Considering the current gloom that hangs over the ad industry these days, it’s not surprising that the early ‘60s era depicted in AMC’s Mad Men are so inspiring to advertisers and marketers. NYT ad columnist Stuart Elliott surveys several promotions and tie-ins involving disparate advertisers from Banana Republic to Clorox, as a way to garner attention for the DVD release of the second season as well as the show’s August return.

The wide-ranging campaign not only brings in support from media outlets like Variety, it’s also inspiring creative ways of getting readers to access its archives. The magazine is creating a special online feature around the DVD release that includes a digital flipbook, where users can view Variety’s coverage of the media business from the ‘60s. If Mad Men’s success continues over the next few years, the characters might find themselves actually having to plan online campaigns. At that point, expect the faux ad execs to wax wistfully about how much better it was back in the ‘60s.