Day 049 - 09 Nov 94 - Page 08

     
     1
     2   Q.   And McDonald's was specifically mentioned, was it?
     3        A.  McDonald's was the only burger chain that was
     4        specifically mentioned.
     5
     6   Q.   Did they say why that was, why they were particularly
     7        concerned about McDonald's?
     8        A.  Yes.  In some of the debates, when we went down that
     9        path and talked specifically about burger chains and
    10        McDonald's itself, then they would say things like:  "Well,
    11        it is because we have known about McDonald's since we were
    12        tiny.  We have heard about them since we were tots.  They
    13        are just part of our lives, really"; that they use
    14        McDonald's as somewhere to meet on a Saturday, and could
    15        not imagine being the odd one out who was saying, "I am not
    16        going to meet at McDonald's, and I am not going to go there
    17        any more."
    18
    19        I think with teenagers -- in my experience, anyway -- they
    20        do not like to be seen as the odd one out.  They like to
         fall in with the rest of their friends and go to the places
    22        that they go and eat the places they eat.
    23
    24        The other thing that was mentioned a lot, which is a word
    25        that they used themselves, was it is because of the hype.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can you try not to go so fast?  We have some
    28        absolutely brilliant stenographers, but it is not an
    29        Olympic sport.  Just take it steadily and have breaks in
    30        between what you want to say.
    31        A.  Sorry.  I was saying that the----
    32
    33   Q.   You say: "They like to fall in with the rest of their
    34        friends and go places that they go and eat the places where
    35        they eat.  Another thing that was mentioned a lot, which is
    36        a word they use themselves" -- and then I interrupted you.
    37        A. ----was "hype", the word was "Hype".  I think there is
    38        an awful -- there is sort of an awareness among teenagers
    39        of what hype is but, at the same time, they follow that
    40        hype and they follow the fashions that are dictated a lot
         by advertising; at least, that is what my experience is.
    42        They mentioned the McDonald's advertisements themselves.
    43        They have seen them so often that I think they said that
    44        they found it difficult to not go to McDonald's, because it
    45        was just seen as the place to go.
    46
    47        With younger children, it is a different matter because,
    48        obviously, they speak in different terms.  The younger
    49        children would, say seven to ten years old, they would say
    50        different things.  They would mention things like having 
    51        been given little rewards with a McDonald's, either a 
    52        ronald mcdonald on in or some McDonald's character on it 
    53        when they have been to, say, for example, the dentist's,
    54        I remember being mentioned several times; and they had
    55        mentioned -- well, the character they kept mentioning was
    56        ronald mcdonald, itself, where they obviously looked up to
    57        this character and kept referring to the clown, and
    58        obviously saw ronald mcdonald as a positive, good force,
    59        not something that would ever make them eat anything that
    60        was bad or detrimental to their health, even if they ate it