Alex Macqueen Stars in Spoof ‘Loan Sharks’ Ad Exposing Global Debt Crisis

Actor Alex Macqueen, best known for his roles in Thick of It, Rivals and Inbetweeners, stars in Meet The World’s Loan Sharks, a spoof pay-day loan ad exposing the global debt crisis. Created by Richard Curtis’ Project Everyone in partnership with CAFOD and produced by Nice and Serious, the short film is released ahead of the G20 summit this month.

The campaign film aims to raise awareness of the global debt crisis and increase understanding of how the current system affects low-income countries. Viewers are also directed to unfairloans.com to learn more about the campaign and support calls for fairer debt relief.

CAFOD Ambassador Alex Macqueen plays the part of a predatory lender – representing the private banks and hedge funds that are allowed to target vulnerable low-income countries with loans at exorbitant interest rates.

The satirical 90-second commercial, written by Jim De Zoete, uses the familiar language and aesthetic of early-2000s daytime TV adverts to reveal the absurdity of a broken financial system. Macqueen’s character offers outrageous deals in an ill-fitting suit, surrounded by dodgy graphics and sinister undertones.

Serafima Serfimova, film director at Nice and Serious, said, “I’ve always believed that humour is a powerful way to talk about serious things. It disarms people and makes them listen in a different way. Loan Sharks was the perfect chance to do that. Taking something as heavy as global debt and framing it through the world of early-2000s daytime TV adverts just felt right. It’s absurd – but then again, so is the system.

I grew up watching those terrible infomercials: miracle products, dodgy loan offers, over-enthusiastic presenters. That bold, tacky aesthetic became the backbone of the film’s style and tone.

At its core, Loan Sharks is about the ridiculousness of a system that traps poorer countries in endless debt while richer ones pretend to be helping. By leaning into humour, we wanted to show how grotesque that exploitation has become. Because sometimes laughter isn’t about making light of a problem – it’s about shining a light on it.""

Alex Macqueen said, “The comparison to pay-day loan sharks perfectly captures the shockingly unethical and exploitative nature of the debt crisis. Those at the sharp end of poverty are forced into debt with scandalous interest rates just to survive, but the more comfortable can access reasonable loan arrangements. Clearly something has gone very wrong.

With nearly half the world’s population living in countries that spend more on interest repayments than they do on essential services like schools and hospitals, it’s ordinary people who are most deeply impacted by this terrible unfairness. With the G20 imminent, now is the time to bring attention to a too long ignored outrage.”

Hannah Cameron, campaign director at Project Everyone, said, “We wanted to find a simple way to tell the story of the global debt crisis and its human impact. With the help of Alex Macqueen’s dodgy loan shark character we did just that. I hope it leads to increased understanding and public support for new solutions.”

Maria Finnerty, lead economist at CAFOD, said, “The UK outlawed exploitative loan sharks years ago, in a hugely popular move with support across the political spectrum. If predatory lending is illegal in the UK we must not allow it to continue globally. It’s time to apply the same logic and compassion to countries where millions suffer the consequences of unethical lending, decimating spending on health and education and condemning hundreds of millions to poverty.

“The UK is a global debt superpower, with 90% of private loans to low-income countries governed by English law. The government could change the law tomorrow at zero cost to UK taxpayers, solving 90% of the problem and benefiting millions of people overnight. All that's missing is the political will.”

Loan Sharks will be released across social media channels of NGOs and influencers, and screened at a special event for MPs at the Houses of Parliament.