Day 124 - 10 May 95 - Page 05

     
     1        actually created as a marketing tool?
     2        A.  Yes, as a matter of fact, my Lord, ronald mcdonald -- I
     3        originally started my career in Washington DC and Ronald
     4        McDonald was a character that one of our advertising
     5        executives who worked for a local advertising firm came up
     6        with and introduced to the franchiser that I worked for,
     7        Oscar Goldstein, and suggested that we used the character
     8        to promote, how shall I say, gatherings at -----
     9
    10   Q.   I do not need the detail unless Mr. Morris or Ms. Steel
    11        asks you more about it, but when was that?
    12        A.  I will say that was about 65/66, 1965/66.  Again, he
    13        was just a local hero.  Willard Scott, who was an
    14        international personality on NBC, was the first Ronald
    15        McDonald.  This was before he joined.
    16
    17   Q.   But when you made your national push, was Ronald part of
    18        that national push from the start?
    19        A.  No, not from the start; shortly thereafter.  The
    20        gentleman, Barry Klein, that introduced the character
         locally, when he was promoted -----
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do not worry.  So that would be right at the
    24        end of the 60s, would it, that Ronald came in, or early
    25        70s?
    26        A.  Early 70s nationally.  I could be off a year or two, my
    27        Lord, but it is very close.
    28
    29   MR. MORRIS:  Do you remember a situation in New York -- do you
    30        remember criticisms of McDonald's nutritional, the typical
    31        McDonald's nutritional meal -- sorry, I will start again.
    32        Do you remember criticisms by professors of nutrition in
    33        the early 70s of the typical McDonald's meal, hamburgers,
    34        fries and shakes, and concerns at that time about the
    35        effects of hamburger influenced diets on people's health?
    36        A.  I have very little recollection of that.  As
    37        I indicated earlier, I remember, you know, reading the book
    38        and there were articles from time to time that appeared in
    39        newspapers, but it was, to my knowledge, from what I can
    40        recall, not a major issue.  It was not -- it was not
         something that was so noteworthy that it had a deleterious
    42        impact on the sales of our product.
    43
    44   Q.   But the criticisms that you had in the 80s that I think we
    45        talked about yesterday, you acknowledged there had been
    46        criticisms, whether they were right or wrong or large or
    47        small?
    48        A.  Mmm.
    49
    50   Q.   But what I am saying is you remember they do go back to the 
    51        70s; it did not just start in the 80s? 
    52        A.  Well, the fact that you are, you know ----- 
    53
    54   Q.   Do not take my word for it.  I mean, do you remember there
    55        have been criticisms of McDonald's food products going back
    56        a substantial time; it is not just in the last decade or
    57        anything?
    58        A.  I do not have any, you know, real recollection of those
    59        criticisms that you have brought out.
    60