Christmas Vacation, Cousin Eddie and Knowing your Audience
Always expect and prepare for the unexpected.
"Tis the season" so let’s unwrap a lesson on communicating from Clark Griswold, Cousin Eddie and the 1989 holiday classic, Christmas Vacation! For this lesson we will have to go back to December of 1989.
December 1989
It was December of 1989. New Kids on the Block, Bobby Brown, Roxette, and Milli Vanilli topped the billboard charts. Stephen King and Tom Clancy were the authors of choice for those wanting to escape reality, and TV delivered the premiere episodes of The Simpsons and America’s Funniest Home Videos while saying goodbye to The Smurfs.
Back to the Future Part 2, The Little Mermaid, and Steel Magnolias were dominating the box office. Despite all the love I have for movies, I’ve actually only seen one of those, and no, it wasn’t Steel Magnolias or The Little Mermaid. Taylor Swift and Jordin Sparks were just born. Yeah, that doesn’t make me feel old at all. Actually it does make me feel old but not normal old. More like Lord of the Rings, Gandalf-old.
Sidenote here: I still love Milli Vanilli. Considering that autotune and lip synching have become a mainstream way to perform today by a lot of popular and award winning“singers”, I say it is past time to give them their Grammy back. Posthumously for Pilatus who passed away in 1998 but Morvan is alive and well and we owe them that much.
Christmas Vacation - A Plot Summary
On December 1st, everything at the box office changed when Christmas Vacation, directed by John Hughes, hit theaters, beginning its run as one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. It was the third in a series of National Lampoon movies that followed the Griswold family and its patriarch, Clark, as he bumbled his way through the delicate art of family life and raising children. Clark, played by Chevy Chase, loves Christmas as much as Ferris loves his day off, and he does everything he can to please his family: his wife Ellen, played by Beverly D’Angelo; daughter Audrey, played by Juliette Lewis; and son Rusty, played by Johnny Galecki of The Big Bang Theory fame.
Right from the outset, Clark just wants his family to have the best Christmas ever. From chopping down their own Christmas tree; to decorating the house with enough lights to attract extraterrestrial life; to agreeing to host both sides of the family for the week; and finally to putting a down payment on a family swimming pool with his yet to be received work bonus, it’s clear that Clark is determined to have the very merriest of Christmases.
But to no surprise (this is a National Lampoon movie, after all) creating a very Merry Christmas for all isn’t quite as easy as Clark initially thought it would be. If you followed the Griswold clan through Vacation and European Vacation, you know that even the most well-intentioned plans are destined to fall completely apart before the memorable resolutions.
So, what did our goofy family man, Clark Griswold, teach us about today’s work and life?
When Clark has his epic meltdown after receiving the “one-year membership to the Jelly of the Month Club” as his annual work bonus, rather than the expected monetary sum that he had already spent on a swimming pool, he mentions that he would like a very unusual gift.
In front of his entire extended family, he states, “If any of you are looking for last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I’d like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all of the other rich people, and I want him brought right here with a big ribbon on his head . . .”
Cousin Eddie takes Clark’s little rant literally and proceeds to drive to Melody Lane, kidnap Mr. Shirley, and deliver him to the Griswold residence in his pajamas complete with a big red ribbon.
Needless to say, this was not really what Clark expected when he lost his ever-loving mind, but not every consequence is intended, especially when you are communicating with a diverse group of people. Eddie heard what he heard, and he acted on it. He wasn’t blessed with the ability to analyze situations. He just wanted to solve Clark’s problem and make him feel better. He didn’t think about the fact that kidnapping was a felony and that the SWAT team would show up at the Griswolds’ front door.
And herein lies our lesson:
Know Your Audience
I worked in corporate marketing for several decades and now I’m a keynote speaker. Both jobs involve communicating to large audiences made up of all types of individuals. They think differently. They have different hobbies and interests. They live in different states and countries. They are unique individuals, and this is awesome. But it also means that they could potentially process words, statements, messages, and imagery differently.
Whether it is the overall meaning, the time it takes to “get it,” or the emotion it invokes, you have to be prepared for a variety of responses to your message: some good, some bad, some unexpected, and some...different. Be prepared, and expect the unexpected. Like Cousin Eddie unexpected. Every message you deliver will return some surprises. Embrace them. Learn from them. And use them to make your next message even better.
It’s a great big world out there with a great big group of diverse people just waiting to hear what you have to say. Tell them all about your product or service, your organization or business, or even yourself and be prepared for their responses. They may surprise you, and you’ll most certainly learn something in the process.
But the more you know your audience, the more prepared you’ll be for how they react to your message. And if you’ve done your due diligence, they should react exactly as you would like them to. Well, at least in theory.
One more thing on Cousin Eddie: Every workplace has one. Some have multiple, and even though he may make you want to pull your hair out from time to time, he probably has the biggest heart of anyone. You know the person I’m talking about. As Clark described him to his boss Frank Shirley and the S.W.A.T. team - “My cousin in law whose heart is bigger than his brain…”. That’s the person. You may not always be able to depend on him to deliver his best work on every single project, but you can bet that you can always count on his friendship and loyalty. And while a project is for the short term, loyal friends are forever.
Jelly Of The Month Club
And if you do get a “Jelly of the Month Club” membership as a gift—“It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year,” as Cousin Eddie says—just be grateful it isn’t a “Fruitcake of the Month Club.” That, I think we can all agree, is definitely not the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.
Finally, if you’ve learned nothing else, don’t spend your bonus before you have it!
Great job Chris. Thanks for paying homage to truly the best Christmas movie of all time!
Great stuff as always Chris!