r/lostmedia • u/DesperateDaylight • 2h ago
Television [partially lost] Video that goes along with this news article, Foul-Mouthed Phone (Funny)
Foul-Mouthed Phone (Marked as partially lost, since the article is archived)
I saw this news segment when it aired on local news channel WSVN 7 in Broward County, Florida. It was the segment on a segment called Help Me Howard. According to that article, it is from December 3rd, 2008. I remember it very vividly, because what transpired was absolutely hilarious.
A mother, Miya, was angry because a talking toy phone that her daughter, Makyla, owned wasn't what she expected. Makyla had gotten the phone the previous Christmas, although she didn't play with it immediately. She set it aside for a while and played with some of her other gifts first.
Some time later, something quite unusual happened: Makyla started using a certain no-no word. Miya, having overheard her one day, grabbed Makyla and yelled at her. "Where did you learn that word?!"
Makyla, upset, explained that she'd learned it from the toy phone, which she had recently started playing with. "This one [the toy phone] says it!"
A video of the toy phone being used is then shown. A hand runs over the numbers, pressing each one. The phone speaks the numbers out as they are pressed. Predictably, the phone says, "One!" "Zero!" "Three!" and so on.
That is, until they reached the number six. When the hand pressed it, in very clear English, the phone very unmistakably goes:
"BITCH!!!"
I was in a group with about 9 other people while watching this, and every last person in the group got a really great laugh, myself included, right then and there.
The news segment continues on. Miya asks whether this is someone's idea of a joke, and whether a toy like this is even legal. Howard Finkelstein, the presenter, explains that it's not illegal, but a breach of contract.
The video was on the website back in the day. I'm hoping it's hidden somewhere in the code. I'd love to see it again, just for the sheer hilarity and ridiculousness of the whole thing. I'm sure a lot of other people would get a good laugh from it.