Day 049 - 09 Nov 94 - Page 15
1 A. It is what I said before, really. It is just that when
2 they were asked why they did not want to go vegetarian,
3 some of them say because they wanted to go into McDonald's
4 and it meant they would not be able to go to McDonald's, as
5 a vegetarian, and they did not want to be seen as the odd
6 one out and for their friends to sort of ostracise them,
7 really. They would not say "ostracise"; they would say
8 "feel the odd one out", yes, or "be laughed at", be made
9 to feel a bit daft.
10
11 Q. A bit of a weirdo?
12 A. Yes, a bit odd. That view was most common with the
13 younger ones to about 14. When they get to 15 or 18, it
14 does change somewhat and they become much more their own
15 person.
16
17 Q. So from up to age 14? Sorry, from where up to age 14?
18 A. I was just talking about, most of the people I spoke to
19 were either eight to 18. Obviously, it is such a huge age
20 range, I am saying that things change as they get older.
21 For example, 6th Form, 16, 17, 18 year-olds, would not say,
22 "I am bothered about my friends laughing at me", because
23 by that age they are much more able to argue their
24 viewpoints and much more individualistic.
25
26 Q. You have may have covered this already. Going back to the
27 second page, you said that "primary school children also
28 frequently talked about McDonald's ads as if they were
29 information-giving rather than selling". Can you just say
30 what you mean by that?
31 A. What I mean by it is that, with the younger children
32 there was not really an awareness that they were being sold
33 to. It is not just television advertising. It is like the
34 sponsorship that I have already mentioned, really, with the
35 schools endorsing it, dentists endorsing it. They cannot
36 see that when people like that are endorsing Ronald
37 McDonald or McDonald's, they cannot see that it is just an
38 advertising gimmick by McDonald's to get them to be loyal
39 to McDonald's and only go to McDonald's and not other
40 burger bars. They do not realise that that is what is
41 being done to them.
42
43 Q. To familiarise----
44 A. The whole reason that McDonald's, of course, use this
45 massive sponsorship for young children is because they want
46 them to have brand loyalty to McDonald's and to buy there,
47 you know, buy more and more.
48
49 Q. When you are talking about the children -- well, primary
50 school children, I think you said anyway -- you are talking
51 about the younger children in those instances?
52 A. Yes.
53
54 Q. That is something you are concerned about?
55 A. It is, because if a child cannot distinguish between
56 advertising sponsorship and just factual information, then
57 they are just going to buy the products thinking that it is
58 something that is wholly good for them; and of course, in
59 my view, McDonald's products, especially eaten in quantity,
60 are bad for them.
