Day 065 - 09 Dec 94 - Page 33
1 said, because if you mean what you say, it has this
2 consequence, does it not, Ms. Dibb, that if the age at
3 which a child is able to assess an advertisement critically
4 in the proper sense of that word, it does not matter?
5 A. That is not what I said.
6
7 Q. That is, I think ----?
8 A. I am sorry if I was not clear enough on that. I am not
9 saying -----
10
11 Q. You said you can argue about it, but it does not mater?
12 A. No, I did not say it did not matter. I think it
13 matters but in a different way. It matters in the sense of
14 there is some debate about whether it is right to advertise
15 to children who may not have developed certain critical
16 faculties. That is a debate. It is one in which I have
17 certain concerns. It is one that others have expressed
18 certain concerns. But I did not -- what I was trying to
19 make the point was to separate out that particular
20 significance and concern from the effects that advertising
21 has on influencing choices and preferences and behaviour,
22 and particularly from where I am coming from, from a
23 nutritional point of view.
24
25 Q. You are coming, as I understand the totality of your
26 evidence so far -- you will correct me if I have
27 misunderstood it -- from this place, Ms. Dibb, are you not,
28 that it is wrong to persuade anybody to eat anything which
29 cannot be described as "healthy food"?
30 A. No, I have not said that.
31
32 Q. Is that not right? So what is the objection -- tell me
33 bluntly in clear, English terms -- if it is not, in your
34 view, deceptive, what is the objection, in your view, of
35 food advertising to children?
36 A. The concern is with the nature and extent, the type of
37 food advertising to children.
38
39 Q. Then it should not be allowed to be advertised to me,
40 should it? I am whatever it is -- well over a child's age,
41 anyway?
42 A. There are significant differences in the nature and
43 extent of advertising to children than to adults. The
44 focus is on children, as I have said before, because of the
45 importance of diet during childhood, and also the fact that
46 children do not, as we have pointed out, have the same
47 abilities to assess what may or may not be in their best
48 interests. You may choose to take a course of action which
49 you are entirely entitled to.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Is that really the key to your view, that
52 children may be attracted to something by an advertisement
53 relating to it without having -- they have the facility to
54 be strongly attracted without having a balancing facility
55 to realise what might be adverse to their interest in the
56 product; is that what it boils down to?
57 A. Yes, and what we have also seen is that children do
58 have, and the older children get some knowledge, that
59 actually the knowledge, that knowledge relates -- does not
60 relate to behaviour. In fact, the influence from
