Television is a vast wasteland, according to Newton Minow.

Don't Bring Me Clown

Posted: 24 January 2010 | posted by David J. Loehr |

Not to poke Modern Family fans with a stick or anything, but after the jump, here's a WalMart commercial that achieves in thirty seconds what the "Fizbo" episode couldn't do in thirty minutes.



As an online friend noted, creativity is subtraction. Here's the "birthday party with clown gone horribly wrong," boiled down to the essentials. Even though you're prepared for every element in advance, it still manages to surprise in the execution.

Moreover, it has the "documentary" feel. It has as much character building as you can get in half a minute. You empathize with each of the parents in turn. And the payoff is beautiful.

The most amazing part to me isn't that WalMart approved this ad, but that WalMart has an ad that's genuinely entertaining.

5 comments:

  1. Purdue said...
  2. Can't agree about Modern Family. That show is #1 in my book.

    The commercial is just loud.

  3. Nell Minow said...
  4. On behalf of my dad, Newton Minow, and our whole family, many thanks for including that charming photo of him on your blog's banner. We all appreciate it. (And give Modern Family another try -- it's not bad.)

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  9. David J. Loehr said...
  10. Wow! Thanks for visiting. I did have to do a little Photoshop magic to make the banner work, but I've always like his writing and appreciated his work. I'm so glad you like it.

    As for Modern Family, I'm still watching. It's still not doing anything for me, but now it's a matter of curiosity...