Dali and the Copywriter
By Perry Genovesi


The Copywriter makes a pitch to Salvador Dali. He wishes for the artist to join him, contractually, in the creation of a new cereal. It's to bear Dali's image, likeness and vision right there on the box. The cereal will be, he whispers into Dali's ear, the cereal will be like Lucky Charms but with melting marshmallow clocks. Dali's moustache snaps stiff. He signs.

Instantly, problems. Dali and the Copywriter spend long nights with desk lamps trained on blueprints. First they can't decide whether or not to have the marshmallow clocks keep their shape in milk, or melt into mush. Then they can't decide on a name. Dali wants Surrealio's, while the Copywriter, Surrealeal. “Like a surreal cereal,” he says, picking his teeth with a protractor's edge.

After five months they compromise, and Surrealio's, the melting marshmallow clock cereal, is brought before a test tasting. Seven kids sit at a metal table, fists clenching spoons. Their foreheads stretch in the spoon reflections. Dali and the Copywriter, from behind the one-way mirror, fidget with their hands, wipe sweat from palms, and fog up the glass with each clipped breath.

The kids sniff at the bowls and then...they devour each bite. An instant success. The two men cheer and part ways after months of hard work. The Copywriter goes home and falls asleep on the couch.

The next morning, Copywriter wakes up to an unusually full inbox and is shocked to read that every single test subject had that night gone home and had horrible, unspeakable nightmares. The cereal is instantly recalled. All pallets are to be burned. The workmen try to close the factory, but the remaining boxes of Surrealio's, using their corner edges as hands and feet, cartwheel up the walls and into the rafters.

Perry Genovesi is a recent graduate of Temple University's English program, and is currently studying Library Science at Drexel University. He is 22 years old and lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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