Day 057 - 29 Nov 94 - Page 38
1 opinion whether authoritative and bodies set up for that
2 purpose consider that such advertising is deceptive.
3 I think this is the case. This is the German Children's
4 Protection Association which, I assume, is similar to the
5 RSPCC.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you know that?
8
9 MR. MORRIS: I do not know. I said "I assume", and that they
10 consider the use of ronald mcdonald in kindergartens, it
11 appears, as to be a series of advertising campaigns.
12 I think that this goes to the heart of what we are saying
13 about McDonald's advertising to children. So, I think it
14 must be relevant. I am sure McDonald's, if they have the
15 material, would be happy to disclose it.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am afraid I cannot see that it will help
18 me. If you manage to find a copy yourself -- if they are
19 the equivalent of the NSPCC in Germany there should be no
20 difficulty about that or the equivalent of the ASA with
21 regard to this -- you can put it in front of me and I will
22 consider it.
23
24 But I have to form my view on the basis of the information
25 about advertisements and advertising which has been put in
26 front of me. It would quite wrong for me to say that
27 because an association (of which I know nothing) has
28 disapproved of it, therefore, I should disapprove.
29
30 What about the Denmark toys advert?
31
32 MR. MORRIS: The Denmark toys advert dispute, we showed a
33 Reuters report. This is page 48 -- it may be 45 -- line
34 27, yes, Denmark. This was where my dignity slipped for a
35 fraction of a second. We contend that the Plaintiffs must
36 have, if that event happened which we consider to be
37 obvious, then the Plaintiffs must have that document in
38 their possession. I think that it is not fair to expect us
39 to seek a document which McDonald's have in their
40 possession in other countries, and that McDonald's should
41 disclose that document which again is highly relevant to
42 authoritative bodies taking a position on McDonald's use of
43 toys in advertising.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Have you got the telex there with you again
46 still, because I cannot remember the contents of it.
47 I just want to read it through.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: I cannot remember where it would have been put.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Apart from anything else, you have to face
52 this: You say if McDonald's have it in their custody, but
53 the amount of time and money it will cost them to find out
54 whether they have is unlikely to be less, and may be very
55 much more, than you doing what I suggested at page 48 line
56 17. These are documents which are not McDonald's
57 documents. If they exist at all, they are in the public
58 domaine. What you are saying is that McDonald's should go
59 and see if they have got them rather than you seeing if you
60 can get hold of them. Why should that be so?
