Top 250 Movies Like The Real Mad Men Of Advertising

A list of the best movies similar to The Real Mad Men of Advertising. If you liked The Real Mad Men of Advertising then you may also like: 1985, X: The Unheard Music, You're Telling Me, The Magic Bubble, Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape and many more great movies featured on this list.

Follow the evolution of advertising from the 1950s through the 1980s, via interviews with the industry's top ad executives, and through classic ads and commercials.

1985

Having been gone for three years, closeted advertising executive Adrian returns to his Texas hometown and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family.

X: The Unheard Music

A documentary about the band X. Includes live and studio performances and interviews with the band members.

You're Telling Me

Hubert Abercrombie Gumm, a flighty, eccentric screwball acquires a job as an executive at a radio station at the insistence of his only-slightly less eccentric aunt Fannie Handley, who is married to one of the company owners. After mixing up the script pages to the various radio programs, Hubert sets out to get the name of a returning explorer on a contract for the radio station. Other than the title, this film has no connection at all to the 1934 W.C. Fields film of the same title even though some sources give the plot of the Fields' film as the plot of this film.

The Magic Bubble

A middle-aged woman frees herself from the spirit-crushing influence of her husband by refusing to remember what her age is.

Virtual Nightmare

Advertising executive Dale Hunter (Michael Muheny) works at the agency Arora. But after a car accident, his life changed abruptly. He has nightmares at night and by day he suffers from hallucinations. The world looks like from a computer. Numbers and names adhere to the objects. A doctor can not help him and the hallucinations are getting worse. Librarian Wendy seems to be the only person he can trust. Together they try to find out the truth.

Weekend for Three

Jim is hardly thrilled when his new bride, Ellen, invites an old friend, Randy, over for dinner. Yet Jim turns genuinely dismayed once Randy arrives and turns out to be an insufferable, boorish braggart with bad manners and little self-awareness. That dismay turns to outright annoyance when Jim realizes Randy thinks he has come to stay for the weekend. How much damage to a marriage can one unwanted guest do in the space of one weekend?

Wicked as They Come

A ruthless woman takes advantage of gullible men to climb up the social ladder.

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

To save his career, an ad man wants a sex symbol to endorse a lipstick but in exchange, she wants him to pretend to be her lover.

Women Are Like That

Businesswoman Claire King is the daughter of a powerful advertising executive. When Claire marries humble copywriter Bill Landin, she wants to use her influence to help her husband get ahead, but he will have none of it.

Nightmares in Red, White and Blue

An exploration of the appeal of horror films, with interviews of many legendary directors in the genre.

No

In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the ‘No’ vote persuade a brash young advertising executive, René Saavedra, to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and while under scrutiny by the despot’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.

Room 237

A subjective documentary that explores various theories about hidden meanings in Stanley Kubrick's classic film The Shining. Five very different points of view are illuminated through voice over, film clips, animation and dramatic reenactments.

Jack and Jill vs. The World

Jack and Jill's Manifesto of Rules to Live By Rule 1 Be honest Rule 2 Believe in fairy tales Rule 3 Accept time as our friend Rule 4 Make sure the nooky is good Rule 5 Promote beauty. Wage a sustained campaign against ugliness Rule 6 Abandon the pursuit of happiness and its false promise Rule 7 Show compassion, except to pirates Rule 8 Less TV Rule 9 Always be willing to admit when you're wrong

Altman

Robert Altman's life and career contained multitudes. This father of American independent cinema left an indelible mark, not merely on the evolution of his art form, but also on the western zeitgeist. With its use of rare interviews, representative film clips, archival images, and musings from his family and most recognizable collaborators, Altman is a dynamic and heartfelt mediation on an artist whose expression, passion and appetite knew few bounds.

The Arrangement

An adman attempts to rebuild his shattered life after suffering a nervous breakdown.

The Beach House

Cara Rudland thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind, but returns to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers after losing her job in Chicago. There, she reconnects with her mother Lovie, who has been caring for her young, pregnant friend Toy in her charming beach house.

Bounce

A man switches plane tickets with another man who dies in that plane in a crash. The man falls in love with the deceased one's wife.

Collateral Beauty

Retreating from life after a tragedy, a man questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

It’s the battle of wills, as Andie (Kate Hudson) needs to prove she can dump a guy in 10 days, whereas Ben (Matthew McConaughey) needs to prove he can win a girl in 10 days. Now, the clock is ticking - and the wildly entertaining comedy smash is off and running in this irresistible tale of sex, lies and outrageous romantic fireworks!

Passion

The rivalry between the manipulative boss of an advertising agency and her talented protégée escalates from stealing credit to public humiliation to murder.

