Which copywriter first appears in the season 5 episode Tea Leaves?

The copywriter who first appears in the season 5 episode “Tea Leaves” is Michael Ginsberg.

Michael is introduced when Peggy Olson helps interview candidates for a new copywriter. He is hired part-time to work on the Mohawk Airlines account, and his energetic portfolio quickly establishes him as an unusually prolific and inventive writer. Roger Sterling has already promised Mohawk that the agency will bring Ginsberg aboard, helping overturn Peggy’s hesitation about his eccentric personality.

Ginsberg becomes a major member of the creative department. He is talented, blunt, socially awkward, and often difficult for colleagues to manage, but his advertising instincts make him valuable. His relationship with Peggy develops through professional rivalry and collaboration as both writers compete for recognition.

The episode title can cause confusion because “Tea Leaves” also follows Betty Draper’s health anxieties and a tea-leaf reader. Danny Siegel is a later creative figure, Freddy Rumsen predates Ginsberg, and Stan Rizzo joins the creative team later in the season.