Day 300 - 14 Nov 96 - Page 19
1
2 On page 392, in the fifth paragraph down on the left-hand
3 column, it says "In 1989 McDonald's continued to have a
4 strong presence in both kids network and syndicated
5 programming. McDonald's advertised in the top rated
6 children's programmes such as Beetlejuice, Slimer..." and
7 there is a word deleted by the hole punched there, "... and
8 Ghost Busters and Bugs Bunny on Saturday morning, and
9 Rescue Rangers and Ducktails and Syndication, and in prime
10 time McDonald's youth message was featured in various
11 animated syndicated specials", and then it goes on to give
12 some examples of that. Various popular films, such as
13 Dumbo and Pinnochio. Then it says, "The youth market was
14 also reached by cables."
15
16 So there is an admission that they have a strong presence
17 on children's television, targeting children in a big way.
18
19 In tab 19, which is the 1990 OPNAD Fund Annual Report, on
20 page 406, top right hand column, it says, "McDonald's
21 remained number one with kids but our top spot was
22 challenged by other quick service competitors" , and it
23 talks about Burger King launching a marketing promotions
24 focused on kids. "Not to be outdone, McDonald's
25 restaurants introduced the $1.99 happy meal and have
26 continued with it to help food sales."
27
28 Then, towards the end of that, at the end of that
29 paragraph, "McDonald's kept kids' attention throughout the
30 year with various different Happy Meals." So again, they
31 are saying that they are keeping attention. Well, again
32 they are using Happy Meals to keep in the minds of children
33 and ensure that they keep coming back to McDonald's.
34
35 Just with reference to the bit about Burger King, we did
36 refer to this before, about the fact that, you know, not
37 only are McDonald's responsible for their own advertising,
38 but they are responsible in part for the cumulative effects
39 of other similar companies. Because, as McDonald's have
40 accepted, I think it was Mr. Beavers said, they had
41 pioneered this type of advertising and promotional
42 activity, and so other companies are then copying and, you
43 know, McDonald's bears some responsibility for that.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, the same point as you made on page 392
46 appears on page 407 about kids' network.
47
48 MS. STEEL: Right. Yes. It might be interesting to note that
49 the chart on the bottom of page 407 seems to indicate that
50 McDonald's proportion of advertising-----
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Between 37 and 49 percent?
53
54 MS. STEEL: Yes, of the industry. (Pause) Their share of
55 network expenditure in the quick service restaurant
56 industry. So they are a very major player.
57
58 If you just note on page 407 in the bottom left-hand
59 column, in the bottom of the left-hand column it says that
60 prime time and sports television programming continued to