The Footloose Heiress

A rich businessman brings home a homeless man who promises to tame his willful 18-year-old daughter.

I Married a Woman

Advertising executive Marshall Briggs finds his work in conflict with his love-life with fashion model Janice Blake.

Creative Control

Smooth advertising executive David is in a relationship with yoga teacher Juliette. Then his eye is caught by Sophie, the girlfriend of his best friend Wim, a fashion photographer. Things get completely out of hand during a campaign for augmented reality-glasses, for which David designs an avatar of the coveted Sophie.

Daltry Calhoun

In small town Tennessee, a ne'er-do-well man (Knoxville) wrestling for control over his fading golf club is reunited with his estranged daughter, a 14-year-old musical prodigy.

Defending Your Life

Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.

The Glass Web

The ice-cold diva Paula ruthlessly exploits the guys she dates. While blackmailing the married Don with a recent one-night-stand, she has a secret affair with Henry, who works as researcher for the weekly authentic TV show "Crime of the Week", which Don writes for. When Henry fails to help her to a role, she insults him deadly... and ends up dead herself. Now Don desperately tries to hide his traces, but Henry sabotages his efforts and suggests he write the unsolved murder case for next week's show...

Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film

This historical and critical look at slasher films, which includes dozens of clips, begins with Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Prom Night. The films' directors, writers, producers, and special effects creators comment on the films' making and success. During the Reagan years, the films get gorier, budgets get smaller, and their appeal wanes. Then, Nightmare on Elm Street revives the genre. Jump to the late 90s, when Scream brings humor and TV stars into the mix.

Syrup

A slacker hatches a million-dollar idea. But, in order to see it through, he has to learn to trust his attractive corporate counterpart. Based on Max Barry's novel.

Stadium Anthems

A female recording artist encounters the misogyny and outdated business practices of male record label executives.

The Hudsucker Proxy

A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.

Gung Ho

When a western Pennsylvania auto plant is acquired by a Japanese company, brokering auto worker Hunt Stevenson faces the tricky challenge of mediating the assimilation of two clashing corporate cultures. At one end is the Japanese plant manager and the sycophant who is angling for his position. At the other, a number of disgruntled long-time union members struggle with the new exigencies of Japanese quality control.

Putney Swope

Swope—the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm—is accidentally put in charge after the death of the chairman.

A Shock to the System

Madison Avenue executive Graham Marshall has paid his dues. A talented and devoted worker, he has suffered through mounting bills and a nagging wife with one thing to look forward to: a well-deserved promotion. But when the promotion is given to a loud-mouthed yuppie associate, Graham unleashes his rage on an overly aggressive panhandler, who he accidently kills by pushing him into the path of an oncoming subway train. He re-thinks his problems with an entirely new solution. First, he arranges an "accident" for his annoying wife. Then he creates another "mishap" for his boss. It seems like the world is once more Graham's oyster…but a missing cigarette lighter and a prying police detective may change all that.

Morning Glory

A young and devoted morning television producer is hired as an executive producer on a long-running morning show at a once-prominent but currently failing station in New York City. Eager to keep the show on air, she recruits a former news journalist and anchor who disapproves of co-hosting a show that does not deal with real news stories.

The Marshmallow Mystery Tour

After landing a gig at a marshmallow theme park, a cameraman uncovers the shocking truth about America's candyland and his own sugar coated childhood.

I'm All Right Jack

Naive Stanley Windrush returns from the war, his mind set on a successful career in business. Much to his own dismay, he soon finds he has to start from the bottom and work his way up, and also that the management as well as the trade union use him as a tool in their fight for power.

The Last Word

A retired businesswoman – who tries to control everything around her – decides to write her own obituary. A young journalist takes up the task of finding out the truth, and the result is a life-altering friendship.

Picture Perfect

A young advertising executive's life becomes increasingly complicated when, in order to impress her boss, she pretends to be engaged to a man she has just met.

Pretty Baby

A young woman living in Manhattan pretends to be the mother of an infant in order to get a seat on the subway.

Puzzle of a Downfall Child

Lou Andreas Sand, a once famous model, recalls her past as she tries to make success in the modeling world of New York, her stressfull workdays, her affair with Mark, an advertising executive, her friendship with photographer Aaron, and her downward spiral into ruin.

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

Take a stroll down Sesame Street and witness the birth of the most influential children's show in television history. From the iconic furry characters to the classic songs you know by heart, learn how a gang of visionary creators changed the world.

Christmas in July

An office clerk loves entering contests in the hopes of someday winning a fortune and marrying the girl he loves. His latest attempt is the Maxford House Coffee Slogan Contest. As a joke, some of his co-workers put together a fake telegram which says that he won the $25,000 grand prize.

