Day 298 - 11 Nov 96 - Page 23


     
     1        healthy food, which was that it should be low in fat,
     2        cholesterol and sodium and a good source of one or more of
     3        six important nutrients, and their view was that that
     4        should apply to advertising as well as labelling.  Day 46,
     5        page 46, line 51.  Obviously, we would be in agreement that
     6        along with the other definition of...  Well, we would be in
     7        agreement with that, along with the other definition that
     8        we gave of what the view of a healthy or nutritious food
     9        was, when we gave it the other day.
    10
    11        Just moving on to some of Mr. Fairgrieve's evidence, this
    12        was the first occasion when he gave evidence.  On day 28 of
    13        the trial, he said on page 8, line 59 that McDonald's
    14        accounts for a third of eating out behaviour.  He said on
    15        page 17, line 16, that it was virtually impossible to find
    16        people who said that they used McDonald's but did not use
    17        Burger King.  So obviously, that relates to the point about
    18        people's diets overall and the reality of the situation
    19        being that they do not eat the odd McDonald's meal, or eat
    20        a McDonald's meal and then eat healthily for the rest of
    21        the week.  Or even the rest of the day, for that matter.
    22
    23        He said on page 24, line 47 that between 1988 and 1994
    24        there has been a steady increase in McDonald's market share
    25        from 65 to 71 or 72 percent.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  That was of the burger market, was it, of the
    28        fast food burger sector, burger house sector?
    29
    30   MS. STEEL:   Yes, I think it was, yes.  I just wanted to refer
    31        to some of the evidence that came in with Mr. Fairgrieve,
    32        the McDonald's brand audit research, a report dated 29th
    33        April 1992.  This is with reference to McDonald's, people's
    34        motivation for using McDonald's, and their view about the
    35        company and the nature of the food that is served there.
    36        This was on page 3 of that report.  People being surveyed
    37        described McDonald's as impersonal and rushed.  That heavy
    38        users of McDonald's were more likely C1 or C2 males, under
    39        25 and without children or with older children.  That
    40        McDonald's was more likely to be chosen than its
    41        competitors in response to kids pestering.  That heavy
    42        users were more likely to choose McDonald's on occasions
    43        when they were especially hungry, and the relevance of that
    44        is that there have been, or there has been, a suggestion,
    45        from time to time, that how do we know that these heavy
    46        users are not all just going in every day for a cup of
    47        coffee, and clearly if they are going in because they are
    48        especially hungry, they are going to be eating lots of
    49        burgers and fries and get a substantial fat and saturated
    50        fat load.
    51
    52        On page 6 of that document there is a section, 'product
    53        imagery', and it says that people thought that McDonald's
    54        food was high in calories and that it was not rated as well
    55        as being healthy or made with natural ingredients.  You may
    56        remember that Mr. Fairgrieve did say that this would have
    57        applied going back several years, so obviously, despite
    58        McDonald's best intentions, a lot of people are not being
    59        duped into believing that the food is healthy, though
    60        obviously some still are.

Prev Next Index