“Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line…” (joke)
When a phone line is busy, a company’s customer service line often has a recorded announcement, “Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line…” The wait can be a very long time.
A joke recording was in the comic strip Cornered by Mike Baldwin on July 31, 2001:
“Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line until your call is no longer important to you.”
The image has been frequently posted.
“Your call is important to us. But not important enough for us to employ a sufficient number of staff to answer it” is a related joke.
Wikipedia: Cornered (conics)
Cornered is a single-panel comic strip by Mike Baldwin. It was launched on April 1, 1996, and is distributed through Andrews McMeel Syndication. On dailies, Cornered usually has characters’ dialogue below the panel, whereas on Sundays the characters’ dialogue is often in speaking bubbles. Everybody, including animals, wears glasses.
Newspapers.com
31 July 2001, Des Moines (IA) Register, “Cornered” comic strip by Mike Baldwin, pg. 48, col. 1:
(A man is shown on the telephone.—ed.)
“Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line until your call is no longer important to you.”
Twitter
Artist, Lord Eric Parker Wait.
@epwait
Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line until your call is no longer important to you.
2:55 AM · Mar 30, 2010·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
Dr Yashashree Chauhan
@yashashree_dr
Customer care services nowadays:
“Your call is important to us please stay on the line until your call is no longer important to you.” -_-
GIF
1:01 AM · May 29, 2021·Twitter Web App
Twitter
Raiden
@raiden96
”#YourCallIsImportantToUs. Please stay on the line until your call is no longer important to you.”
6:20 AM · Jun 8, 2021·Twitter Web App
Twitter
B Keyport
@bkey1970
Replying to @smiles_and_nods and @HmmphThis
your call is important to us, so please wait on hold until your call is no longer important to you.
6:27 PM · Jun 8, 2021·TweetDeck