It's a product campaign worthy of Madison Avenue brains: Introduce a catchy "earworm" song during a popular TV series, then release it as a single. That's what Mad Men is doing with the addictive sexy French ditty everyone is humming: "Zou Bisou Bisou," sung to suave Don Draper by his saucy new wife, Megan, in the series' season premiere. Mad Men production company Lionsgate is releasing actress Jessica Paré's version of the song as a single on iTunes, and as a limited edition vinyl sold through the program's web site, reports the Washington Post.
"Zou Bisou Bisou," which translates roughly as "oh kiss kiss," was first recorded in 1962 by French teen yéyé ("yeah yeah") singer Gillian Hills, who appeared, along with song, in menage-à-trois in the film Blow-Up. Critics have hailed the selection, representative of flirty teen pop music of the '60s, as one more example of the dead-on era choices for the program. Could Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner "have found a more perfect and surprising song with which to convey the sexual liberation of Megan and her generational cohort?” asks Slate’s David Haglund. “I doubt it.” (More Don Draper stories.)