Peggy is a customer service representative for USA Prime Credit, a spoof credit card company seen in series of advertisements
for Discover Card. Peggy lives in Siberia, speaks with a Romanian accent and is a somewhat Affectionate Parody of people who work in call centers in countries such as India. Peggy's goal seems to be to provide you the least helpful customer service possible, by not answering your questions, giving you the run-around and refusing to deal with you directly. Further ramping up the parody, Peggy (as you can see in the page image) is a man.
Peggy is played by Tudor Petrut, an actor and writer who also works as a high school algebra teacher.
USA Prime Credit had an official website, but it was always broken. As of at least May, 2014, it seems to be really broken, though you can still find it at the Internet Archive.
As of October, 2012, no new Peggy ads have been seen in over a year and it is assumed that the campaign is retired.
Peggy and his commercials give examples of:
- Advertising Campaigns: Peggy is very popular on Youtube.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: One of the options for 100,000 reward points is a trucker cap with the USA Prime Credit logo. "Look good for ladies."
- Bigger on the Inside: The shack USA Prime Credit is based in is a lot roomier than its exterior suggests.
- Bilingual Bonus: The opening of the "Please Hold" commercial has Peggy speaking in rapid-fire Romanian. He is apparently saying something along the lines of "te cauta pe tine nenicule", which translates roughly to "is looking/calling for you, dude."
- Break the Motivational Speaker: In this case, Lou Holtz.Holtz: Lost my card, need a replacement sent to my hotel tomorrow.Peggy: One month.Holtz: Let's try this again. Do you believe in yourself?Peggy: Yes.Holtz: I believe in you too, Peggy. And you can be my go-to guy, or girl. Now stand tall and get out there and replace my card!Peggy: You inspire me! Three weeks.Holtz: (frustrated) Okay, let's start over.
- Celebrity Endorsement: A couple of the commercials feature well-known figures in sports or entertainment calling Peggy.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive:
- Whoever runs that place enjoys screwing their customers over in various ways.
- Not to mention their idea of a "retraining program" is to have their employees beaten by a club-wielding puppet.
- Facepalm: "Transfer" ends with the caller standing bent over a planter, her face buried in her hands in frustration.
- Fake Static: Bobby Bowden calls up "USA Prime Credit" to dispute charges and gets Peggy, who eventually rustles some paper and tells him that he's breaking up. Bowden tells him "I'm not too old to find you, son."
- For Inconvenience, Press "1": A Double Subversion. He's not any more helpful than the computers.
- HA HA HA—No: One ad involves a customer calling up USA Prime Credit and learning about the various points rewards that they offer, which include stuff like a trucker cap. The customer asks if maybe he might be able to get cash as a reward. The response of Peggy and the other staff is "He want cash!" and uproarious laughter.
- I'm Not Afraid of You: "I'm not too old to find you, son."
- Laser-Guided Karma: Considering how much crap he puts various people though, a few people might think the "retraining program" is just karma's way of getting back at him.
- Non-Answer: In one ad, a customer tells Peggy that he got a letter saying that his card now has a $35 annual fee. "Yes?" replies Peggy. The customer continues, asking Peggy to tell him that it's a mistake. "Yes?" says Peggy again.Customer: Are you saying yes, or are you asking yes?Peggy: Yes?Customer: Peggy?Peggy: (hangs up)
- Operator from India: Peggy again; however, he is from Siberia, not India.
- Ridiculously Long Phone Hold: Peggy was a master of this.Customer: I've been waiting for fifteen minutes for someone to pick up.Peggy: You're tenacious like bull. I like. Please hold.Customer: No, no, no! Peg—!Peggy: (staring at a bank of ringing phones) So pretty.
- Rudely Hanging Up: It is not unusual for Peggy to simply hang up on customers when he gets tired of talking with them.
- Ruritania: How Siberia is portrayed.