Ex-Lady

Although free spirit Helen Bauer does not believe in marriage, she consents to marry Don, but his infidelities cause her to also take on a lover.

Mr. Write

Aspiring writer (with no talent) gets a job on a TV commercial, falls for an advertising executive.

Calm Yourself

A recently-fired advertising executive starts his own company, Confidential Services, to help clients solve their unusual and problematic situations.

Rudderless

A grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles across a box of his recently deceased son's demo tapes and lyrics. Shocked by the discovery of this unknown talent, he forms a band in the hope of finding some catharsis.

Absolute Beginners

A musical adaptation of Colin MacInnes' novel about life in late 1950s London. Nineteen-year-old photographer Colin is hopelessly in love with model Crepe Suzette, but her relationships are strictly connected with her progress in the fashion world. So Colin gets involved with a pop promoter and tries to crack the big time. Meanwhile, racial tension is brewing in Colin's Notting Hill housing estate...

The Love Patient

A handsome and self-centered ad executive pretends he has life-threatening cancer to win back the love of his ex.

The Boob Tube

In 'Live Action', young psychiatrist Henry Carstairs moves into an apartment building filled with lonely, sex starved women. This soap is interrupted several times by sexy ads.

Agency

A mysterious millionaire buys an ad agency and begins to replace its employees with his own people, who don't appear to be advertising types at all...

Ladykillers

A female police detective enlists her boyfriend to help her track down a murderer picking off the dancers at an upscale male strip club in Los Angeles.

A Kiss Goodnight

Advertising exec Natalie engages in a passionate, but brief, love affair with a stranger named Kurt. When Natalie returns to her boyfriend, she finds that Kurt isn't so easily dismissed.

The Girl from Jones Beach

Glamour artist Bob Randolph is world famous for his paintings of a stunning beauty dubbed "The Randolph Girl". What the world doesn't know is that his pin-up creation is really a composite of parts of the anatomy of 12 different models. In an effort to find one girl who possesses all the proper physical attributes, Randolph and PR man Chuck Donovan pursue Ruth Wilson, a beauteous schoolteacher who prefers to be admired for her brain rather than her curves. Ruth changes her tune, however, when a published photo of her in a swimsuit causes her to be fired by the uptight schoolboard. She sues for reinstatement and in the process learns that swimsuits and sex appeal do have a place in her world, after all. Written by Dan Navarro

The Art of Amália

Documentary about the life of Portuguese Fado singer Amalia Rodrigues (1920-1999) with an interview and collection of footage from performances throughout her long career.

Love Accidentally

Alexa and Jason are competing for a position at an advertising firm when their partners break up with them. Alexa mistakenly texts Jason, and they start a phone-only relationship. When they meet and the truth comes out, will true love prevail?

Jobriath A.D.

Called "The American Bowie," "The True Fairy of Rock & Roll" and "Hype of the Year," Jobriath's reign as the first openly gay rock star was brief and over by 1975. Now, 35 years later, "Jobriath A.D." spotlights his life, music, groundbreaking influence and the new generations of fans slowly re-discovering him.

Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe

Crump directed the feature-length documentary film Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff + Robert Mapplethorpe, which premiered in North America at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and in Europe at Art Basel. It explores the influence curator Sam Wagstaff, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and musician/poet Patti Smith had on the 1970s art scene in New York City.

Jingle Around the Clock

When Elle Bennet decides to reunite her college friends for a special Christmas celebration, her plans are thwarted by an opportunity at work she can’t pass up -- spearheading a Christmas campaign relaunch to prove she’s ready for a career-altering promotion. Much to her surprise, she’s forced to team up with advertising campaign 'fixer' Max, who has a completely different take on the Holidays. But as Elle and Max work together and learn more about each other’s Christmas traditions, they unexpectedly find themselves falling for each other. With the help of a little Christmas magic, will Elle pull off the perfect Christmas reunion and find the love she’s been searching for?

Three Guys Named Mike

A stewardess becomes romantically involved with an airline pilot, a college professor, and a successful businessman...all of whom are named Mike. When the three find out about each other, she has to decide which one she loves the most.

Toy Tiger

Advertising executive Gwen Taylor sends her art director Rick Todd on a mission to bring an artist back to the commercial fold. Meanwhile, Gwen's fatherless son Timmie, at a remote boys' school, is riding for a fall by manufacturing evidence of his "explorer father." By an amazing coincidence, Rick steps off the bus at just the right moment for Timmie to recruit him as "father" without his knowledge. With no intention of collaborating, the befuddled Rick is carried along by the sweep of events. Who can predict the outcome?

