With Mad Men storming onto our screens for season five this spring, we find ourselves once again immersed in the universe of Don Draper and co. - and their never-ending penchant for creative flair.

But that wonderful world of whiskeys and cigars at lunchtime and frenzied pitches for a must-have airline/cigarette brand is not merely the stuff of fiction. Back in ad land's golden era, Madison Avenue was heaving with verve and innovation, as agencies vied to outdo each other with visionary thinking and that killer tag line.

Here Andrew Cracknell, author of The Real Mad Men, introduces us to six ground-breaking ads from the Mad Men era of 1950s and 60s New York, when a handful of renegades changed advertising forever...

Andrew Cracknell's The Real Mad Men: The Remarkable True Story of Madison Avenue’s Golden Age is available to purchase now (Quercus, £14.99)

Photos courtesy of Elwin Street Productions © 2011 The Real Mad

1. Wolfschmidt’s Vodka – Tomato

The real Mad Men ads