s career as a publicity man was over and PPL was forced to go back to the drawing board.
However, Mad Men Season 3 introduced Lane Pryce (Jared Harris) as Putnam’s liaison, Powell & Lowe overseeing Sterling Cooper’s finances, and Lane would eventually become a key player in the next incarnation of Sterling Cooper.
McCann Erickson buys PPL and Sterling Cooper
At the end of Mad Men season 3, Don Draper learned from Conrad Hilton (Chelcie Ross) that McCann Erickson planned to buy Putnam, Powell & Lowe, which effectively meant that McCann would also own Sterling Cooper.
Because even before McCann Erickson tried to manipulate Don into joining him through his wife, Betty (January Jones), Draper was avoiding working for it. “sweatshop” at all costs.
Once Don, Bert Cooper, Roger Sterling and Lane Pryce confirmed that PPL and Sterling Cooper had been purchased by McCann, they hatched a plan to have Lane fire them all so they could start their own agency.
As Roger said when the four partners parted ways with Sterling Cooper: “Well, it’s official. Friday, December 13, 1963. Four guys shot themselves in the leg.”
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce trained
Don Draper’s new agency, which took the name Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, was established in late December 1963, moving into a hotel before eventually purchasing new offices on Madison Avenue.
The new SCDP launched with a hand-picked team, including junior partner Pete Campbell (Vincent Kartheiser), Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss), Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), and Joan Harris (Christina Hendricks). By November 1964, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce was a thriving agency.
However, SCDP suffered a near-fatal blow when American Tobacco and Lucky Strike, responsible for more than 50% of their bills, jumped ship. This led Don Draper to write a controversial article in the New York Times announcing that the SCDP would no longer accept tobacco companies as clients.
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce bounced back from the loss of Lucky Strike with clients like Vick Chemical, Heinz Baked Beans, Jaguar and Mohawk Airlines, but it remained a small, scrappy agency. At the end of Mad Men Season 5, Peggy Olson joined Cutler, Gleason & Chaough as its new copy chief.
Joan Harris became a partner of the SCDP, but Lane Pryce tragically committed suicide near the end of Mad Men season 5, after Bert Cooper and Don Draper discovered Lane’s embezzlement and Don fired him.
Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce merges with Cutler, Gleason and Chaough
Mad Men season 6 saw the next unexpected evolution of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. While in Detroit competing for General Motors’ Chevrolet account, Don Draper and Ted Chaough (Kevin Rahm) realized that their agencies were ultimately too small despite their superior creativity.
The solution for Don and Ted, alongside Roger Sterling and Jim Cutler (Harry Hamlin), was an impromptu merger, which landed them the Chevrolet account. On October 27, 1968, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce and Cutler, Gleason & Chaough officially announced that they would become one company.
Ultimately, SCDP and CGC settled on the simpler company name: Sterling Cooper & Partners. SCP also opened a satellite office in Los Angeles staffed by Pete Campbell and Ted Chaough.
Sterling Cooper & Partners acquired by McCann Erickson
Mad Men Season 7 finally saw the end of Sterling Cooper. On July 20, 1969, Bert Cooper died while witnessing the moon landing. Roger Sterling then contacted McCann Erickson and suggested that they purchase Sterling Cooper & Partners and make Roger president.
With Jim Cutler fired and Don Draper’s creative director position saved by Roger’s deal, McCann Erickson purchased Sterling Cooper & Partners. However, McCann soon realized that SCP was too expensive to maintain as a subsidiary agency.
McCann Erickson fully absorbed and dissolved Sterling Cooper. Roger Sterling, Joan Harris and Pete Campbell found they didn’t fit in at McCann, with Roger retiring, Joan starting her own agency and Pete going to work for Lear Jets.
As for Donald Draper, his nightmare of working for McCann has come true.
As for Donald Draper, his nightmare of working for McCann came true and Don disappeared, choosing to move across the country to Los Angeles. However, it was there that Don had the brilliant idea that became Coca-Cola’s greatest commercial.
Mad MenThe ending implies that Don Draper returned to work for McCann to make Coca-Cola’s famous “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” commercial a reality, which would be Don’s greatest triumph in his post-Sterling Cooper career.
- Release date
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2007 – 00/00/2015
- Showrunner
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Matthew Weiner
- Directors
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Michael Uppendahl, Jennifer Getzinger, Scott Hornbacher, Matthew Weiner, Lesli Linka Glatter, Tim Hunter, John Slattery, Alan Taylor, Andrew Bernstein, Jon Hamm, Barbet Schroeder, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Ed Bianchi, Jared Harris, Matt Shakman, Lynn Shelton
- Writers
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Jonathan Igla, Robin Veith, Carly Wray, Kater Gordon, Bridget Bedard, Cathryn Humphris, Chris Provenzano, Brett Johnson, Rick Cleveland, Tracy McMillan, Andrew Colville, David Iserson
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Elizabeth Moss
Peggy Olson
