Tribute to troops gets it just right

Over the years, we've seen the Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., do some pretty quirky, occasionally downright weird work for clients such as Geico and shipping behemoth UPS, but it's nice to know that the shop also is embracing heartwarming advertising on behalf of its client Wal-Mart. A new spot that has just broken to coincide with the holidays is a touching riff on the belief that miracles -- if they can happen -- are likely to occur around the holidays.

The new Wal-Mart spot called "Christmas Anthem -- Thank You to the Troops" beautifully melds a tribute to our soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan with one little girl's wish for her father, who is among those on the battlefield far away. Snow rarely falls in the desert, but because this young lady wants her father to experience snow, it happens -- miraculously, you could say. And the Martin shop gets it all just right -- the music, the performances and the voiceover message. Real lump-in-the-throat material.