Day 042 - 31 Oct 94 - Page 21


     
     1   Q.   Do you want to explain why, then?
     2        A.  Well----
     3
     4   Q.   Why those characters are used?
     5        A.  It just allows you to have different characters to
     6        create different story lines and different excitement in
     7        the commercials, to keep the thing fresh and different.  It
     8        gives a personality.  They all have different personalities
     9        and characters that children can relate to.
    10
    11   Q.   Has any of the feedback that you have got from adults about
    12        the effect of the advertisements affected how new
    13        commercials are made, or what they contain?
    14        A.  Yes.  There has been a couple of occasions where we
    15        have had, either through people writing in various comments
    16        about commercials that we take on board, as it were, just
    17        to improve the direction of feature advertising.
    18
    19   Q.   What sorts of things?
    20        A.  It may be that something in a particular commercial
    21        they feel is not what they would have come to expect from
    22        McDonald's.  There was one commercial I can give you an
    23        example of, where Ronald is playing in a rock band, playing
    24        an electric guitar.  They felt that it was not as
    25        appropriate as Ronald in a sort of more fantasy land; it
    26        was a bit too real, maybe a bit too old.
    27
    28   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Would it be convenient if we broke off
    29        there?
    30
    31   MS. STEEL:  Yes.
    32
    33   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We will have a five-minute break.
    34
    35                          (Short adjournment)
    36
    37   MS. STEEL:  When a television advert is made, is there a set
    38        length of time it is shown for?
    39        A.  It can vary in this country.  You can buy standard time
    40        lengths.  So you can buy-----
    41
    42   Q.   Do you mean in terms of how long the advertisement lasts?
    43        A.  Yes.
    44
    45   Q.   One showing?  There are quite a lot of different times
    46        involved, are you saying?
    47        A.  You can make a 20 second commercial, or a 30 second
    48        commercial, or 60 second commercial, and you can run that
    49        on television as much as you wish, depending on your
    50        finances. 
    51 
    52   MS. STEEL:   Right.  (Pause) 
    53
    54   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What are you directing yourself at now?
    55
    56   MS. STEEL:  If a 30 second advertisement is made, how long,
    57        generally -- how many weeks, months, whatever -- would it
    58        be used for before you made a new one?
    59        A.  That depends totally on what you are showing in that
    60        commercial and what audience it may be aimed at.

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