Final ‘Mad Men’ Scene a Tribute Thoroughbred Breeder Backer
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The finale of "Mad Men" featured a tribute to advertising executive and Thoroughbred breeder Bill Backer. (Photo courtesy of AMC)
Last night’s “Mad Men” series finale ended with Don Draper sitting on a cliff meditating and chanting, “Om …”. The camera pushed in to his blissful face and then faded to the famous “hilltop” Coca-Cola ad where a chorus of races and nationalities sing “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke.” The insinuation was that Draper’s transcendent experience on the cliffs led not to some inner-realization but to one of the world’s most successful advertising campaigns — a fitting end for the fictional ad man. But the episode also brought people streaming to the internet to learn more about who really was behind that famous ad, and before long the name Bill Backer was all over Twitter and Facebook.
Bill Backer was a creative director at McCann-Erickson in 1971, around the same time the “Mad Men” finale takes place, when he came up with the “hilltop” ad. The story he tells is that he was stranded on a layover in Ireland and saw the once-irate passengers all chill out in the airport while drinking Coca-Colas.
Backer wrote, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” on a napkin and the rest is history. Backer also was the brains behind a number of other ads that infiltrated the American popular culture, such as the Miller Lite “Tastes Great - Less Filling” debate. He made his living in advertising, but Backer was passionate about the sport of horse racing.
COCA-COLA'S 'HILLTOP' AD
Video courtesy of Coca-Cola Conversations
“We made enough money to afford to lose it in racing,” he told Blood-Horse back in 2009. “We were very successful.”
About 30 years ago, Backer and his wife, Ann, started Smitten Farm on 700 acres of land in Virginia. His operation specializes in fillies and mares who like to run on turf. He has had a host of stakes winners over the years, including the mare Applause, who finished in the exacta in 31 of her 35 starts in the 1980s. Despite being in his 80s, Backer still plays an active role in the operations at Smitten and makes decisions about the direction of the horses there. He is also a member of The Jockey Club.
While it’s easy to imagine that Don Draper would spend his fortune on thrills like race cars — he is racing a GTO in the Utah Salt Flats in the opening scene of the finale — it’s good to know that the real-life inspiration for at least part of Draper’s character was putting his money to use in a more noble pursuit - the sport of kings.