‘Mad Men’ series finale: Matthew Weiner makes thoughts on Don Draper, Coca-Cola ad clear

We honestly did not think that we would be continuing to write about the “Mad Men” series finale at this point in the week, but we also did not expect to see show creator Matthew Weiner speaking out about it so soon. Many times the common move for showrunners after their finales is to stay silent for an extended period of time and let the episode speak for itself.

Interestingly, what Weiner seems to be doing at the moment is a little bit of both. He is speaking out, but at the same time making it clear that his responses still leave something open to interpretation. Weiner chatted Wednesday with novelist A.M. Homes at the New York Public Library, in what is believed to be one of the few interviews he plans on doing about the finale. Per The Hollywood Reporter, this is what he had to say as to whether or not Don Draper really created the Coca-Cola ad at the end of the episode:

“I have never been clear, and I have always been able to live with ambiguities … In the abstract, I did think, why not end this show with the greatest commercial ever made? In terms of what it means to people and everything, I am not ambiguity for ambiguity’s sake. But it was nice to have your cake and eat it too, in terms of what is advertising, who is Don and what is that thing?”

Based on what we are hearing at this point from both Weiner and also star Jon Hamm, we’re starting to feel at least reasonably confident that the desired interpretation is to be that Don created the ad, and eventually did return to the advertising world with a new perspective on life. It doesn’t have to be the only interpretation, however; the glorious thing about television, like many other forms of art, is that we can ascribe our own meaning to the work.

We’ll see if there is anything else worth sharing / discussing about the “Mad Men” finale over the coming days.