Day 047 - 07 Nov 94 - Page 25

     
     1        example, burger bars?
     2        A.  Yes.
     3
     4   Q.   Informing people that they existed and persuading them to
     5        come along and try the product?
     6        A.  That is right.  All advertising is a mixture of
     7        information and persuasion.  It informs people what the
     8        product is, what the burger bars are (as you put it), where
     9        they are to be found, what sort of things you can find
    10        there; and does it in an encouraging way to persuade people
    11        to go along and try them.
    12
    13   MR. MORRIS:  Are you aware that the Nutrition Task Force has
    14        said that there is a perception in many quarters that the
    15        nature and extent of advertising of the different
    16        categories of food is influential in determining
    17        consumption patterns, particularly amongst children?
    18        A.  I know that that view has been expressed in some
    19        quarters.
    20
    Q.   So these concerns, if you like, are taken seriously at the
    22        highest level?
    23        A.  These points of view are certainly listened to and,
    24        noted and discussed.
    25
    26   Q.   It is not----
    27        A.  They are not brushed aside.
    28
    29   Q.   Not brushed aside.  They are legitimate points of view?
    30        A.  Yes.
    31
    32   Q.   The Health of the Nation, if you like -- not only the
    33        pamphlet, but the actual health of the nation -- it would
    34        be fair to say that the public's health is an extremely
    35        serious and important matter of concern for any responsible
    36        organisation?
    37        A.  Yes.
    38
    39   Q.   And that, in the light of the concerns expressed by the
    40        Health of the Nation pamphlet, a government-supported
         pamphlet, and the Nutrition Task Force, there is now a
    42        move, a trend, to look at developing the guidelines of the
    43        ITC Code, for example, to look at whether it deals with
    44        these issues of people's health, effectively?
    45        A.  I would not say there was a trend.  They have been
    46        requested to look at their codes and they are doing so.
    47        But, as I pointed out earlier, this is not a new process.
    48        The people responsible for those codes examine them all the
    49        time to see if they need any modification.
    50 
    51   Q.   But it is rare to have a direct, if you like, government or 
    52        path to a very specific section on the ITC Code, is it? 
    53        A.  It is not common, but it is not rare -- to use the word
    54        you chose.  It has happened on other subjects from time to
    55        time.
    56
    57   Q.   But it would be significant, anyway, that there is that
    58        kind of level----
    59        A.  Indeed.  It is taken seriously.
    60