Cute and cuddly characters can't disguise outrageous loan repayment interest rates, says Pete Cashmore.
With the exception of Go Compare's moustachioed tenor, Betty, Joyce and Earl are probably the most recognisable current characters in TV advertising, cropping up with increasing frequency. They are the 'Wongies', the loveable face of payday loan firm Wonga, whose typical APR (Annual Percentage Rate of interest) is 4,214%.
You're probably less familiar with Speedy Roo, who is yet to make an impact on our TV screens, instead preferring to engage with the public on our streets. Speedy Roo is the cuddly marsupial face of Speedy Cash (APR 1,410%), and he has a blog where we can get to know him. It tells us that he bounces into the offices around 10 am, where he spends time catching up with employees and preparing for events – but only after he checks his Facebook profile. Speedy Cash currently have 25 high street branches in the UK, all festooned with bright balloons.
And it can't be too long before we get to know more about the Pounds To Pocket aliens. There are two of them at the moment, her a brassy no-nonsense Geordie, him a scatter-brained amiable Brummie.
Cuddly, friendly, adorable, eccentric – the Wongies, Speedy Roo and the P2P aliens share all these attributes. And they're not alone in the world of cuddly payday loan company mascots: Reel Big Cash (APR 1,737%) has a kindly old man on a fishing boat, reeling in that loan money; while Dosh Now (APR 4,559%) has a grinning man who doesn't have a nose or eyes – he's so happy with its service he seems to have grinned his own face off.
The payday lenders' approach is similar to that used by Britain's banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008. As the word 'banker' increasingly came to be used pejoratively, so there was a sudden rash of cutesiness and adorable eccentrics: the Halifax (bailed out to the tune of £25bn) and their staff-run radio station; the Woolwich's amiable work-obsessed 'Steve' character; and perhaps most unctuously HSBC's nauseating little vignette in which a Malaysian family employed by the bank relocate to Vancouver, so the bank thoughtfully buys the mourning daughter a gecko to replace the pet snake she was forced to leave behind.Wonga, in addition to boasting its wrinkly triptych, regularly runs competitions to win cash and games consoles via Facebook – its Spot the Ball competition currently offers more than 400 prizes. A few months ago, perhaps inspired by the popularity of BuzzFeed's feline-related enterprises, it attempted to break into the cat market by inviting users to send in pictures of their feline friends, for no specific reason other than people think cats are cute, and that a payday loan company who shares your love of cats can't be all bad.
All this fluff seems somewhat at odds with a recent report released by Citizens Advice, describing payday loan companies as 'out of control'. The study of 780 cases revealed that companies were targeting the under-18s and – more disturbingly – people with mental health issues, and that some customers were even drunk at the time of being talked into taking out a loan.
Almost nine out of 10 borrowers were not asked to provide proof that they could afford to repay the loan, and 84% of those having repayment problems were not given the chance to have their interest and payments stalled. Faced with figures like that, one starts to understand the charm offensive and the need for comedy kangaroos.
Lenders occasionally do get their wrists slapped – witness Cash Lady's witless attempts to use Kerry Katona's well-publicised financial problems to attract customers to its 2,760% APR loans; or Peachy Loans''quirky' way of reading out its 1,918% interest rate ("nineteen eighteen").
However, the advertising watchdog admits its powers are limited, and there is currently no ban on 'cute'. Perhaps the government could throw that in to the mix when it overhauls the rules, before we witness the rather sickening spectacle of children begging their parents to buy them Betty, Joyce and Earl dolls.
Pete Cashmore
Posted 4 July 2013
This article first appeared in The Guardian and is reproduced here with kind permission.
The views expressed in this post, as in all posts on Society Matters, are the views of the author, not The Open University.
Cartoon by Catherine Pain