The obvious course of action is to try to remove the child's head from the stairway without causing damage to the house, with the backup alternative being to cut the child free from the stairway. It holds interest because one's curiosity is piqued with the four seemingly incongruous items, and with the image of the child's head in the stairway. The commercial does not arouse desire in the way that one thinks of with traditional advertising, because it is not marketing a product but a concept. It is highly unlikely that any person watching the advertisement is finding themselves in the scenario depicted in the ad. However, it does remind the consumer that shopping at Walmart allows for one-stop shopping. Finally, it seems likely that the advertisement obtains action. While it probably does not prompt anyone to get up off the couch at that time and go to Walmart, the catchiness of the ad ensures that consumers will remember it when making their shopping lists, and, if they need items that cannot be found in the normal grocery store, help them choose Walmart as their alternative.
The ad shows four items on the conveyor belt. Three of those items would typically be purchased at a grocery store, and could be found in the same place. However, the fourth item would not normally be available at a grocery store, but would actually be found in a specialty store. The advertisement makes consumers think about where else they could purchase all four of those items in the same location. This reviewer has been unable to think of a single alternative store where all four items would be available. This is true even though the lines demarcating the major types of retailers have blurred over the past few years (Chapter 12).
Works Cited
Walmart. "Stuck." Walmart Videos. N.p., 2011. Web. 6 Aug. 2011.
http://walmartstores.com/Video/?id=1576
(I used information from your powerpoints, but did not have reference information to include them in the works cited)
