Mad Men - Bye Bye Birdie vs. Patio Diet Cola Ad Comparison Video 

Better part is when Sal does a imitation of the commercial for his wife in the bedroom and his wife's "OMG I married a gay guy" look on her face. Epic

I've always thought the reason why it's so off not only cause like they said "it's not Ann Margret" is cause Sal is playing up more of the campy musical theatre quality of the original and didn't direct it with the intention of sex appeal because he's gay. It's so subtle but that subtlety is what made this show so brilliant. God I miss it.

'It's not Ann Margret.' You said it, Roger.

This was a great episode, when Sal's wife finally realizes he's gay.

I watched this episode last night. Bryan Batt's portrayal of Sal Romano is the most nuanced, subtle and effective acting on the show.

I like when the execs pass on it and Don says "This is exactly and I mean..... exactly what you asked for."

“Who doesn’t want a drink that sounds like a floor.”

"bye bye SUGAR" oof when she said sugar it hurt me and i cringed so hard

Both voices are like nails to my spinal cord.

Peggy was right...a grown up woman acting like a 14 year old😃

Patio?!?! What an awful name for a drink.

I think when the guys in the board room say that something is "off" about the commercial they mean it's very "camp". Which is something that would be right up Sal's alley but is lost on the people of Patio. A really well written scene that gives the viewer a glimpse of the kind of guy Salvatore Romano really is on the inside.

Ann-Margret was incredible in this! The iconic musical number that serves as a prologue and epilogue to the 1963 musical comedy "Bye Bye Birdie" was something of an afterthought. Six months after principal photography ended on the musical, director George Sidney brought the film's young star Ann-Margret back to Columbia Pictures to shoot the new musical number, "Bye Bye Birdie." And the rest is pop culture history. Placed on a treadmill with a fan hitting her red tresses, Ann-Margret was shot against a vibrant blue background. The treadmill moved her back and forth in front of the camera, as she crooned the tune in a form-fitting dress with a flouncy skirt. "Mr. Sidney came up with the idea," recalled Ann-Margret, who is now 75. "The studio didn't want to do it, so he paid for it himself. When the studio saw the actual movie with that they reimbursed him." "Mad Men" paid homage to that song when they tried to re-create it for a cola ad. It was a disaster, which lead ad exec Roger Sterling to explain the reason it didn't work was because "it's not Ann-Margret." The film made Ann-Margret, who had previously appeared in Frank Capra's "Pocketful of Miracles" in 1961 as the daughter of Bette Davis, and 1962's "State Fair," with Pat Boone, an overnight sensation. George Sydney went on to direct her in "Viva Las Vegas" with Elvis Presley, as well as "The Swinger" with Tony Franciosa.

I just love that Madmen took this on. So fun and yet wonder why no one else ever did this before. The movements are really close to the original. Amazing. The opening and closing of Bye Bye Birdie is to me the best movie beginning and ending of all time. Love it.

I feel so bad for Sal 😞

i miss sal

Omg! The look on her face when Sal did that dance was completely priceless!! She knew exactly what was up! 😂😂😂

The actress/singer from the Mad Men version is drop dead gorgeous though... 🤯😛

A cheap imitation of "the real thing" (which itself is a fantasy).....the overarching theme of Mad Men throughout the seasons

It's interesting to me all the comments trying to break down what Mad Men did wrong. You realize that within the context of the show they're not supposed to have "nailed" it? It's supposed to feel lacking and missing that certain something. That's why the client wasn't happy with it and why Roger says what he says.

When you fin watching the whole series and this song has so much more meaning.

As always, Roger nails it: "It's not Ann-Margret." Completely apart from her moves, Ann's face is a master class on micro-expressions: she can shift from heartbreak to teenage lust to saintly devotion in split seconds. She knows how to use it to reel you in and keep your eyes glued. The model is attractive, but she's definitely got a set-and-forget facial expression.

What a wonderful use of contrast. Great job trying to sync these two Genius.

It's kind of funny because in the second video the actress spoke much more clearer and without a type of accent that the first one did. You can really tell apart the modernized version just from simple dialect :D

the original was about innocence. There's is about selling a product. The commercil in itself is the destruction of innocence. It ties in nicely with Sally's story arc

BRAVO!! BRAVO!! I was sitting here listening/watching 'State Fair' ('62 - B. Darren, P. Boone, Ann-Margret) while perusing the web when I came across this gem. How serendipitous! There was but one Ann-Margret, never to be successfully duplicated, the camera loved her in such a special way. I didn't think in all my 60 years ANY ONE would go to these extremes over movies but me! You are my new hero, thanks for sharing - I am off to see your other works! Good Luck!!

Great job! A lot of effort on your part to compare the two videos. A+ Many people say they first heard of Ann Margaret from this Mad Men episode. I'm the opposite (sort of). I remember seeing Bye Bye Birdie in the theaters when it first came out in 1963, but not having cable, I never have seen any episode of Mad Men before :o Thanks again for posting this 😃

well done, great work on the split screen, gave us a chance to see them together.

