Day 125 - 12 May 95 - Page 45
1 was Barry Klein; is that correct?
2 A. That is indeed. I was about to make the comment that
3 the Barry Klein I referred to earlier in the week, the
4 father of ronald mcdonald, the person that came up with the
5 original idea of ronald mcdonald, that is Barry Klein.
6
7 Q. The one that wrote most of the McDonald's ads, Ronald's
8 ads?
9 A. I would not say that he wrote the ads; he might have
10 had the final blessing, made the final creative decision on
11 the ads, but he was the guy that came up with the concept.
12
13 Q. That was a shot of McDonaldland, yes?
14 A. No, what you saw with the little bridge and the little
15 hamburger things, was a set. That was a set, production
16 set, where one or more of the McDonald's commercials, kids
17 commercials might have been shot. That particular set
18 seems very dated. I would say that is probably done back
19 in the 60s, late 60, early 1970.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I thought "ronald mcdonaldland" was any set
22 in which Ronald operated, which might or might not coincide
23 with what most of us consider the real world to be. Is
24 that right, or are there familiar sets which occur and
25 reoccur so that you can say: "That is ronald mcdonaldland"?
26 A. Yes. In those days, you know, the setting was kind of
27 surreal. It was not the real world, but later on Ronald
28 was put in more light -----
29
30 Q. I have seen him skating on, or a skating scene on what
31 looks likes real ice and so on, but was McDonaldland
32 familiar landmarks and sets all the time, or did it change
33 according to the design of the next commercial?
34 A. It was the latter. It changed according to the next
35 commercial.
36
37 MS. STEEL: When you said it was not McDonaldland, is that
38 because you were thinking of specific McDonaldland theme
39 parks or something along those lines?
40 A. I was referring to the fact that that was a set that
41 was used for, you know, some of the commercials that were
42 done in the early days. Many of our restaurants have
43 playlands that might feature a statute of Ronald or have
44 some plaques that may show ronald mcdonald.
45
46 Q. Have you seen that clip before?
47 A. No, I have not, no.
48
49 Q. At that time do you know whether the Company was spending
50 most of its advertising budget, or more of its advertising
51 budget, on children's advertisements?
52 A. We probably did. In the early days we probably did.
53 I mean, ronald mcdonald was not a household name. Most
54 people did not know who ronald mcdonald was, but within a
55 very short period of time Ronald was one of the most
56 well-known, popular characters in America.
57
58 MS. STEEL: I think that is it. Shall I leave the television
59 until we have finished?
60
