"Way to almost ruin Mad Men for me, guys."

So says beloved Hit & Run commenter Dagny T., in reference to this bit of high-speed rail agitprop:

Reason.tv has a different take on high-speed rail…

… and on Mad Men!

Comments

[Fiscal Meth]

I guess I can finally stop worrying about when I'm gonna find time to watch this Mad Men show everybody's always raving about.

[Paranoid Android]

So was the irony of using, for propaganda purposes, characters from a show that tries to illustrate the ways in which advertising can be manipulative just totally lost on the makers of this commercial?

[heller]

Also the irony of depicting 60s folk talking about how popular and profitable high speed rail was going to be.

[Number 2]

Peter Campbell is an account executive. Why is he designing an ad campaign?

[SugarFree]

Woo! Dagny with the hat-tip!

[?]

She's famous!

[?]

1) I DON'T HAAAAAAAAVE A TV

B) What little big-media self-advertisement I see nowadays seems almost exclusively to appeal to its target demo by announcing what demo the product excludes. Not-loving-the-train is an obvious excluded-group characteristic. "Yeah, fuck those guys! They don't get it. PALIN"

That's a respectable independent exploitation-art marketing strategy, but as the dominant-culture default, it's kind of frightening.

It's...Wagnerian.

?) I've heard that the quickest route to not being able to enjoy Mad Men is knowing the titty-girl actress in it personally. Supposedly, she's a ridiculously stereotypical Cali bimbo/idiot/asshole/titty-girl/etc. in real life.

If she doesn't play a retarded doll on the show, she's a good actress.

[SugarFree]

An actress whose stupid in real life? [gasp]

Next you'll tell me that most actors aren't all that bright either!

[Mike Laursen]

Hey, she was "Our Miss Reynolds". Therefore she can do no wrong. Don't be a hater.

[Mike Laursen]

Err, Mrs. Reynolds.

[Cyto]

I think the irony was lost on them when they said that "trains get you where you want to go". I think that is pretty much exactly the argument against trains - they don't go where I want and they don't go when I want. And some how "trains are the most economical" is claimed, yet we need massive subsidies for them to cost only slightly more than flying.

[DJF]

The way some of the train fanatics make it sound is that cars and roads will disappear and we will all ride high speed trains. When asked, how do you plan to get to the train station they then mumble about trolleys. When asked if you are going to have trolleys running everywhere they then mentioned busses and taxis. When you point out that busses and taxis run on roads and roads have been abolished they then say that you are paid by oil industry.

[R C Progressive]

Less talking. More Christina Hendricks.

[DesigNate]

And January Jones in that flower dress, oww!

[joshua corning]

I has always been about Alison Brie.

The added bonus is that she is also in the cast of Community.

[Honest Libertarian]

Not that there is anything right with that.

[Honest Libertarian]

Not that I would not like to sample that Brie.

[Trespassers W]

"Yay. Another generic blond white girl. I must be in heaven."

http://www.wwtdd.com/2011/01/january-jones-really/

[Cyto]

To buttress my point, I checked for a ticket on Amtrack on a route that I fly routinely - Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta. There are probably a dozen flights each day from each of 3 separate airports within an hour of Ft Lauderdale. Flight time is about an hour and a half, on average. The good price is anything under $150 round trip.

What does Amtrak offer? Well, I randomly picked Wednesday, March 23 for my trip, returning on Thursday. I chose "anytime" to see what they'd have available.

There were exactly two options:

For $256 I can leave on the 92 Silverstar at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, arriving in Washington DC at 3:14 pm on Thursday. At 6:30 pm on Thursday I board the 19 Crescent which arrives in Atlanta on Friday at 8:30 AM.

Total "flight time" of wow... 44 hours. slightly north of the 1.5 hours of air travel. Which is offered several times per day.

Oh, there was one other option with Amtrak. I can save a few bucks by taking the same 12:30 Wednesday 92 Silverstar but getting off in Raleigh, NC at 8:30 am Thursday. Then I take the 79 Carolinian to Charlotte where I wait to pick up the same 19 Crescent from the more expensive trip at 2:30 am. I'll still arrive in Atlanta at 8:30 am on Friday, but I'll only have to shell out $164.

Yeah, trains are way, way, way better than cars and planes. That much is self-evident....

[sevo]

Choo-choos:
http://www.brasstrains.com/Cla.....ly-Skirted
Hey, and it's 'modern'!

[#]

don't forget that the real price is even higher - those are tax subsidized tickets.

[Mainer]

And to further amplify the point...

The wife and I have checked taking the train from Maine to visit family in Colorado. We find the same thing you did. Incredibly inconvenient times and connections (a 4 hour layover in Chicago from 4:00 am to 8:00 am IIRC), way way longer than flying, and MORE expensive. Last time we checked, we figured out we could drive the 2000 miles faster than the train would get us there.

[Almanian]

I feel bad for Dagny. Sad face 🙁

[Steve]

Man, a whole 1965 dollar. They high-balled that estimate along with ridership: today that $1.00 a gallon gas would be more than $8.40.

[commenter53]

Why would they be referring to 1965 dollars. People tend to refer to nominal dollars, (saying things like you could of bought this house for $10000 30 years ago, not taking into account inflation adjustments) They grossly underestimated the decline in value of the US dollar over the last 45 years.

[Mog]

Did no one catch the irony of the bumper sticker you put on your CAR saying you support rail. Really?

[Russ 2000]

You mean a reasonably intelligent woman not figuring out she hadn't had her period for several months didn't kill Mad Men for you in Season 1??

[joshua corning]

She knew she was pregnant...she just intentionally denied it.

Saying she did not know is like saying Don did not know his real name was Dick.

[air max france]

wow,so nice

[chaussures puma]

good

[Publius Cato]

I am not much a fan of regional rail; it requires too much additional investment to be viable. But I have to say I am relatively pleased with my local subway. Granted, I would love to know why it costs $2.25 pus tax subsidies, seriously WTF?!

[Brett]

I thought they should have a story line around Dangerous at Any Speed. Pete buys a brand new Oldsmobile, later he is appraoched by GM about doing a saftey campaign in the wake of Ralph Nader's Dangerous at Any Speed. Pete after reading the book decides its ture and learns that European cars are safer so he buys a Volvo 122. Later on Pete leaves the keys in his car and a some minor character steals his car drunk and rolls it and (after trying to avoid a 1963 Corvair) and we see Pete at the funeral driving a 1966 Corvair.

[smartman]

Wow, I understand the title of this article now. That Mad Men video was way to much information, but i'm still curious to see whether or not he will be right.

[mansmart]

I understand the title of this article now. That Mad Men video was way to much information, but i'm still curious to see whether or not he will be right though.