Tupperware wants to get out of the Mad Men-era by offering Mad Men with a social conscience. So it’s giving away an Ikea kitchen and matching dresser to anyone who’s visited Facebook in the past three years.
“When we’re done with this episode, we expect that Facebook users will feel a lot better,” says Jon Steinberg, who wrote “Facebook: The Series” for AMC and is now helping to build the Mad Men remake. While Facebook had a few funny moments like the one where a “Facebook fan” named John O’Brien tried to buy his girlfriend a ring and got his face photoshopped into the engagement photo, Steinberg says the show is less personal. He says the show is not making fun of Facebook. “We’re not going to spend the whole time talking with the characters about Facebook and how it’s ruining their lives or getting in their way,” he says. “Most of this show is about the characters trying to figure out how to use Facebook. How do they use it, how does it affect them, and what does it mean when they don’t use it?”
When asked if the show will be critical, he says: “I’m not at all worried about the tone. I have faith that people will be able to accept that we’re doing this without making a joke of it.”
Tupperware has not yet made a public commitment to Mad Men but it has already begun to assemble its cast. To be sure, the series is not the only show to address Facebook. It was the launching pad for both ABC’s “Facebook’s House” and CBS’ “The House that Facebook Built” (both of which are currently in production). “A New Way to Connect,” a series on CBS starring John Ritter and James Woods, looks at the social network’s connection to politics.
While the show’s plot is still a work in progress, Steinberg reveals that there is “a lot of good stuff” that Facebook users could be doing with their time. “For instance, the way they talk about people in the show is the way we talk to people,