DumbFunnery

Just reading that post title you already know this is a golden idea, don’t you?

Recently I read this article on LinkedIn about ‘WalmartPalooza’ – which is what the author of that post calls the Walmart shareholder’s meeting. By the author’s description, it is a spectacle. The post is short, give it a read and imagine the grand affair. Then, if your curiosity is piqued, give this a try.

That second link is Walmart’s website for the event which has links to videos of the meeting AND perhaps most importantly, a nice looking showcase of tweets from people who attended.

In case you DON’T want to read the article – the event highlights Wal-Mart’s successes over the past year (typical I think for a shareholder meeting) except this one is MC’d by a celebrity, this year it was Reese Witherspoon, and there are other celebrity acts as well (Rod Stewart and Ricky Martin). It feels like a political party’s rally, where only the positives are allowed into the building and the focus is on optimism, glitz and glamor.

Here’s why I’m interested in this event: movie potential.

If this isn’t the PERFECT setup for a movie by the gang who did Best in Show (Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind) then I don’t know what would be. Just think about the characters they would play –

• One of them is a celebrity act who cares deeply about helping the environment and social issues but … also likes the sweet pay day from Wal-Mart
• One of them is said celebrity’s agent
• One of them is new Wal-Mart employee who is buying into the hype
• One of them is jaded Wal-Mart employee
• One of them is mid-level corporate … high up enough to go along but not so high up as to not feel a little dirty

Heck. What am I doing. They know better than I. Or maybe you do. What do you think? To me, this is a gem of an opportunity.