Keep Calm and...Tone It Down.

By now we’ve all seen the “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster (pictured above) floating around the internet and Barnes and Nobles across the country (that is, if you can still find one in your city.)

The first time I saw something in this vein was in a bookstore, but the one I saw said “Keep Calm and Have a Cupake,” a sentiment which I fully support. I laughed on the inside, considered buying a notebook, then decided it wasn’t worth it and moved on.

Since then, and in large part to Pinterest, I have seen countless variations on this phrase, and as of recently I have come to the conclusion that it is wildly out of control.

Seriously. I searched “keep calm” on Pinterest, and here are just a few of the hundreds of versions I found:

Keep Calm…

…and Marry On (gag.)

…and Play Music

…and Get Tattoos

…Harry is still single (Oh yes, they went there.)

…and Sporcle On (I had to look up what this meant. It wasn’t interesting.)

…and Save the Redheads (which, I feel, isn’t really coherent)

…and Sew On

…and Know that I am God (Yep. They went there, too.)

…and Gobble On (You know the novelty has worn off when it starts getting holiday-themed. Does this sentence even make any sense?)

My personal favorite was one that was simply formatted like the original, but read:

Freak out and throw stuff.

Now, I’m not mad at these people. In fact, I’m not really even annoyed. I’m just tired. I really don’t think I can handle any more, and frankly, does anyone still think this is cute?

Also, did no one copyright this? Seems like someone is missing out on a major money-making opportunity here.

EDIT: Okay, when searching for the image above, I learned (via Wikipedia, the source of all useless knowledge) that this poster actually originated during WWII from the British government in an attempt to boost morale of the British public. And now the design is in the public domain. Hm. Who knew? And look what it has become. This post somehow just got totally sad. Sorry for the bummer, guys.

Anyway. I digress. All that to say, I respectfully submit that the current producers of these posters cease and desist. It had a great run, really. I enjoyed it the first few times. And now that I know the origin, I kind of like the original a little more. But I think it’s time to salute and retire “Keep Calm and [insert anything in the world here].”

Did anyone else know about the WWII reference? What do you think—time to let it go, or is it still solid?