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141 free Mad Men trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free Mad Men trivia questions with answers. Step into the world of Madison Avenue with our Mad Men trivia quiz. Whether you're a devoted fan of Don Draper's complicated life or a casual viewer, this quiz will test your knowledge of the show's most memorable characters, pivotal moments, and advertising campaigns. How well do you remember the drama, romance, and intrigue of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce?
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Q 01Who created the critically acclaimed television series *Mad Men*?
Matthew Weiner
Matthew Weiner created and served as the showrunner for *Mad Men*, a series he initially wrote as a spec script.
Q 02What was the original name of the character known as Don Draper?
Dick Whitman
Don Draper took the identity of his commanding officer, Lieutenant Don Draper, after an accident at the front, leaving behind his birth name of Dick Whitman.
Q 03The television series *Mad Men* primarily takes place during which decade?
1960s
Mad Men opens in 1960 and ends in 1970, so nearly all of its narrative, from the Nixon-Kennedy race to the moon landing, sits inside the 1960s.
Q 04What was the name of the advertising agency where Don Draper first worked at the beginning of *Mad Men*?
Sterling Cooper
The series opens with Don Draper as the creative director at Sterling Cooper, located on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.
Q 05How many seasons did the television series *Mad Men* run for?
7
Mad Men ran for seven seasons, ending with a finale on May 17, 2015; the seventh season was split into two halves aired a year apart.
Q 06What was Don Draper's primary profession throughout much of the series?
Creative Director
The character was partly inspired by Draper Daniels, a real creative director at Leo Burnett in Chicago who worked on the Marlboro Man campaign.
Q 07What was Peggy Olson's initial position when she first joined Sterling Cooper?
Secretary
Peggy Olson began her career at Sterling Cooper as Don Draper's secretary before demonstrating her talent and rising through the ranks to become a copywriter.
Q 08What was Betty Draper's maiden name before she married Don?
Hofstadt
Born Elizabeth Hofstadt in 1932, she takes the surname Francis after her second marriage.
Q 09Which Ivy League university did Pete Campbell attend?
Dartmouth
Pete Campbell is a Dartmouth graduate, something he mentions more than once; his colleagues Ken Cosgrove went to Columbia and Paul Kinsey to Princeton.
Q 10What was Joan Holloway's prominent role at Sterling Cooper before she became a partner?
Office Manager
Joan Holloway expertly managed the secretarial pool and the daily operations as the office manager at Sterling Cooper.
Q 11What is the name of Don and Betty Draper's eldest child?
Sally
Sally Draper is the oldest of Don and Betty's three children, and her character arc significantly develops throughout the series.
Q 12Which famous slogan did Don Draper come up with for Lucky Strike in the pilot episode of Mad Men?
"It's Toasted!"
"It's Toasted!" was a real Lucky Strike slogan, coined in 1917; faced with restrictions on health claims, Don pitches a common aspect of tobacco processing as unique.
Q 13Which company's slide projector did Don Draper famously pitch using images of his own family?
Kodak
Q 21Which major character gives birth out of wedlock, initially hiding the father's identity?
Peggy Olson
Peggy Olson gives birth at the end of season 1 to Pete Campbell's child and refuses to hold the baby; Don later tells her, 'It will shock you how much this never happened.'
Q 22In which suburban New York town do the Drapers live in the show's early seasons?
Ossining
The Drapers' house is in Ossining, Westchester County, a train ride from Grand Central; Betty keeps it after the divorce until the end of season 4.
Q 23What product was the 'Belle Jolie' account Peggy Olson worked on early in her career?
Lipstick
Belle Jolie made lipstick; Peggy's 'basket of kisses' remark during a lipstick focus group caught Freddy Rumsen's ear and earned her her first copywriting assignment.
In the season 1 finale 'The Wheel', Don pitches Kodak's slide projector as 'The Carousel' using photographs of his own family, a nostalgia play that silences the room.
Q 14Which character had a brief relationship with Don Draper and was a psychologist?
Dr. Faye Miller
Dr. Faye Miller, a consumer-research psychologist played by Cara Buono, dates Don in season 4; he drops her after abruptly proposing to his secretary Megan following a California trip.
Q 15What historical event is a central plot point of season 6, hitting the office and characters?
The Martin Luther King Jr. assassination
Martin Luther King Jr.'s April 1968 assassination drives the season 6 episode 'The Flood': the news breaks during an advertising awards dinner, and Pete berates Harry for fretting over lost revenue.
Q 16Which character discovers that Don Draper is living under a false identity early in the series?
Pete Campbell
Pete Campbell learns Don's secret from a misdelivered package in season 1 and tries blackmail; when Don refuses to promote him, Pete tells Bert Cooper, who answers 'Who cares?'
Q 17In what year did Matthew Weiner write the first draft of the pilot as a spec script while on staff at Becker?
2000
Weiner wrote the Mad Men pilot as a spec script in 2000 while writing for the sitcom Becker; the script landed him a job with David Chase, and AMC finally picked it up in 2006.
Q 18Which British financial officer joined Sterling Cooper and later became a partner in SCDP?
Lane Pryce
Installed by the new parent company to cut costs, he was recurring in season 3 and a series regular in seasons 4 and 5, played by Jared Harris.
Q 19Who tells Dow's Ed Baxter, 'What is happiness? It's a moment before you need more happiness'?
Don Draper
The line comes from the season 5 pitch in 'Commissions and Fees', where he argues that a company with half the market should still want all of it.
Q 20Before *Mad Men*, Matthew Weiner was a writer and executive producer on which HBO series?
The Sopranos
Matthew Weiner gained significant experience working on David Chase's *The Sopranos* before creating *Mad Men*.
Q 24Which recurring character, a young neighborhood boy, forms an unusual friendship with Sally Draper?
Glen
Glen Bishop, played by the creator's son Marten Holden Weiner, is Sally's odd neighbour friend from season 1; in season 7 he turns up to tell her he has enlisted for Vietnam.
Q 25Which visiting British executive gets his foot run over by a lawnmower at a season 3 party?
Guy MacKendrick
Guy MacKendrick, sent by parent company PPL, loses a foot when secretary Lois Sadler drives a ride-on mower through the office in season 3; his London bosses promptly write him off.
Q 26Who was Roger Sterling's first wife, played by John Slattery's real-life spouse?
Mona
Mona is played by Talia Balsam, John Slattery's real-life wife; Roger leaves her for Don's 20-year-old secretary Jane.
Q 27Which Mad Men character walks the office in his socks and makes visitors remove their shoes, inspired by Japanese custom?
Bert Cooper
Bert Cooper founded the agency in 1923 with Roger Sterling's father, and dies in his socks watching the Apollo 11 landing.
Q 28Rachel Menken, who becomes involved with Don in season 1, runs what kind of business?
A department store
Rachel Menken runs Menken's, her family's Manhattan department store; she comes to Sterling Cooper in the pilot to modernise its image and begins an affair with Don.
Q 29Which Sterling Cooper art director (Bryan Batt) is fired for rebuffing a Lucky Strike man?
Salvatore Romano
Don kept Sal's secret after seeing him with a bellhop, but a spurned Lee Garner Jr. demanded his removal from the account in season 3.
Q 30Freddy Rumsen's Pond's Cold Cream account came via a connection from which organisation?
Alcoholics Anonymous
Freddy Rumsen, newly sober, brings Pond's Cold Cream to the agency in season 4 through a friend from Alcoholics Anonymous; the win forces Pete to drop Clearasil over a conflict.