February 7, 2004

"So kick back on your sofa, push play and float downstream." So says the copy on the DVD box for The Four Complete Historic Ed Sullivan Shows. Surely, someone had originally written "Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream." Then, I'm thinking, someone else said:

"No, don't say 'turn off,' that's negative. It should be more like turn on. Hey! 'Turn on your DVD player!' But that's not punchy enough. 'Push play!' So, then 'Push play, relax and float downstream.' Or 'Relax, push play, and float downstream,' because naturally you'd relax after making the effort of pushing something. No, wait, I've got it, not 'relax,' 'kick back'! That makes relaxing seem more cool and kicking is more like pushing. So, kick, push, float! All good verbs! That's good copy. No, wait, that floating downstream business is confusing. Where is this floating taking place? Better make it 'kick back on your sofa, push play and float downstream."

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