AMC showcased the season four premiere of the hit series Mad Men Sunday and for those of us drawn to the show, it was a pleasure to sit back and watch a time gone by in the "ad bidness." As a partner in the now one year old "start up" Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, Creative Director Don Draper set out to reshape himself and what he believes (that is, after he screwed up an interview with AdAge).

In one particular scene, Don presents an ad for a "family oriented" bathing suit company (Jantzen) featuring a model in a two piece bathing suit. Except the top piece was sort of missing. Superimposed over the woman's chest was a text box with copy, "So well built, we can't show you the second floor". Don then explained to the client that they need to take a risk. The reader would be drawn into the ad because it's nothing like what their competition was doing. And their competition was kicking their bathing suit butt.

The client was shocked and said they wanted anything but that sort of an ad. Draper then basically told them they were fools for not even considering taking the risk. He further told them they were sitting in the creative world of an agency accepting risk and not being afraid of it. Then he said he wanted no part of them and stormed out . . . only to return a moment later to order them out of the office. He really didn't care to have clients like them, afraid to take risks with creativity. He could live without them.

How many of us in today's ad world would think of doing something like that? Would we even entertain the thought, let alone follow through with ordering your client out of the office?

Times haven't changed all that much. Clients, at least some, still think they know better than the agency. And some agencies have become nothing more than a "yes shop" for whatever the client wants. Both scenarios are not good for the industry or for creativity.

So, how many Don Drapers do we have out there? Are you listening?