Day 043 - 01 Nov 94 - Page 56
1 promotions with baseball, as well as the Olympics and
2 amateur sports.
3
4 Q. Can you explain, please -- and I will not give you any
5 help, at least not to start with -- what is the reason or
6 the reasons why McDonald's does that?
7 A. Yes. I think it is very simple. These are things
8 which our customers enjoy. Sports in the United States is
9 a very important part of the pastime of our customers,
10 especially our heaviest users. Therefore, by associating
11 with something that they enjoy and they like, it shows that
12 we enjoy and have the same kinds of values and likes as
13 they do.
14
15 Q. Is there any sense in which you are trying to tell your
16 customers, by your association with sports of various
17 kinds, that McDonald's is healthy food?
18 A. No. That is not part of he proposition. It is just
19 part of -- this is something that they enjoy and we enjoy
20 it, as well.
21
22 Q. Is it part of what I might call the process of fostering
23 brand awareness?
24 A. The association?
25
26 Q. Yes.
27 A. Certainly, if that is something that someone enjoys,
28 then they will associate that with the brand itself, and
29 say that the brand is contemporary, the brand is so-called
30 "hip": "It enjoys those things which I enjoy and,
31 therefore, I enjoy going to McDonald's."
32
33 Q. Do you have sales points at big sporting stadiums?
34 A. Very little, actually. In fact, until recently, we had
35 none that I know of. We just started -- I think we have a
36 place in Canada, the Toronto stadium. We have recently
37 started to serve food at some sporting events.
38
39 Q. Is the effect of the arrangement between you and the sport
40 that you pay money for the event, or whatever it may be; it
41 may be a whole season, I suppose?
42 A. Usually, there is an exchange of dollars for the
43 alliance, where we pay a royalty to that particular sport
44 for the use of the sport, the logos of the sport, and to
45 have promotions at McDonald's that feature in that
46 particular sport. For example, we might be called the
47 official restaurant of the National Basket Association. We
48 might have a cup -- for example, we have done many times in
49 the United States -- featuring key players that are in the
50 league, and if you come to McDonald's and purchase a large
51 drink or purchase an extra value meal, then you will get
52 that cup with that person on it; and a small portion of
53 cost of that cup is royalty that in fact we do pay that
54 particular alliance.
55
56 Q. One or two other questions about that. The first one you
57 may not know the answer to. I observe that you are pretty
58 good at saying when you do not know an answer to a
59 question. Do you have any perception about the reactions of
60 your employees to McDonald's involvement in sports
