Day 299 - 13 Nov 96 - Page 32


     
     1        that you have not lived if you have not been to
     2        McDonald's.  We asked Mr. Hawkes about this, and he
     3        said: "I think it is common terminology that you have not
     4        lived if you have not been somewhere.  Children would say
     5        that it is a fairly common phrase.  I am sure that they
     6        would use it about McDonald's.  I mean, basically, that is
     7        saying exactly what the leaflet says, that you would feel
     8        you were not normal if you did not go to McDonald's as
     9        well."
    10
    11        So here is a direct example of an advertisement and an
    12        admission by Mr. Hawkes that that is the intention of it,
    13        or the effect of it, and he went on to say, "In colloquial
    14        terms it is something McDonald's would like people to
    15        think."  So there you are, that is a clear admission there
    16        that they do want people to think that if you have not been
    17        to McDonald's you have not lived, i.e., you are not normal,
    18        effectively, or you are the odd one out, whatever.
    19
    20        Going on to pester power, there was a claim by the
    21        Plaintiffs that since pester power was not...  Well,
    22        independent television, ITC, the Independent Television
    23        Commission, Codes of Practice No 5 stated that
    24        advertisements must not exhort children to purchase or ask
    25        their parents or others to make inquiries or purchases,
    26        that because the ITC said that -- and Mr. Hawkes claimed
    27        that he did not recall any McDonald's advertisements being
    28        rejected by the ITC on those grounds -- that therefore
    29        there was not anything wrong with McDonald's
    30        advertisements.
    31
    32        That is clearly ridiculous, because whilst there might not
    33        be specific references in the advertisements to go and ask
    34        your parents to buy such and such a product for you, that
    35        has got to be the purpose of the advertisement.  Certainly,
    36        for the advertisements aimed at children between the ages
    37        of two to eight, which Mr. Hawkes has said was where most
    38        of the children's advertising was focused, there would be
    39        absolutely no point in advertising if the children were not
    40        going to ask their parents to make purchases on their
    41        behalf for them.
    42
    43        We had a reference to a quote from Ray Crock, the founder
    44        of McDonald's.  Day 41, page 30, line 14.  This is supposed
    45        to be a quote from Ray Crock:  "A child who loves our TV
    46        commercials and brings their grandparents to McDonald's
    47        brings us two more customers.  This is a direct benefit
    48        generated by advertising dollars."
    49
    50        Mr. Hawkes agreed with that, and that is a clear indication
    51        that the company is targeting children with their TV
    52        commercials to get them to get either their parents or
    53        grandparents, or somebody else, to take them to
    54        McDonald's.  Mr. Hawkes said that the purpose of Ronald
    55        McDonald was the personification of McDonald's to
    56        children.  He then went on to say: "What it is to do is to
    57        get young children who do not come into McDonald's by
    58        themselves to talk to their parents to encourage their
    59        parents to bring them into McDonald's."  And so that is
    60        their own stated purpose of the use of ronald mcdonald, to

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