Day 046 - 04 Nov 94 - Page 70
1 but the vast majority of the letters that you get are very
2 positive?
3 A. Yes.
4
5 Q. Do you remember saying that?
6 A. Absolutely, especially when it concerns Ronald
7 McDonald. We get literally hundreds and hundreds of
8 letters from parents talking about he being a very good
9 role model for their children, teaching them things maybe
10 they had not been able to teach them. As I mentioned the
11 other day, we even get more than a few "makes you feel
12 good" letters from parents who said that because of some
13 educational aspect of a Ronald programme that we were
14 actually able to save their child's life.
15
16 Q. Can I ask you this, so far as you are aware, how often --
17 I am not asking for numbers; I am asking for a rough idea
18 of the sort of significance -- do you get letters of this
19 kind -- these are merely speculative or hypothetical
20 examples -- "I took my little son John to McDonald's the
21 other day and he was devastated to find that the McNuggetts
22 he was given to eat did not talk"?
23 A. I do not remember ever getting a letter that was near
24 that.
25
26 Q. What about: "My son was mortified to find that hamburgers
27 do not grow in patches"?
28 A. I do not ever remember receiving any kind of
29 communication that would be even close to that either.
30
31 Q. More seriously, perhaps: "This sort of advertising is
32 wicked; it leads children to confuse fantasy with reality"?
33 A. Again, we may have received a letter or two from people
34 that do not like children's advertising, but the vast
35 majority, if not almost of all of it, is positive, and I do
36 not remember a specific letter that used any of those kinds
37 of words.
38
39 Q. What is the evidence you do have as "the big cheese", if
40 I might, in advertising in McDonald's in America of
41 children's response to the experience they have when they
42 come into your restaurant?
43 A. Well, our restaurant managers, our owner operators, the
44 people who work in the restaurant, obviously see the
45 experience of the children and, as I have indicated before,
46 it is usually a very popular and pleasant place for
47 children to go; they enjoy the experience very much.
48
49 Q. Can I ask -- this is the last document I am going to ask
50 you to look at before you return to the United States --
51 volume VIA, the pink Nutrition file?
52 A. Yes.
53
54 Q. Can you turn to the back, nearly at the back of tab 45,
55 which is the Walker Research Analysis?
56 A. Yes, I have it.
57
58 Q. Turn, please, to page 220.
59 A. Yes, I have it.
60
