Day 048 - 08 Nov 94 - Page 36
1 encouraging people -- well, either encouraging them to eat
2 a healthier diet or not encouraging them to eat an
3 unhealthy diet? Have you ever discussed it at all in your
4 department?
5 A. Of course. The whole area of the food and quality of
6 the food is discussed. Diet is a different issue. We are
7 not a company that is educating people across a diet. That
8 is very much up to individuals. As I think it actually
9 says in this code, it cannot be reasonably expected that an
10 advertiser can do that.
11
12 Q. Your food plays a part in people's diets, so you can have
13 an effect on diet. What I am saying is, you know, is that
14 something that you discuss at all, the effect that you may
15 have on people's diets through the advertising?
16 A. Not something that we talk about continually, no. It
17 is not high profile.
18
19 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is it something you talk about at all?
20 A. We have talked about it at times, yes.
21
22 MS. STEEL: About the nutritional value of food, or what?
23 A. No, about the nature of what is a diet. It comes up in
24 conversation. We are a food company, so we talk about
25 balanced diets. It is a fairly normal thing for a food
26 company to do.
27
28 Q. But talking about -- I mean, I appreciate you may just
29 chit chat about it, but do you actually talk about it in
30 terms of affecting your work, your advertising?
31 A. Not in terms of advertising a balanced diet, no. In
32 terms of advertising in that sense, no, we do not. Our
33 main objective in the advertising is to all the things we
34 have talked about before, communicate all of those things
35 and to have people come into McDonald's. The fact that we
36 have a minimal number of people that would come in
37 regularly enough to even be concerned about their diet at
38 McDonald's is really the key to this.
39
40 Q. It does not affect your job at all, then, in terms of the
41 advertising you put in there?
42 A. It does not affect my job, in terms of the advertising?
43 It does not affect the communications that we are putting
44 out in our advertising right now, no.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause there, please. We will break off
47 and resume at two o'clock.
48
49 (The Short Adjournment)
50
51 2.00 p.m.
52
53 MR. MORRIS: I am just largely finishing off with the Health of
54 the Nation subject. We served copies of this pamphlet we
55 referred to yesterday as the Eat Well pamphlet. I presume
56 you have not seen it?
57 A. Correct. I have not.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: It was discussed yesterday with Mr. Miles. I do
60 not know if you want to refer to that page now, it having
