Foxtel are tailoring their overpriced cable packages to fit these straightened times. An ad on tv last night showed a Foxtel person appearing at the door of a couple.
He: you know Lucy we agreed to tighten our belts. [holds out oversized trousers, cue laugh track]
She: [looks sheepish] well it's not as much as you think, Ricky
He: [getting angry] Well how much is it?
She: The first month is free and it's only a 12 month contract. [recoils from expected slap]
Now wait a darn minute - how is that an answer to his question? It reminds me of an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucille Ball buys a new sofa without asking her husband, Ricky's, permission and he is understandably apoplectic that she has done something so transgressive and emasculating so when he asks how much it costs she replies "not nearly as much as the golf clubs you bought last month" at which point he, predictably, flies into a rage, and threatens to kill her thus subverting the dominant masculine/submissive female discourse through the use of performative clowning, a laugh track and the ironic use of the phrase "why I outta...". Maybe the Foxtel ad writers are paying homage to this classic feminist 50s sitcom.
Or answer (b) it could be because of the confusion that reigns in the Foxtel universe. The small print at the end of the ad said $440 which is $40/month for 11 months. On the other hand a flyer which fell out of my Sunday newspaper said $800 for 12 months. Their website says $440.
He: you know Lucy we agreed to tighten our belts. [holds out oversized trousers, cue laugh track]
She: [looks sheepish] well it's not as much as you think, Ricky
He: [getting angry] Well how much is it?
She: The first month is free and it's only a 12 month contract. [recoils from expected slap]
Now wait a darn minute - how is that an answer to his question? It reminds me of an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucille Ball buys a new sofa without asking her husband, Ricky's, permission and he is understandably apoplectic that she has done something so transgressive and emasculating so when he asks how much it costs she replies "not nearly as much as the golf clubs you bought last month" at which point he, predictably, flies into a rage, and threatens to kill her thus subverting the dominant masculine/submissive female discourse through the use of performative clowning, a laugh track and the ironic use of the phrase "why I outta...". Maybe the Foxtel ad writers are paying homage to this classic feminist 50s sitcom.
Or answer (b) it could be because of the confusion that reigns in the Foxtel universe. The small print at the end of the ad said $440 which is $40/month for 11 months. On the other hand a flyer which fell out of my Sunday newspaper said $800 for 12 months. Their website says $440.
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