Mind the gap!
The voice heard by millions of travellers on the London Underground was recently sacked for making negative comments on the service it provided.
Originally thought to have been sacked for making spoof announcements, Ms Clarke told the BBC "What I actually said was that travelling in a Tube train would be dreadful for me, listening to my own voice and seeing the haunted faces of commuters being subjected to me telling them to 'mind the gap'."
"I would find it quite an uncomfortable experience in the same way that when I call a company when I'm their on hold voice and it's me saying - please press 2 for accounts - it's a creepy experience to be honest."
The spoof announcements, what many believed to be the reason for Ms Clarke's prompt sacking, were made available via Emma's personal website and included the following messages:
- "We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly."
- "Here we are crammed again into a sweaty Tube carriage ... If you're female smile at the bloke next to you and make his day. He's probably not had sex for months."
- "Would the passenger in the red shirt pretending to read the paper but who is actually staring at that woman's chest please stop. You are not fooling anyone, you filthy pervert."
Ms Clarke claimed the announcements to be "just a bit of a laugh". The London Underground clearly didn't agree and following her sacking, stated that "Some of the spoof announcements are very funny. But Emma is a bit silly to go round slagging off her client's services."
It appears Ms Clarke isn't entirely sure as to why exactly she was dismissed. Having not been contacted directly and finding out about her dismissal via the media, we think her spoof announcements may have had something to do with it. "I can't get in touch with anyone at LU to explain I was wildly misquoted" she says.
The spoof announcements, originally available via Ms Clarke's website are currently unavailable due to huge demand. We recommend you drop by her website and have a listen in a few days time once service has resumed. We're all used to delays when the London Underground is involved anyway, right?
Source: Reuters.com and BBC.com
Spoof Announcements: Emma Clarke.com
