Day 049 - 09 Nov 94 - Page 17
1 Chicken McNuggett, they do not bother to think that it has
2 once been a chicken, or part of a chicken?
3 A. I suppose what I am saying is that the whole culture of
4 the advertisements from McDonald's are giving the view
5 about a product that is false. I am not saying they are
6 the only advertisers that do that, but that is not the
7 point; we are just talking about McDonald's. They are just
8 giving the view that these little Chicken McNuggetts are
9 dancing Nuggetts that sing happy songs; and the use of
10 ronald mcdonald, et cetera, gives the children a certain
11 view about McDonald's, a certain perception that makes them
12 think in a certain way, to just eat McDonald's as something
13 that is purely and wholly good, without giving them any
14 real information or facts about what those products are.
15
16 MS. STEEL: You are not saying that that is unusual?
17 A. I am not saying it is unusual, no. That is what I am
18 saying. I mean, that is what meat advertisers do. I am
19 just talking about McDonald's in this specific instance,
20 because that is who we are talking about.
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The difficulty I have had, I would have
23 thought, if anything, if they make their Chicken McNuggett
24 into a friendly little character, it might be more of a
25 turn off. Are you actually saying that they positively
26 think that they are something which are not chicken?
27 A. Yes. Yes, I am saying that.
28
29 MS. STEEL: You are not saying that the children think that they
30 are dancing little puppets?
31 A. I am not saying they think they are puppets.
32
33 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What do they think?
34 A. They often do not know. For example, one child who
35 was about seven said that -- I asked her where the actual
36 food came from, and she just really did not know. She
37 thought it just came out of, you know, a fridge somewhere.
38 I mean, she just did not have a concept of what it was, at
39 all.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But they are described as Chicken McNuggetts
42 on the menu, and most seven year-olds can read that, can
43 they not?
44 A. I know. I just do not know. It is the same with
45 something that is called lamb, children do not seem to
46 connect it with a lamb in a field.
47
48 Q. I appreciate that, which is why I asked the question in the
49 first place, whether McDonald's are doing anything
50 different to any other food supplier, including mother or
51 father putting food in front of them at home?
52 A. No. I think it is the same. It is just building up a
53 whole perception.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is what I wondered.
56
57 MS. STEEL: Just for the sake of clarity -- we have brought this
58 up before and I think it is important -- the leaflet
59 criticises McDonald's, but it says what is wrong with
60 McDonald's is also wrong with the other companies.
