Tone of voice tips with Elaine from Seinfeld

In season 8 of Seinfeld, Elaine inadvertently promotes mailroom employee Eddie to copywriter, because she's too scared to fire him.

Working together, Eddie can't get the tone of voice right on the women's clothing catalogue. Here's one of his descriptions:

"It's a hot night. The mind races. You think about your knife; the only friend who hasn't betrayed you, the only friend who won't be dead by sun up. Sleep tight, mates, in your quilted Chambray nightshirts."

*As he carries on, Elaine steps in.*

Eddie: Hey, I think I got something here. The Bengalese galoshes.

Elaine: Oh?

Eddie (reading): It's tough keeping your feet dry when you're kicking in a skull.

Elaine: You know, Eddie, that might be just a tad harsh for womenswear.

Eddie: Well, I'm not married to it.

Elaine: Oh. Well, um, in that case why don't we take the phrase, 'kicking in a skull' and we tweak it, you know, just a hair, to something like, what, like 'strolling through a dewy meadow'?

*By the end, they're working really well together.*

Elaine: Let's just replace 'hail of shrapnel' and 'scar tissue' with 'string of pearls' and 'raspberry scones', then we're done!

Need help with your tone of voice?

~ Natasha
(Your favourite creative copywriter & proofreader) ✨