Daring to ask for a re-mortgage to consolidate credit card debts even though they have a CCJ and other credit problems, the three little pigs are catapulted out of a lender’s office, into the sky, and for a moment pigs do fly. When they land on their own sofa and see The Mortgage Group on TV they find the answer to their problems.
With a production budget of £300,000, the one-minute animation bears all the hallmarks of classic Hollywood cartoons such as Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry. But, says The Mortgage Group’s managing director Tony Murtagh, it’s no laughing matter. “No other finance commercial on British television today looks like this,” he says. “It’s highly entertaining, but the message is deadly serious. People can get into financial difficulties through no fault of their own – but like our three little pigs they shouldn’t accept lenders who huff and puff and try to blow their hopes down – they should come to us. “
A passionate defender of the non-conforming market, Murtagh has created a £900 million business from his Truro headquarters by finding mortgages for people rejected by mainstream lenders. The company completed £86 million loans in July – its best ever month – and is the largest introducer of paper backed assets to GE worldwide.
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Says Murtagh: “By March 2004 we firmly intend to be the biggest sub-prime advertiser on television and print in the UK.”
Further TMG adverts will feature Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks. The classic fairy-tale characters may have existed in a world of fantasy, but their twenty-first century message provides very real hope for millions of borrowers in the UK today – and very real business growth for The Mortgage Group.
