25 Things You Didn't Know About Ghostbusters

During early screenings audiences were treated to a quite different version of the "We're ready to believe you" ad. Instead of the usual advert, which includes a rather wooden attempt by Egon, Ray and Peter to drum up business, and a number that people can contact them on should they need their services, Ivan Reitman decided to advertise a completely different number, one that came with an added surprise.

On all subsequent releases of the movie, the number is shown as 555-2368, a standard Hollywood extension that doesn't actually exist. However, back in 1984, Reitman used a genuine 1-800 number that actually went to an answer phone for the team stating: "Hi. We're out catching ghosts right now". The number was live for 6 weeks but received around 1000 calls an hour.

In 2016, the remake tried a similar tactic, posting 0800 2229 911 on all of its promotional material, and setting up a voicemail recorded by Chris Hemsworth. The message lasted for 20 seconds and offered callers advice like “If you’ve experienced strange noises or feelings of dread just ignore them and hope they go away.”