"Baaaahhh byyyyy Birrrrd--HEEEEEE..."

The Patio Diet Cola advert girl's hair doesn't look 60's, rather 2000's. I wonder if they meant to do that?

Someone was called a simpleton for being judgmental without having full context so they could declare their own grandiose expertise. It's kind of spot on. IMO all around great job. The way it was shot to keep focus on the singer while stimulating with the colors, so well done

You know I'm pretty sure it would have been easy to do a convincing knock off of the original if they'd wanted to. The 'modern' version was part of an episode where they all hated that version and said themselves that it didn't compare with the original - so I think it was made deliberately (and quite cleverly) to look like a cheap knock off

"she's no Ann-Margret"

Ann Margret wins. What's with the 2nd girls hair? Not very period.

Ann just jumps off the screen !! She's the real deal a mega star

The best part of the whole episode for me, apart from Sal's outing, is Don's face when he watches the first clip, and has that enchanted smile, jus sums it up.

1:47 I love that expression when she looks down ☺️☺️☺️

I always loved watching Mad Men. I liked both Ann Margret and the young woman singing about Patio.

The greatest show ever.

Her face somehow looks both hot and scary at the same time. It's the lighting or her masculine features or how expressive she is or all three.

oh yeah, i was wondering what bothered me about the mad men version (the eyebrows, first of all. i'm always bothered by too-thin and modern-looking eyebrows in "period" shows. it does look like a hipster girl with vintage-style makeup and a thrifted dress doing a tribute.

I've always contended that was the whole film in a nut shell: the 'girl' at the beginning and the 'woman' at the end - A-M's character had matured, had discovered what was 'important' (as viewed through the mores of the early 60's) - the love of a good man, as opposed to a 'flash in the pan'. The way she does the number, with a change in attitude and composure reflects the 'growth' she has experienced during the course of the film.

Thumbs up for editing and posting this video.

If I saw an advert like that, I'd fancy it

Bye Bye Birdie was so haunting for me for some reason. Couldn't sleep after listening to that song.

Dang. I miss that series. I loved seeing the 50's in the work ambient..

I actually think that the commercial is really, really good. They should have put it on the air!

You did a great job lining the two clips up! It fell out of sync as it progressed because the two songs are at slightly different tempos (original is slower) I think. Is it just me or is the Patio girl's voice really cringeworthy?

Patio voice of like sledgehammer in my brain.

Great job to the uploader. Thanks for posting this.

Ann-Margret's voice is actually kind of annoying...?

i´ll always prefer peggy´s version

Bye bye birdie basically foreshadowed Betty’s cancer

Ann Margret was a total fox back then but damn that Patio substitute is something to write home about.

Great video thanks for putting this together

Don't listen this with headphones, otherwise your eardrums will explode

The best line in that Mad Men sequence (not used for this video) was when they were slicing and dicing that ad and when they could not quite figure out what was lacking in that ad, Peggy volunteered her opinion that "it's not Ann Margaret". Classic!!

If you could get Amy Adams to do a version of this, then you'll have a GIANT commercial worthy of Super half time

The actress in the Patio version did a great job matching actions and mannerisms. She didn't look quite right because her hair and makeup did not really match the era. In the original Ann Margaret was deliberately singing the song in a whiney grating way to look more juvenile (this is the opening song - and then she matures through the film. She sings her other songs in a much smoother voice

It makes me wanna drink Ann Margret … so I guess it works!

I think that this was done really well!

Proof Ann had "It" - you can try and copy her, but those guys at the agency know it's not the same without the real thing. Her charm makes it. LOL that girl has the fake sweetness of the drink she's supposed to be selling

Yeah I think everyone who says the modern one sucks is forgetting that it's supposed to suck. They say it's a failure in the episode. On an unrelated note, I am an actor, and I hate it when people my age (I'm 22) hate the acting in old movies just because it's a different style than modern acting. They can't appreciate it for what it is; hell, I think the acting in a lot of the old classics is much better than today! It's not as, ¨naturalistic" as today's but I think they were much braver with their character choices, they were more charismatic, and they were better at handling all of that great dialogue. You could not do a film like Bye Bye Birdie with today's style; it just wouldn't work. I actually think that my generation is much less expressive than the previous ones; mostly because of the internet and cell phones. It's much easier to be introverted and small with your expression when you have so much technology; it promotes much more focus on the self rather than the world around you. I think older actors were better listeners; they didn't have as many distractions such as the aforementioned internet and cell phones. Look how a lot of old people greet each other; they have big smiles and say in big, gregarious voices, ¨Hey Bob how ya doing! Long time no see pal! How are the kids?¨ etc. As apposed to the limp, quite, ¨Hey¨ of people my age. I'm not ripping all modern acting; there are lots and lots and lots of great ones; Michael Shannon, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Tom Hardy, Elisabeth Moss, and dozens more. There will always be great actors where there are people who love the craft. But I do think that older actors have a special quality that many today lack; maybe it's because films were made with the sole intent of being on the big screen; it wasn't like today where you could get it on dvd or instant download just a few months later. Once you saw it on the big screen, that was it. Unless it came on tv every now and again. I think the acting reflected that. I think people often judge art based off of what they are used to, rather than its own merits.

