Day 002 - 30 Jun 94 - Page 50


     
     1        shared, ecological environment, social justice, workers'
              rights, respect for animals and nature -- and also the
     2        points on advertising I would like to make on advertising,
              which is I have always been -- I do not mind admitting;
     3        I suppose "opposed" may be a bit strong -- opposed to
              advertising, as it is generally conducted.  I think it has
     4        a pernicious effect on people at the best of times.
              Certainly advertising as it affects children is to be
     5        particularly opposed.
 
     6        So again, in our submission, during this trial on the
              advertising children subject, it will not be necessary
     7        that we have to prove their advertising is worse than
              other advertising.  The point is that people have a right
     8        to criticise advertising.  They have a right to criticise
              advertising itself, not just the particularly bad
     9        examples.  That is why we believe that freedom of speech
              is a fundamental part of this trial; that they have a
    10        right to criticise the incaging and the killing of
              animals, not because they do it illegally or worse than
    11        anyone else but because they do it, they are responsible
              for it.
    12
              We have a right to criticise low wages not because they
    13        are worse than other organisations, but because they are
              low wages.  It is the same with packaging.  If they
    14        generate mountains of packaging -- in their own admission,
              they use, I think it was, a quarter of their package in
    15        1989 contained CFCs or HCFs which damaged the ozone
              layer.  A quarter of McDonald's packaging is a hell of a
    16        lot of packaging worldwide.  But just the fact of their
              generation of that amount of packaging, is it necessary?
    17        People have a right to oppose the unnecessary use of
              packaging.
    18
              Just to say a little bit about -- I have nearly finished
    19        we should finish by today -- the so-called anti-McDonald's
              campaign.  Many different groups in the 80s, if not
    20        before, were criticising McDonald's:  trade unionists,
              environmentalists, vegetarians, people concerned about
    21        advertising and children.  In America there was a big
              campaign by school children to stop McDonald's using
    22        styroe foam packaging with its effect on the environment
              and being buried in landfills throughout the State which
    23        was largely successful.
 
    24        The point about the London Greenpeace campaign against
              McDonald's was not it has invented the ideas in the fact
    25        sheet and, therefore, it takes full responsibility or
              alternative full credit, if you like, for the worldwide 
    26        belief in the ideas; it is that these ideas are ideas put 
              forward by trade unionists and green groups and 
    27        vegetarians and whatever.  London Greenpeace really just
              brought them together in the mid 80s.  So the people that
    28        distribute leaflets against McDonald's are not our agents
              or servants or the agent of servants of London Greenpeace;
    29        they are people who independently choose to distribute
              criticisms of McDonald's for whatever reason.
    30
              I think this is very important because Mr. Rampton has

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