George Lois was a real
Madison Avenue adman from the 1950s and 1960s, and after. He wrote a book some
years ago called DAMN
GOOD ADVICE, which is a memoir / self-accolade / idea book.
It’s a good read, and a funny one. I recommend it.
(Incidentally: if you watch “Mad Men,” you will be interested
to know that George Lois is rumored to be the model for Don Draper, the main
character in the series. George, in his book, hotly denies it. “And besides,”
he says, “I was more attractive!”, and shows this picture:
(So what do you think of someone who says: “That’s not me!
And besides, I was more attractive than that!”? Hmm. I know what I think.)
Anyway: the book is full of good stories.
This one nags at me frequently:
A bigwig goes into a bar and says to the bartender, “Give me
the best Manhattan
you can make.”
Bartender does so, and gives it to Bigwig. Bigwig tastes it.
“It’s good,” he says. “Can you do better?”
Bartender tries again. This goes on for several repetitions.
Finally, after sampling Manhattan #5 or so, Bigwig says: “This is excellent!”,
and then he glares at Bartender. “Why the fuck didn’t you make it like this the
first time I asked?”
I have no answer to that.
What does “best” mean?
And why don’t we do it all the time?
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