Day 054 - 24 Nov 94 - Page 19

     
     1        amount of money was included in the price of the Happy Meal
     2        in order to receive the collectable.  I understand that it
     3        is not possible to get the Happy Meal in its box without
     4        the collectable.  So, there is certainly an additional
     5        amount to pay for that particular meal.
     6
     7        From the advertisements these seem to range between about
     8        40, 50 pence.  There were other items that could be
     9        purchased with other products such as sunglasses and hip
    10        pouches, and some of these cost 65 pence.
    11
    12   Q.   Do you think that the advertisements made it obvious that
    13        there was an additional price -- do you think they made it
    14        obvious to children who would be watching?
    15        A.  I think many children, particularly young children,
    16        would have difficulty in understanding that there was an
    17        additional cost to pay.  The only indication in many
    18        advertisements came from some wording at the bottom of the
    19        screen.  I found this hard to read the amount of time that
    20        it was on screen.  I imagine a child, and certainly a child
         who may be unable to read, would not necessarily pick that
    22        up.
    23
    24   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can you remember the wording now?
    25        A.  Not exactly; it was quite a long sentence.  It varied
    26        with different advertisements.  "The price of a Happy Meal
    27        includes" -- I am sorry, I cannot remember.  The price of
    28        the toy was sometimes indicated and sometimes it was not.
    29        In general, it was not relayed in the voice-over which it
    30        could be said that children would be more aware of than the
    31        disclaimer at the bottom of the screen.
    32
    33        There have been questions raised about advertisements which
    34        place emphasis on characteristics not related to the
    35        product.
    36
    37   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Let us have our five-minute break.
    38
    39                            (Short Adjournment)
    40
    MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Questions raised about advertisements which
    42        place emphasis on characteristics not related to the
    43        product?
    44        A.  Yes, I was going to refer your Honour to the research
    45        paper again by Dr. Brian Young which is A1 in bundle 1.
    46
    47   MS. STEEL:  This was published by the Health Education
    48        Authority?
    49        A.  Yes, that is right.  On page 18 -----
    50 
    51   Q.   Just for the record, it is November 1987. 
    52        A.  On page 18, Dr. Young himself looked at techniques that 
    53        were used in child orientated advertising.  At the top of
    54        the second column he writes:  "Extolling the virtues of
    55        brand characteristics that are not related to the product
    56        per se could be regarded as a different and more insidious
    57        form of advertising than extolling the virtues of, for
    58        example, the price, taste or texture of the product."
    59
    60        I believe from the adverts that I have seen that the