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Optus boss cracks more Telstra jokes

Comedian and occasional Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan took up the microphone again last week as he continued his campaign of targeting Telstra with bad jokes.Speaking at an Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) event in Melbourne last Thursday, O'Sullivan said the business group was just one of the many it sponsors.
Written by Renai LeMay, Contributor

Comedian and occasional Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan took up the microphone again last week as he continued his campaign of targeting Telstra with bad jokes.

Speaking at an Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) event in Melbourne last Thursday, O'Sullivan said the business group was just one of the many it sponsors.

Paul O'Sullivan

"Another one of our sponsorships is Cirque Du Soleil -- an amazing troupe of artists and acrobats from Canada. They are currently touring Australia and come to Melbourne next year," he said.

"But of course there has also been plenty of media coverage about another group of North American performers," continued the Optus boss in a reference to Telstra's new management team led by CEO Sol Trujillo.

Trujillo and his men "have stunned Australia with their very public displays of tightrope walking, fire eating and backflipping", according to O'Sullivan.

"Today I can expose this for what it really is -- a simple piece of copycat guerrilla marketing," he continued.

The punchline came as images of a circus tent with Telstra logos flashed up on mammoth screens.

"So let me clarify that Optus is involved with Cirque du Soleil -- not with its rival troupe the cunningly named Cirque du SOL," said O'Sullivan.

But that wasn't all.

O'Sullivan also took pains to inform the audience of the location of the building's emergency exits.

"So in the event of a fire, or some sort of event, or even Telstra management ... you can get through the doors," he said.

Yesterday's witticisms are only the latest in a long line of Telstra jokes from O'Sullivan. So far, Telstra's management has yet to respond with wisecracks directed the other way.

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