This episode begins with an amusing scene: Don is in a meeting when his phone rings. He picks up the phone, but no one is there. The phone on the table by the sofa starts ringing, but no one is there, either. Ms. Blankenship walks in the office and tells Don that he has a phone call, but she didn’t know if she should tell him about it or not. Don, exasperated, tells her it’s okay to tell him about phone calls, but not to keep asking if he wants coffee after he’s said no once already.
Don finally gets his phone call. Walter Hoffman, who writes the advertising column for the New York Times is on the phone, and he wants a comment from Don about rival firm Cutler Gleason and Chaough taking the Clearasil and jai alai accounts. Don says that he doesn’t talk about old accounts, and when Hoffman mentions a snarky quote from Ted Chaough about Don “looking in his rearview mirror and seeing me”, Don says that he’s never heard of him.
Don then goes to a partner’s lunch, where Pete announces that his has gotten the interest of Honda, who is looking to change agencies for their motorcycles advertising. Lane mentions that it’s a $3 million account at present, and that the company wants to expand into automobiles. Roger kills the fun by saying that SCDP will not do business with the Japanese. Pete starts to object, but Roger cuts him off, saying that he used to have a lot of friends, but those friends were killed by Pete’s new “yellow buddies”. Bert cuts him off, and Roger storms out of the room. The remaining partners tell Pete to go ahead, and he says that he’s been advised to read The Chrysanthemum and the Sword to learn about Japanese business culture. Don tells Joan to get everyone a copy of the book.
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