Yesterday, in between gift opening and the family meal, we enjoyed one of TBS’ 12 consecutive showings of the holiday classic “A Christmas Story”. It was the first time in at least 10 years that I had watched the full movie and I saw very different things through my 2007 eyes. For example, the iconic leg lamp won by the father and billed as a “major prize” now reads to me like a precursor to sweepstakes mail fraud and email appeals from exiled princes in far off lands.

One plot thread has a particularly different feeling in light of what we’ve learned about Word of Mouth Marketing. Ralphie loves the Orphan Annie radio program and anxiously waits for her secret decoder pin in the mail. That night, he listens carefully to the show and waits to get the secret message. After racing to a “private spot” to decode it, it reads “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine” and our cherubic hero exclaims “Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a b*&%h!”

Just a fun Christmas reminder that the fans who beg to be involved with your brand will be especially upset if you feed them commercial messages instead of engaging or, in this case, intriguing them. Happy Holidays!

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