1-900-CALL-GOD

I haven't seen Bruce Almighty yet, but boy, this sounds pretty dumb:

A lot of mortals who happen to share God's telephone number - or at least the one He uses in the new movie "Bruce Almighty" - have spent days now taking calls from curious dialers, snickering cranks and desperate souls...

Usually, movies and TV shows use the telephone exchange 555, which is not used for homes and businesses. But "Bruce Almighty" used a seven-digit number valid in many parts of the country.

Ok kids. Any marketing whiz worth their expense account could have figured out what the right way to do this was. You set up a full, real telephone number to be used in the movie, then use the "calls to God" as part of the marketing campaign. Heck, make it a 900 number!

Do I have to think of everything around here?

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  • 1 - jadester48

    Jun 01, 2003 at 7:21 pm

    they not quite as big a problem but the same kind with The Simpsons, which (at least used to) use valid telephone numbers for stuff like Moe's Tavern, etc.
    well, i say valid, they might have been similar to the exchange number in being unprankworthy services.

  • 2 - Eric Olsen

    Jun 02, 2003 at 8:09 am

    Who can forget Tommy Tutone's "867-5309"??

  • 3 - Phillip Winn

    Jun 02, 2003 at 8:24 am

    On Jimmy Kimmel Live one night they did a skit which resulted in a phone number appearing in the background (attached to a vehicle, I think. I can't remember exactly). Being the compulsive sort that I am, I called it. It had an area code, and it wasn't a 555 number.

    It was answered by a recording that informed me that this line was used by ABC for various television shows. Couldn't the movie producers have done the same? Many cities have ten-digit dialing, so it wouldn't have been hard.

  • 4 - Bob Bentz

    Mar 11, 2006 at 11:24 pm

    There actually have been plenty of 900 numbers that do give Bible verses and daily inspirational messages. I haven't yet seen one that claims to actually call GOD. Besides, I think GOD is more into text messaging.

  • 5 - nugget

    Mar 11, 2006 at 11:45 pm

    yea, but Tutone's number didn't have an area code.

  • 6 - Bob Bentz

    Jun 29, 2006 at 1:50 am

    Since AT&T has now left the 900 number business, I wonder if God still answers this line?

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