Is Clark Griswold Writing Your Marketing Content?

Clark had a tendency to take things to the extreme, didn’t he?

Clark Griswold didn’t just hang a few strings of Christmas lights across his house. He blanketed every inch of his home’s exterior with bright, white lights.

When dear old Aunt Bethany saw the powerful glow of the Christmas lights on the Griswold house, she understandably asked, “Is your house on fire, Clark?”

Clark Griswold didn’t just go to the store and look for the biggest Christmas tree in stock. He drove out to the country and dragged his family through a foot of snow to cut down a monstrosity of a tree that was longer than the family station wagon.

Actually, they had to pull it out of the ground because Clark forgot a saw.

Of course, when Clark’s snobbish neighbor questioned where Clark thought he was going to put a tree that big, you had to love his response:

“Bend over and I’ll show you.”

Clark Griswold didn’t just use a toboggan when he took the kids sleigh riding. He was determined to set a “new amateur recreational saucer sled land speed record” by coating his saucer with a silicon-based kitchen lubricant that creates a surface 500 times more slippery than any cooking oil.

Clark then challenged the speed of light as he rocketed down the hill and across a highway, eventually crashing in a Walmart parking lot.

Clark Griswold clearly had an appetite for all things over the top. Let’s just hope you don’t have a Clark Griswold writing your marketing content.

There are three things lessons we can learn about content from the lovable yet overambitious head of the Griswold family.

First, your marketing content shouldn’t be a tangled, knot-filled mess of lights. When you try to do too much or say too much, you end up with an unfocused, overstuffed mess of content splattered on your screen.

Actually, your content should more closely resemble a single candle in each window.

Simple, clear, focused.

Second, your marketing content shouldn’t be a sap-filled, gargantuan tree that busts through windows and engulfs every human in sight when the branches are unleashed.

You don’t have to take over the room or bowl people over. The days of in-your-face marketing that interrupts are over.

Instead, make sure your content fits seamlessly into your audience’s lifestyle.

Third, your marketing content shouldn’t be a metal saucer lathered in a revolutionary new lubricant, and it doesn’t have to break records or set the world on fire.

Instead of going overboard to impress people or “go viral,” just try to help people.

Show them how you can solve a problem, fill a need, or make their lives better or more enjoyable. That’s how you really impress people.

As we celebrate 25 years of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, I’d like to share my favorite scene from the movie.

Warning: This contains content that may not be suitable for all audiences. But it’s funny as hell, so enjoy!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!