Day 044 - 02 Nov 94 - Page 34
1 Q. That kind of feedback?
2 A. Yes. Again, I do not remember any specific formal
3 report, but I do not know of any reason why we would not
4 take it seriously.
5
6 Q. How would that formally get on to, say, recommendations
7 from there, whatever; how would that arrive at a board or
8 management meeting, or something?
9 A. It would not be at that level.
10
11 Q. Do you have any delegate from then to attend meetings, or
12 something?
13 A. No, it would not be at that level. We have a person in
14 the Marketing department who is responsible for this area
15 of Ronald and Ronald performances, and that person would be
16 called or informed potentially by someone in a local co-op
17 of a suggestion and many times will ask the local Ronalds
18 for suggestions about how to improve the actual performance
19 or store visit that Ronald might have. So if there was a
20 good idea, it would be sort of funnelled up through that
21 context; then that person who is in the Marketing
22 department would use it when he is putting together
23 programmes for ronald mcdonald.
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What particular point are you getting at
26 now?
27
28 MR. MORRIS: Well, I am going to get on to it.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think if you go to a specific. You see,
31 the first question you asked was what knowledge there was
32 about children's response to the ads, apart from getting
33 them into the restaurants. So if it is some particular
34 area, like whether they think McDonald's real or not or
35 whether they appreciate that it is to try to sell more
36 burgers, or just another cartoon on a children's
37 programmes. Put something directly.
38
39 MR. MORRIS: (To the witness) Are you aware of these kinds of
40 reports that come from these conventions, or the views that
41 come through that system, as you said, from-----?
42 A. I do not remember any specific ones. The ones I am
43 most aware is where a Ronald suggests that at a particular
44 performance he can add a particular piece to his
45 repertoire, whether it be a magic piece or some kind of
46 tactic that the kids will really enjoy, or, when we are
47 developing shows that they can participate in -- for
48 example, we have one on child safety -- and if they have an
49 idea how to get across to children how to not go with
50 strangers, and other kinds of things, they would make that
51 kind of suggestion and then it might be incorporated in
52 that particular Ronald show.
53
54 Q. How many Ronalds are there in the States?
55 A. I would not have an exact number, but it probably would
56 range somewhere in the area of 100 to 200, somewhere in
57 that range. Most markets in the United States have at
58 least one person who is either on staff, which means that
59 they are a full time ronald mcdonald, or they employ
60 someone who is an actor or an entertainer in the
