The Snug

There seems to be quite an increase in the number of quizzes that are on TV (particularly if you have digital TV), designed to lure people to part with their money (through their phone bill) with the offer of cash prizes for very obvious answers. On a side note I see that at the bottom of the screen for Deal or No Deal you can only ring in 30 times to be in with a chance of winning the contents of 1 of 3 boxes. Anyway that is besides the point, it seems that ITV Play has been caught out by Ofcom by making its quiz too obscure.

The question posed was “what items might be found in a woman’s handbag?” The enticing example of the sort of answer you may find was mobile phone. Not a bad starter and I guess that plenty of you might be able to list a few things, even if you have never felt the urge to rummage around a woman’s handbag. There were 13 answers to get through with cash prizes available for getting the right answers by ringing a premium rate number (75p per minute).

The less obvious answers of lipstick, makeup etc were missing, instead viewers managed to guess answers such as plane tickets (pretty impressive guess), ibuprofen (I have no idea if aspirin or paracetomol were incorrect guesses, but probably), dog (eh? Whose handbag was it? Paris Hilton’s?), driving licence, contact lenses, umbrella (presumably not one of those golfing ones!!!). This left 6 answers still to go.

Despite the best efforts of the viewers they were unable to guess dog biscuits (obvious really if you had a dog in your bag you’d want to feed it – eejits), directions (obviously women always get lost and they can’t read maps), rubber band (to tie hair back with? Or possibly stolen from a trip to the Post Office), false teeth (presumably a set for going out in?). At this point you could be forgiven for thinking that this was a money making exercise; reports say that ITV Play made a £9million profit in its first 6 months. Yet you’ll be kicking yourself when you see what the last two answers were.

Item 1: Balaclava – must be this year’s fashion accessory or the antidote to being mugged. Ask yourself the question, who would mug a mugger?
Item 2: Rawlplugs – yes every DIYers favourite piece of plastic. This could well be a response by women to the advert for Nuts, that shows a woman woefully attempting DIY with the strapline “Women, don’t expect any help on a Tuesday”. Interestingly Rawlplugs were invented by JJ Rawlings and maybe they’d misheard their children asking for the new release by JK Rawlings?

Needless to say Ofcom decided that they

“were not reasonable answers to what appeared to be a straightforward question”.

ITV Play apologised and said that

“Rawlplugs had been included on the messageboard of a popular television chef’s website as an item she said that she carried in her handbag.”

What Delia carries Rawlplugs, is she embarking on some refurbishments at Carrow Road?

I used to work with someone whose friend was at a party, needed the loo, went, but it ended up not flushing (what is technically known as a floater), so she wrapped it in toilet tissue and put it in her handbag. I may put my services forward to ITV Play!!