Mad Men: Next Generation (Current Kiernan Shipka, Cons)

The rumors about Mad Men taking a more explicit turn started as soon as Netflix announced the reboot. But people had been expecting some extra nudity and swearing, they didn't realize how badly Netflix needed a new angle after the streaming wars killed their subscriber base. They took a bold swing a made Mad Men the face of their new push into including full, unsimulated sex into some of their already adult content. This still

is from the episode where Pete is tasked with promoting Nike's new shoe line for one Michael Jordan. Pete had the idea for literalizing the sex sells saying, and he had the perfect stroke of fortune when he stumbled upon Don's (very adult now) daughter during the casting process. He now got to break new ground while striking a blow at his old business partner turned rival.

"We are selling a fantasy to young men. That's the primary audience. What do they want right now? They want to be like Mike. Sure they want to play like him but they want more than that. They want to live like Mike too. They want to have big dicks and fuck pretty girls. They want to look cool while doing it too. How do they do this? How can they capture a bit of that dream? By wearing Jordans of course"

An exec pointed out that the porn completed distracted from the product. And the tents forming around the table seemed to validate his concerns.

"The sex draws attention. It makes them stop to stare. And it will make a lot of them rip that page out of a magazine and... examine the ad more at home--"

At this point in the scene, Sally (Kiernan) has her back to the camera. She was brought to the meeting to humiliate her and Don by extension, but the scene hadn't gotten there just yet. But Kiernan was already feeling incredibly embarrassed. Pete was fictional and his words were written in a script but they still had some truth behind them. She knew that millions of people would masturbate to this image and the scenes to come. She knew that every time she talked to someone from now on the images of her getting railed would dance through their heads for the whole conversation.

"-- But the real beauty of this ad is the model, some pun intended. More specifically, her lack of true beauty is key. Sure, she is pretty enough but she's pretty in a plain way. She's not so beautiful you can't take your eyes off her. She's pretty enough to catch your attention and fuel a bit of fantasy but not so beautiful that you won't eventually notice the shoes and note them, at least subconsciously. And look at the expressions. She's much more happy than he is. For her, it's the night of her life but for him she's just another bitch. That's the fantasy, not getting the girl, no she's not pretty enough to be THE girl, but getting girlS. The idea that there will be more girls like her or better than her to take her place."

Now the scene and camera's turn their focus to Kiernan/Sally to bathe in her humiliation. No acting was required for this scene, those lines were way too personal for it not to hit home. She felt like crying but fought to keep a brave face. She felt what he said in her core. She was totally sexualized now but not hot enough to be a sex symbol. She was a sex object now not an icon and barely an actress. She was a slut.

Pete had made his way behind in the seconds she was left to stew. He hammered home the debasement of the scene by groping her tits from behind.

"Now gentleman, we are going to allow you to get your own little taste of that fantasy."

He grabbed her by the hand and beckoned her towards the center of the room.

Kiernan rose and faced her tormentor, utterly humiliated and desperately wet.