Slice and Dice: The Slasher Film Forever

A celebration of slasher cinema - from PSYCHO to the present day, with a focus on highlighting many of the genre's forgotten cult classics, deconstructing how to survive a slice and dice movie and meditating upon why it is almost always a final girl and rarely a final guy... this is a documentary which is designed for both the biggest fan of "mad maniac" movies and the person who may only have seen HALLOWEEN and SCREAM. Either way, this is a documentary that proves the SLASHER FILM is truly FOREVER!

Crazy People

A bitter ad executive, who has reached his breaking point, finds himself in a mental institution, where his career actually begins to thrive with the help of the hospital's patients.

Thanks for Everything

Promoters set up a radio contest to find the average American and use him to sell food, apparel and notions. All goes well until he falls in love with a girl who upsets things.

Steve Jobs: One Last Thing

Through interviews with colleagues and others who knew the creative genius whose innovations transformed the lives of millions, ONE LAST THING provides an inside look at the man and the major influences that helped shape his life and career.

A Paris Proposal

Emily and Sebastian travel to his hometown of Paris to land the Ad account of famed Durand Diamonds and end up in a tricky situation when the client mistakes them for a happy couple.

Christian Mingle

A young, modern single woman enters the world of online dating looking for an instant soul mate.

Catch Us If You Can

Dinah is a famous model and actress who is getting tired of life in the limelight and wants to take a break. While shooting a commercial spot for meat, she meets Steve, a stuntman. Dinah and Steve hit it off and decide to head to an island to get away from it all, bringing along four of Steve's friends. Before long, Dinah is reported missing and everyone is looking for her, making their getaway anything but tranquil.

With Love, Christmas

Advertising execs Melanie Welsh and Donovan Goodwin disagree on a cellphone Christmas commercial they’re pitching. He says his sleek design will win over the client but she knows it lacks holiday spirit.

Perfect Timing

Perfect Timing is the story of Harry Crane, an infamous photographer whose sublime and evocative images single-handedly reshaped and rebuilt the boudoir and fitness industries. But, having made his mark, allowed the artist within to be released. Creatively and artistically, Harry has moved on; his work now consisting of portraits and interpreting rock wall fractals. Of course that meant leaving the professional schlock of commercial advertising behind him. Sounds good. Except there's that pesky issue of money. And Harry and his buds are quickly burning through large quantities of it. Bottom line - he's nearly broke and faces eviction.

Here Come the Nelsons

The homespun Nelson family must deal with various comical situations, including an encounter with gangsters.

War of Likes

In order to advance her career in the dynamic world of publicity in Mexico City, Raquel tries to reunite with her high school friend Cecy who has become the queen of social media. But unlike followers, friendships do not come instantly.

Tom, Dick and Harriet

When Tom loses his job at an advertising agency, he enlists a youthful con-man to help save his career.

200 American

Conrad is a gay man living in NYC. He's also CEO of an ad agency and by nature a control freak. Although Conrad is still in love with Martin (his ex), he hires a young Aussie hustler named Tyler, first for a night and then to work for his company. Things get increasingly complicated as Conrad tries to rekindle things with Martin. Meanwhile Tyler (who's daytime name is Ian) falls for Michael his new supervisor

Carpool Guy

Joel Goodman is a hotshot advertising executive angling for a promotion, but he feels stuck - not least of all in traffic. A seeming answer to his prayers comes in the form of a homeless man whom Joel pays to sit in his passenger seat so he can use the carpool lane. The two form an unexpected bond, and Joel comes to realize that sometimes changing lanes can change your life.

Cola Wars

Traces the long and ferocious rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, centered on the "New Coke" debacle of 1985. For almost a hundred years, Coke had been the undisputed leader in the multibillion dollar global soda industry--stodgy, predictable, but indisputably top dog--while Pepsi had been the upstart No. 2, forever poking at its big brother with cutting edge advertising. But in 1985, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Coca-Cola's executives took a step so daring that no one in either company could believe it: they changed the formula of the most popular beverage on the planet.

Scream: The Inside Story

In 1996, the horror master Wes Craven unleashed Scream, a slasher movie aimed at a whole new generation of teenage movie-goers.

The Man Who Drew Bug-Eyed Monsters

This documentary celebrates the work of illustrator Reynold Brown, whose colorful and compelling art graced over 300 movie posters during the 1950s and '60s, ranging from star-studded westerns and studio epics to sensational creature features and low-budget B-movies. Art historians, writers, and movie producers discuss Brown's art within the context of the post-war social climate and an ever-changing movie industry.