Not as good as Ann margaret

I show this to my mum she looked at the Patio Diet Cola and she was speechless lol, she prefers original lol

Just goes to show that you can’t fake sex-appeal.

bye bye birdie!

Is it just me or does her voice go straight through anyone els

Esta é a melhor série

The classic "close but no cigar"

The Patio version, I think they made it horrible on purpose, without being so blatantly clear. For one, the dress looked tacky as compared to Ann's, her hair was not well prepared, and well... The size factor. Ann was very thin, and yet she had a great figure. The Patio girl was a bit.. rounder in comparison. I think those who made the remake were hitting these points without making it too loud, so that we the viewers would feel like something was missing. Sterling was right, it's not Ann, and that's why it looked bad.

God! I miss that show. I can relate starting my working carer at the end of that era. People weren't so anal about everything like now.

MAD MEN doing a superb job in whatever they do, not surprised!

Ann Margaret is just gorgeous!

whats the name of the patio s girl. so beautifull.

I can’t find the name of the actress that played in the patio video, but she did a great job.

Whom is the actor in the bye bye sugar video?

There's a couple reasons why it's off: 1. Ann-Margret's version is indeed a bit shrill, but she has the charm to pull it off. The woman in the commercial is just copying it without understanding it.. 2. Ann-Margret is appealing to men, not women, yet the commercial is targeting women. 3. It's too long for a commercial, and to get to the point.

Thanks for the post. Pretty amazing.

It's funny that they have pop in tin cans. Also, Patio cola became Diet Pepsi.

Peggy says Ann Margret is 25 here. That's wrong. Ann Margret was 21 when she played Kim in Bye Bye Birdie. (Coincidentally, Susan Watson was 21 when originated the role of Kim on Broadway. ) Hollywood has had actors in their twenties playing high schoolers for forever . Look at Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Many of those actors were in their twenties. This has been going on in movies before Birdie and after Birdie so Peggy is uninformed Don was right when he said " Men want her. Women want to be like her." That was true, at least back then. Maybe Peggy wanted Eleanor Roosevelt for the ad.

"Patio Cola" was the original name, before it became "Diet Pepsi". Strange to name a cola after a porch or terrace though.

This song gets more annoying the more times you hear it.

im perplexed man.

I lost 2 litres of blood via my ear after listening to this shit

Whats the real name of the girl from Salvatore s comercial?

I gotta say, I'm obsessed with the commercial. I would have drunk Patio.

What a beautiful and charismatic woman

The actual Patio Diet Cola jingle that I remember from the radio consisted only of the words "Drink new Patio Diet Cola, refreshing way to stay slim!" Nothing as elaborate as this in real life.

I think the Patio commercial is a little to modern when it comes to the way the actress uses her facial expression. I watch a lot of movies and TV from the 50's and 60's and actor's of that era seem to avoid making little facial movement's to show emotion. There were a few factors as to why, first film actors had a stronger theatrical background in which the body was used more to express emotion, any facial change is broad and held to be noticeable. Second, the Kuleshov effect, was pretty popular and at times misinterpreted by actors. In fact, Gloria Grahame (probably the most infamous misinterpreted of this effect) was obsessed with making her face as still as possible (through plastic surgery) while acting so that the scene could dictate her emotional state for the viewer (you can see her in Oklahoma). When I watch the Patio version I am taken out of the fantasy of watching a commercial from that era because of the more modern (if not bad) acting of the actress cast for Mad Men. And I don't think this is an intentional effect from the directors, I think the actress has not seen much media from that era.

*WOULD HAVE SOLD THE AD WITH SAL IN A SKIRT*

Now i want a patio...

The biggest problem with it as a parody, though, is the emotions are all wrong. Ann-Margret was supposed to he distraught to be saying "bye" to Conrad Birdie, while the woman in the commercial was supposed to be happy about saying "bye" to sugar and drinking Patio.

Well yes! They are quite a sight indeed.

There is not a more grating performance in my estimation. Fuck.

The reason this ad doesn't work is because of what peggy said: It sells the cola to men, not to women. Most women don't give a shit if a beautiful chick drinks the same cola she does. Also, it's ironic they try to recapture this iconic moment when in season 4 Don tells his staff : Endorsements are lazy.

nice job on the editing!

Wow, what's odd is that the lyrics for the commercial seem far more in tune with the melody than the film/musicals'.

Gee Bye Bye Birdie trying a commercial for Patio Diet Cola _now Pepsi) but when Ann sang to Bobby the line goes 'One boy to share Coke with." maybe that was what was meant by "it just doesn't feel right." rather than,"It wasn't Ann Margret." what dopes!

Though Kelsey Sanders nailed it, I think Sal's version for his wife in the bedroom really caught the essence of the commercial.😂😂😁