‘Mad Men’ series finale: Coca-Cola responds to iconic ‘Hilltop’ ad being used

Many people over the age of thirty remember the famous “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” song that played in one of the most famous Coca-Cola commercials of all time. However, many were either reminded of it or reintroduced to it during the final minutes of the “Mad Men” series finale. Interpretation is already split about this, with some people saying that it is meant to show that this was Don Draper’s work, while there are others out there who believe that it is just tied thematically to the themes of corporate aggression vs. personal peace in the show’s closing minutes.

While we can offer up nothing definitive one way or another, we can at least give you the official statement from the soft drink company about the implementation. Here is what they had to say to The Hollywood Reporter after the finale:

“We’ve had limited awareness around the brand’s role in the series’ final episodes, and what a rich story they decided to tell,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter. “Mad Men is one of the most popular TV shows of all time, and ‘Hilltop’ is an iconic piece of Coca-Cola history. The finale gave everyone inside and outside the company — some for the first time — a chance to experience the magic of ‘Hilltop’ within the context of its creation and the times.”

What is interesting to us is that based on the tweet HERE, Coca-Cola clearly has the interpretation that Don came up with the idea for the ad himself.

Sources also tell THR that while Coca-Cola gave permission for the ad to be used in the finale, they did not pay for it and also were not given much in the way of context or details beforehand. It was a strange ending that we’re still not sure about, since it takes us somewhat out of the fiction of the show and then back into reality.