Why are Mad Men memes so enduring?

Mel Magazine

"Unlike memes spawned by The Sopranos, to which Mad Men is always thought an heir, these don’t convey an enduring interest in the lore and subplots of a richly layered narrative; they belong to the well of 'relatable' stuff, microcosms of our pettiest frustrations," Miles Klee says of Mad Men memes. "That all of them are confined to offices, despite the series often venturing beyond those walls, makes me wonder if younger viewers internalized Mad Men not as a scathing portrait of a time and industry but a bleak, existential comedy about the horror of work itself. Botching your assignment. Bickering with colleagues. Recognizing the futility of everything you do, then losing your grip on the persona you developed specially for this job. And what is a career if not survival of the fittest? The Mad Men memes with staying power are testaments to our drive to stay on top. To keep winning. To bring our haters and rivals to heel. Such are the miseries of the American machine — that system we oil with our sweat and blood."