Day 010 - 11 Jul 94 - Page 53


     
     1   Q.   That is a public relations effort?
              A.  That is my understanding of this matter.
     2
         Q.   Right.  What point are you making with this document?
     3        A.  The point, simply put, is that the campaign was having
              a broad impact beyond just McDonald's itself, and that the
     4        response, in a general sense, appears to have been largely
              related to imagery and public relations.
     5
         Q.   Right.
     6        A.  Which is another way of saying that the central issues
              we were raising were not -- that these executives were not
     7        willing necessarily to address those issues except as
              public relations matters.
     8
         Q.   Going back to McDonald's, did the Citizens Clearinghouse
     9        for Hazardous Waste and the campaign in general, McToxics,
              seek a meeting with McDonald's over these issues?
    10        A.  That is correct.
 
    11   Q.   How long did it take to establish a meeting with them?
              A.  I would say that the campaign began in November --
    12        sorry, October 1987, and at that time we had written
              letters asking McDonald's to meet to discuss the foam
    13        issue, and to meet in specifically with local community
              groups that were living near disposal facilities,
    14        landfills and so forth, to address the issues that were
              concerning these people, and McDonald's did not agree to a
    15        meeting until 1989 -- on the eve of their launching the
              McRecycle programme.
    16
         Q.   You said before there was a meeting planned which
    17        coincided with the opening of the 10,000th McDonald's
              store and which McDonald's cancelled the meeting, in
    18        effect, is that what happened?
              A.  No, what happened was that McDonald's -----
    19
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, I remember that evidence.
    20        A.  OK.
 
    21   Q.   He said he was going to show reps round and, therefore,
              the protest on the occasion of the 10,000th restaurant was
    22        called off and then Mr. Lipsett said he went back on his
              promise.
    23        A.  That is what I said.
 
    24   MR. MORRIS:  OK.  So when McDonald's finally withdrew their
              styrofoam, polystyrene foam food packaging, how did you
    25        feel?
              A.  Well, we recognised it as a victory, but we also 
    26        acknowledged that McDonald's would not address or accept 
              the possibility that they had been in any way influenced 
    27        by the pressure that had been brought to bear across the
              nation by local communities groups; that they instead
    28        chose to attribute the decision to a series of meetings
              that began with EDF in, I believe, 1990.
    29
         Q.   1991, I believe, the report was published?
    30        A.  The report is published but the meetings began sooner
              than that.  I cannot specify the exact date, but I can

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