Day 010 - 11 Jul 94 - Page 53
1 Q. That is a public relations effort?
A. That is my understanding of this matter.
2
Q. Right. What point are you making with this document?
3 A. The point, simply put, is that the campaign was having
a broad impact beyond just McDonald's itself, and that the
4 response, in a general sense, appears to have been largely
related to imagery and public relations.
5
Q. Right.
6 A. Which is another way of saying that the central issues
we were raising were not -- that these executives were not
7 willing necessarily to address those issues except as
public relations matters.
8
Q. Going back to McDonald's, did the Citizens Clearinghouse
9 for Hazardous Waste and the campaign in general, McToxics,
seek a meeting with McDonald's over these issues?
10 A. That is correct.
11 Q. How long did it take to establish a meeting with them?
A. I would say that the campaign began in November --
12 sorry, October 1987, and at that time we had written
letters asking McDonald's to meet to discuss the foam
13 issue, and to meet in specifically with local community
groups that were living near disposal facilities,
14 landfills and so forth, to address the issues that were
concerning these people, and McDonald's did not agree to a
15 meeting until 1989 -- on the eve of their launching the
McRecycle programme.
16
Q. You said before there was a meeting planned which
17 coincided with the opening of the 10,000th McDonald's
store and which McDonald's cancelled the meeting, in
18 effect, is that what happened?
A. No, what happened was that McDonald's -----
19
MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, I remember that evidence.
20 A. OK.
21 Q. He said he was going to show reps round and, therefore,
the protest on the occasion of the 10,000th restaurant was
22 called off and then Mr. Lipsett said he went back on his
promise.
23 A. That is what I said.
24 MR. MORRIS: OK. So when McDonald's finally withdrew their
styrofoam, polystyrene foam food packaging, how did you
25 feel?
A. Well, we recognised it as a victory, but we also
26 acknowledged that McDonald's would not address or accept
the possibility that they had been in any way influenced
27 by the pressure that had been brought to bear across the
nation by local communities groups; that they instead
28 chose to attribute the decision to a series of meetings
that began with EDF in, I believe, 1990.
29
Q. 1991, I believe, the report was published?
30 A. The report is published but the meetings began sooner
than that. I cannot specify the exact date, but I can
