Day 054 - 24 Nov 94 - Page 25

     
     1        and he lives out real situations in advertisements -- well,
     2        I do not know how real they would be to most children's
     3        real experience, but he does things that other adults can
     4        do.
     5
     6   Q.   I think there is reference, in fact, on the page, "Who is
     7        ronald mcdonald?"  Page 93 at the bottom of that:  "Ronald
     8        is real.  He lives in both McDonaldland and the real
     9        world.  Ronald is a star".  Is what you are referring to?
    10        A.  I am afraid I do not have the page numbers.
    11
    12   Q.   It is the page we were just looking at before, "Who is
    13        ronald mcdonald?".  It is right at the bottom.
    14        A.  Yes.  It seems odd to me to describe him as real and
    15        yet to describe him as having powers that real people do
    16        not have.  I think in that sense, particularly for young
    17        children for whom it may be much more difficult to
    18        distinguish between reality and fantasy, the use of Ronald
    19        McDonald in the characters and the things they get up to in
    20        their advertisements is likely to mislead them and, in that
         sense, to give a misleading impression of McDonald's.
    22
    23        There is no doubt that ronald mcdonald is a very popular
    24        character.  I think the fact he has been used for many
    25        years throughout the McDonald's promotions, in promotions
    26        and advertising, is testament to that.  The Food Commission
    27        carried out a small scale survey into children's attitudes
    28        to characters used in advertising which I can refer to.
    29        Again this is in bundle 1.
    30
    31   Q.   Perhaps if we leave this one open as well.
    32        A.  This is B5.
    33
    34   Q.   That is the Food Magazine, April 1990; is that right?
    35        A.  87 eight year-olds were asked to rate the popularity of
    36        people familiar to them.
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Where are we in it though?
    39        A.  The third page.
    40
    MS. STEEL:  It has a picture of Tony the Tiger on it.  We are in
    42        green bundle I.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Pale green bundle 1?
    45
    46   MS. STEEL:  Yes.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  "Consumer checkout"?
    49
    50   THE WITNESS:  Yes, the third page.  The box entitled, "Tony the 
    51        Tiger rules OK!" 
    52 
    53   MS. STEEL:  I think the question you asked the 87 eight
    54        year-olds is towards the bottom of the second paragraph.
    55        Do you just want to read out what the question was and what
    56        the response was?
    57        A.  Yes, the children were asked:  "Who would you like to
    58        take you out for a treat?"  "87 eight year-olds were asked
    59        to rate the popularity in relation to taking them out for a
    60        treat of their father, their teacher, their grandparents