STAN FREBERG HERE...Fake Phone Calls--June Foray Thought Of It First!
Stan Freberg here. For those people who own a mobile phone but rarely get any phone calls, a man will call you--for a fee, of course. A fake phone caller? Back after this. [:60 SPOT BREAK]
Freberg here. From the country who brought you World War II, Beethoven and the Volkswagen, another giant leap forward - this one, in the telecommunications field. For 5 German Marks--about 3 dollars--Joachim Benz will telephone customers on their mobile phone. The idea came to him after noticing how many Germans own mobile phones, but how few got called on them.
Benz, a 29-year old from Frankfurt, says, "It struck me that though the aim of displaying these phones was to create the impression of being incredibly busy, the whole thing backfired if they never rang." Sincce starting his new firm, "Rent-A-Call," Benz has been flooded with hundreds of customers who want to impress their colleagues. A call timed to interrupt an important conference can be arranged.
Benz's idea may seem original, but many years ago an actress friend of mine, just starting out, lunched every day at the Hollywood Brown Derby. She had a standing order for her answering service to call her at exactly 12:30. Over the p.a. would come a voice: "June Foray, telephone." Heads would swivel as the waiter plugged in a phone. You could hear the hubbub: "So that's June Foray!"
June became a legendary voice-over actress, and worked on many of my radio shows and records, and she is the voice of Rocky the Squirrel on "Bullwinkle."
Sorry, Benz--June beat you to it!
Stan Freberg here.
Copyright (C)1997, Stan Freberg/Freberg, Ltd. (but not very) Distributed by Dick Brescia Associates and Radio Spirits, Inc.