Day 024 - 15 Sep 94 - Page 40


     
     1        its nutritional value.  This advertising programme is
     2        designed to get the facts out and to neutralise the junk
     3        food misconceptions about McDonald's good food.  This
     4        effort represents a long-term commitment beginning with a
     5        year-long advertising schedule in 1987."
     6
     7        What does the middle sentence suggest to you?
     8        A.  Well, it provides further support for the conclusion
     9        in the April 24 letter, that McDonald's was intentionally
    10        setting about to convince people that, in fact, their food
    11        is nutritious -- and nutritious as I am using it, that it
    12        was good food.
    13
    14   Q.   As opposed to?
    15        A.  As opposed to junk food or as opposed to food that was
    16        nutritionally deleterious, food that was, in fact, high in
    17        the various nutrients that one should avoid, such as
    18        sodium, cholesterol and saturated fat.
    19
    20   Q.   Going on to the section under "Creative.  The ads focus on
    21        key timely nutritional subjects like cholesterol, sodium
    22        and calcium as well as the importance of a balance
    23        diet."   The subjects referred to, cholesterol, sodium and
    24        calcium, in the balanced diet, they were something that
    25        was of public concern at the time; is that right?
    26        A.  And it was (and it still is); the cholesterol and
    27        sodium are two of the negative aspects of a diet that
    28        I have mentioned earlier that one should, in fact, avoid.
    29        Calcium was of particular interest to people who were
    30        concerned about either foetal development or bone
    31        strength.  There was a great deal (and still is a great
    32        deal) of advertising, promoting products as being a good
    33        source of calcium -- some truthful, some not.
    34
    35   Q.   If you turn to page 102, having studied, sort of, consumer
    36        views and opinions, what impression do you think that the
    37        average consumer would get from this advertisement?
    38        A.  I remember specifically when I first saw this, the
    39        balance ad, it struck me as somewhat humorous that what
    40        McDonald's was saying is that its foods would stack up in
    41        a way so that they would not fall over and that they did
    42        balance.  What McDonald's is conveying through this
    43        advertisement is that you can eat a balanced diet at
    44        McDonald's.
    45
    46        It is an implicit representation, to be sure, but the only
    47        products that are shown here are McDonald's products
    48        balanced one on top of another.  That is the impression
    49        that is being conveyed.  I suspect it is the intention of
    50        McDonald's to so convey it.   Whether it was their 
    51        intention or not, it is a matter of law, if that is the 
    52        impression that people take away from reading the ad, and 
    53        it is a deceptive impression, then McDonald's is liable
    54        for that.
    55
    56   Q.   So, you view that advert as being deceptive?
    57        A.  Yes, not only in that respect, but yes.
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you do prosecute a company for what you
    60        allege to be misleading advertisement or information, how

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