Day 045 - 03 Nov 94 - Page 30
1 rule something, and we did change our procedures from it.
2 I do remember that.
3
4 Q. If it helps with your memory, it says here:
5
6 "....and that McDonald's have given the ad firm which ran
7 the contest a fee of $25,000 with which it was obliged to
8 pay for all the prizes awarded."
9
10 In other words, the implication is that they were
11 advertising $500,000 as prizes, knowing that $25,000 would
12 cover the eventual payouts?
13 A. I believe, again, this happened well before I joined
14 the company, but I do remember reading that there was a
15 case, in fact, and that the procedures and rules and
16 guidelines that we have set up took that into effect.
17
18 Q. It says: "McDonald's signed a consents degree and the
19 actual charges were dropped." That sounds-----
20 A. That sounds correct, yes.
21
22 Q. While I am going through these specific things, do you
23 remember the controversy over the promotion of the Quarter
24 Pounder when it was first introduced in the early 70s?
25 A. Yes, I do.
26
27 Q. And the USDA had actually analysed the Quarter Pounder and
28 found that it was not actually a quarter pound?
29 A. I think that was the inception of the pre-cooked
30 weight; it was a quarter pound of beef before cooking and
31 that some weight loss accompanied it during the cooking.
32 So all of our Quarter Pounder advertising has a overlay on
33 it that talks about pre-cooked weight.
34
35 Q. But it did not at the time, did it; and is that what the
36 official complaints were?
37 A. That is what I remember it to be, yes.
38
39 Q. So were the complaints that they considered that you were
40 being deceptive?
41 A. Yes. Obviously, they would not have done that if they
42 did not think we should have had some disclosure that it
43 was pre-cooked weight versus post-cook weight. It was not
44 done intentionally. I was not part of it at the time.
45 I am just sort of recalling some of the discussions that we
46 had. We do start with a quarter pound of beef, but it has
47 some weight loss.
48
49 MS. STEEL: Are McDonald's encouraged to -- or, in each
50 locality, community, whatever -- are McDonald's operators,
51 managers, whatever you want to call them, encouraged to
52 join The Chamber of Commerce?
53 A. Certainly. It is good business.
54
55 Q. The local school board?
56 A. Well, they are encouraged to be active in their
57 community. Some of them are active from a political point
58 of view; some of them are active from a community relations
59 point of view; some of them are active with children and
60 teaching; some are active activity in charities; and some
