ContractsProf Blog

Can Mad Men Bring Sexy Back to Contracts?

I am late to the hit AMC series Mad Men; just last week, I started watching the first season on DVD.  I am enjoying the show, and tolerating the unrelenting misogyny as a representation of the period.  That aside, the show definitely has an alluring and sexy aesthetic – partly attributable to the constant smoking and cocktail drinking in well-tailored suits.

I’d love to bring some of this allure into the contracts classroom – without the sex, sexism, smoking and drinking.  And, I just might be able to.  I have it on reliable information that there is an employment contract issue that arises as a sub-plot late in Season 2 and has carried over to Season 3 of the show.  Apparently the story line involves Don Draper refusing to sign an employment contract because it contains a non-compete clause.  When I heard this, I went from liking the show to loving it.

But, this is as informative as my post can be – because I have not yet reached these episodes of the show.  That is why I am asking those of you who read this blog and watch Mad Men to explain in the comments the non-compete sub-plot and name the episodes in which it receives treatment.  We will address non-competes in my class in a few weeks, and I am thinking I just might be able to bring sexy back to Contracts.

[Meredith R. Miller]

Another Take on the Van Halen "No Brown M&M's Rider"

Perhaps the most famous contract in rock history is Van Halen’s 1982 World Tour rider.  It contains the legendary requirement that the band be provided with a bowl of M&M’s in the dressing room, with all brown M&M’s removed from the bowl.  Actually, the rider states, on the topic of Munchies: 

M&M’s (WARNING: ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES)

You can check out the rider here if you’d like.

Until recently, the famous Brown M&M’s rider seemed nothing more than an example of the frivolity of the rock star ego.  Then I listened to an alternative explanation, courtesy of NPR’s fabulous radio show This American Life.

In an episode titled “The Fine Print,” with the help of John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants, we are offered a business reason for the M&M's clause of the rider.  

Apparently, beyond the backstage food and drink requirements, tour riders contain very important instructions that affect how smoothly the show will run -- for example, electricity or weight requirements for the band’s gear.  Well, if the promoter at the local venue does not read the rider, it is likely that something will go very wrong at the show.  So, Van Halen used the M&M’s for signaling purposes: if there were no brown M&M’s in the bowl, the band knew that the local promoter read the rider.  If the brown M&M’s were there, the band knew that the local promoter had not read the rider carefully, and technical and safety requirements might not have been met.

You can give the show a listen here.  The Van Halen part is in the very beginning of the show, but it is well worth listening to the entire show.

[Meredith R. Miller]