The anti-flashing hotline

I have to hand it to the fine folks behind The Office, as tonight they:

1. Piqued my curiosity;
2. Made me laugh incredibly hard.

“How did they do that”, you ask? Well, on tonight’s episode, entitled “Women’s Appreciation”, the esteemed Dwight K. Shrute was duped into putting up posters depicting a local pervert, complete with a phone number for anyone to call with information on said pervert. When I noticed that the phone number did not contain the typical 555 prefix of American television, I was interested to see what this possibly real number would bring me.

I grabbed the phone, rang up the 800 number, and proceeded to hear a message from the Lackawanna County Anti-Flashing Task Force. To listen to or download the message, follow the link below.

The Office – Anti-Flashing Hotline

I’m glad to see them moving away from the 555 numbers that — at least for me — take me out of the moment as it is something that is easily recognizable as fake when seen in a show or movie. And on top of that, they’re adding additional content for those who wish to pursue it.

Kudos to you, whoever came up with this in the offices of The Office. You’ve made this viewer smile.

Icon from Silk, courtesy of famfamfam.