Looking at the costs of Don Draper's lush life, what strikes us most is just how impossibly good the dashing, inscrutable star of TVs "Mad Men" had it--at least in terms of his personal finances. The fictional ad man, played by Jon Hamm, lives a kingly (and often quite drunken) life on a salary of $45,000 a year plus a $2,500 bonus. In 2012 dollars, that translates into an annual salary of $356,510, as our friends at Credit Sesame point out.
Today, someone with Draper's equivalent job as a creative director at an advertising firm makes an average annual salary of $133,641, according to Credit Sesame's analysis. Though well above the median income in the U.S., that salary is not going to get you a Draper-style life, packed with first-class trips to Los Angeles, a mistress or two, a Cadillac and a stay-at-home spouse--wait that was two seasons ago. Last time we checked, the recently divorced Draper had just proposed to his kids' nanny. But we digress.
Check out the Credit Sesame's infographic, which translates Draper's life into 2012 terms.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article identified Don Draper as an "ad director at an advertising firm," rather than as creative director, the character's actual title.