Day 246 - 09 May 96 - Page 68


     
     1        which brought their parents into our restaurants"?
     2        A.  I think kids do in most families; certainly, mine did
     3        when they were of ronald mcdonald's age.  They would say,
     4        "Mum or Dad, I want to go to McDonald's".  I have to say
     5        I did not succumb all the time; sometimes I did.  I think
     6        most parents make the choice based on sensibility.  They
     7        have the ability to say "yes" or "no" as appropriate.  But
     8        I see on the High Street every day kids tugging on Mum's
     9        coat, "I want to go here; I want to go there; I want to buy
    10        this; I want to buy that".  I do not find that particularly
    11        unusual.  But did I say in that, that sentence alone?
    12        I probably said it, but I would have said other things with
    13        it.
    14
    15   MS. STEEL:   Right.  So you do not think you have been misquoted
    16        there?  You think you probably said more to it?
    17        A.  I may very well have said that.  I think there may have
    18        been more around it.  I do not remember this interview at
    19        all.
    20
    21   Q.   No.  Well, that is probably not surprising, but in the
    22        first couple of paragraphs -- sorry, actually the second
    23        and third paragraphs -- it talks about Robert Ray saying,
    24        "When the store first opened in 1974 the reaction was less
    25        than ecstatic and there were times when we were sitting
    26        there on our own for hours on end without a single
    27        customer", and you talked about that when you gave your
    28        evidence-in-chief; then the next paragraph talks about
    29        being helped by a shrewd television advertising campaign,
    30        "Britain nevertheless soon succumbed to the formula that
    31        sells 140 hamburgers a second in 36 countries in five
    32        continents".  Obviously, that was 1985 when that was
    33        written.  But would you basically agree with what was
    34        written there?
    35        A.  I do not know about the word "shrewd".  I might
    36        substitute "effective".
    37
    38   Q.   OK, right.
    39        A.  But certainly advertising played a major part in
    40        building McDonald's to its levels of success, telling
    41        people what is there, allowing them to choose or not choose
    42        to come.  I would credit television with playing a large
    43        part in it, yes.
    44
    45   Q.   OK.  Thank you.  I do not know if that is an appropriate
    46        time to stop.
    47
    48   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
    49
    50   MS. STEEL:   Actually, this is not another question but I wanted 
    51        to know what the situation is with Dr. Arnott, because he 
    52        had not actually been confirmed and, obviously, if he is 
    53        coming, we need a statement and I wanted to know what the
    54        situation was with that, really.
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you know the position yet, Mr. Rampton?
    57
    58   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes, I know.  I can give your Lordship an up to
    59        date indication.  He has been contacted.  He is willing to
    60        return to court.  I will be corrected if I am wrong, but

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