Zombiemania

The evolution of the zombie from its roots in Haitian voodoo to its coveted role as the world's most popular monster: from being a clumsy corpse to becoming a cannibal killer and the main agent of every infectious pandemic, the zombie has come a long way in seventy years. A look at the rising tide of zombie culture examining why something so dead has so much life in viewers' nightmares and at the box office.

The Real Mad Men and Women of Madison Avenue

Chronicles the growth of the advertising industry from the 1950s through today, looking at the real men and women who created some of the most ground-breaking advertising campaigns and slogans and whose work changed the landscape of the ad industry. Roy Eaton, Jerry Della Femina, Paula Green, George Lois, and other creative giants recount the history of the advertising industry through unforgettable stories and campaigns.

Bombs Away: LBJ, Goldwater and the 1964 Campaign That Changed It All

Three-year-old Monique Corzilius counts to 10, pulling petals from a daisy. A voice from mission control then counts down as the camera zooms into Monique's dark pupil. An atomic blast and ensuing mushroom cloud consumes the TV screen as President Lyndon Johnson's voice proclaims "We must either love each other, or we must die." This political ad, “Peace Little Girl,” aired only once or twice during the 1964 presidential campaign between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater, but it ushered in a new era of the television attack ad. The 1964 campaign also reshaped the American political landscape in other significant ways. Johnson's "Great Society" and civil rights agendas pushed southern states toward the Republican Party and brought the northeast in line with the Democrats, creating America's contemporary geopolitical map of red and blue states.

Hitched for the Holidays

A couple of single adults agree to pose as each others significant other throughout the holidays to keep their meddling families from harassing them, only to find that their feelings for each other are real.

Something to Live For

Aging advertising executive Alan Miller is a recovered alcoholic who now does interventions on behalf of Alcoholics Anonymous, is called by the elevator operator of a residential hotel to come and intervene in the case of one of the guests, struggling Broadway actress Jenny Carey. The two find they have even more in common than their taste for drink. But Jenny wants to put an end to their romance because Alan is a married man, who moreover is the father of two children. How will Jenny and Alan resolve their feelings without destroying Alan's marriage?

Passkey to Danger

An advertising man's new campaign for a fashion designer attracts the attention of mysterious characters.

The Genius of Turner: Painting the Industrial Revolution

A film that looks at the genius of JMW Turner in a new light. There is more to Turner than his sublime landscapes - he also painted machines, science, technology and industry. Turner's life spans the Industrial Revolution, he witnessed it as it unfolded and he painted it. In the process he created a whole new kind of art. The programme examines nine key Turner paintings and shows how we should re-think them in the light of the scientific and Industrial Revolution. Includes interviews with historian Simon Schama and artist Tracey Emin.

Rock Odyssey

The story of a mysterious woman named Laura, who embarks on a journey to find her true love. The movie's soundtrack is set to four decades of classic rock. Scatman Crothers provides the voice of a living jukebox who narrates the story.

Indecency

Thriller about three friends who work in an advertising agency, one of whom has a nervous breakdown. Upon her recovery, she embarks upon an affair with her former employer's husband, with deadly consequences.

New Year's Kiss

Kelly Hartwick, a rock-star creative director, swears off dating in order to focus on a major Christmas ad campaign.

Ricky Gervais: Armageddon

Ricky Gervais dishes out controversial takes on political correctness and oversensitivity in a taboo-busting comedy special about the end of humanity. Recorded at The London Palladium.

Atari: Game Over

The Xbox Originals documentary that chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.” Rumor claims that millions of returned and unsold E.T. cartridges were buried in the desert, but what really happened there?

Castello Cavalcanti

In 1955 in Italy, race car driver Jed Cavalcanti suffers a mishap during the Molte Miglia rally and finds himself in a small town with a few familial surprises.

Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies

This documentary traces the life and work of the legendary "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford, silent film star, movie pioneer and keen businesswoman. Pickford's life also parallels an even larger story, telling of the birth of the cinema itself.

Unfrosted

In a time when milk and cereal ruled breakfast, a fierce corporate battle begins over a revolutionary new pastry.

The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story

The childhood, adolescence, and incredible adult years of Al Hirschfeld, celebrated creator of thousands of line drawings of famous people - many in the entertainment industry - over a span of more than sixty years. He is still drawing in his nineties. His interesting domestic life, political, and cultural views are highlights. In addition, he talks about himself a bit - seriously and lightly.(At one point he he claims that his only form of exercise has been to live in his Manhattan townhouse: stairs). He drives his car around Manhattan - an adventure in itself. Brief interviews with, and reminiscences of many friends and associates.

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