Day 050 - 10 Nov 94 - Page 19

     
     1        A.  I am not sure it improved their health.  It widened
     2        their interest in what they would eat.
     3
     4   Q.   It was a commendable ad, in your opinion?
     5        A.  Yes.
     6
     7   Q.   So advertising does have a power for good if it is used
     8        responsibly, does it not?
     9        A.  It is used responsibly and it does have a power for
    10        good, for help, for information.  But to believe that the
    11        purpose of an advertisement is "to do good, to change
    12        society", that is misleading; that is certainly not the
    13        case.  The purpose of any advertisement is to inform and
    14        persuade.
    15
    16   MS. STEEL:  You said that the milk advert encouraged them to
    17        drink more milk; is that right?
    18        A.  Well, it encouraged them to see milk as something that
    19        would be acceptable to them.
    20
    Q.   You said that more milk was drunk, as a result?
    22        A.  Yes.
    23
    24   Q.   So we can safely assume that it has had an effect on what
    25        they are choosing to do?
    26        A.  Yes.
    27
    28   Q.   And it is likely to be similar if they are shown crisps and
    29        sweets a lot of the time?
    30        A.  It is rare that an individual advertisement has as much
    31        effect as that particular one.  But I mentioned it because
    32        it is -----
    33
    34   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  They would not be advertising crisps, sweets,
    35        whatever it was, unless they thought it would improve their
    36        sales, would they?
    37        A.  That is true, my Lord, but it may well be in relation
    38        to another brand of crisps or sweets, or whatever, rather
    39        than their total consumption.
    40
    MS. STEEL:  Or instead of an apple or a banana?
    42        A.  These are all alternatives which children may have
    43        which parents may decide or choose or offer to them.  These
    44        are alternatives; we all know that.
    45
    46   Q.   So they are making a choice -- that may make them make a
    47        choice of having a sweet, a chocolate bar, instead of an
    48        apple?
    49        A.  That is a possibility, but the advertisement does not
    50        make anyone do anything; it encourages them to see 
    51        alternatives.  The probability is that --- 
    52 
    53   Q.   To get them to eat them?
    54        A. --  since you mentioned chocolates bars, which I am not
    55        sure how much relevance they have to this particular
    56        subject, but the purpose of an advertisement for any single
    57        brand of chocolate bar is to try to make sure that the next
    58        time the child asks for or buys a particular chocolate bar,
    59        they will choose that one and not another one.
    60