Day 296 - 07 Nov 96 - Page 10


     
     1        low in fibre; and with the evidence of Dr. Wheelock,
     2        McDonald's own nutrition consultant, who admitted that
     3        McDonald's products, or many of the items sold at
     4        McDonald's, were high in fat and sodium.  He admitted that
     5        a typical McDonald's meal was high in fat, saturated fat,
     6        and sodium content.  He agreed that a typical McDonald's
     7        meal would not come within the dietary recommendations of
     8        the various health authorities or bodies.
     9
    10        Before going any further, I just wanted to make some kind
    11        of introductory propositions which are that, firstly,
    12        references to McDonald's food within the relevant passages
    13        of the leaflet, and indeed within the meanings you
    14        attributed to those passages, have to be considered in
    15        context.  That is to say, that their meaning has to be
    16        considered by reference to what the average person in the
    17        street would think by those words.  After all, both
    18        McDonald's Corporation and McDonald's Restaurants, the two
    19        Plaintiffs, claim to have a reputation within the UK,
    20        because ordinary people attach some meaning to the tag
    21        'McDonald's'.
    22
    23        By the same token, we submit that ordinary people attach
    24        some meaning to McDonald's food and associate it with, for
    25        example, Big Mac and chips, and that that is particularly
    26        so where you are talking about an average McDonald's meal.
    27        Big Mac and chips, or Big Mac and fries, as they would call
    28        them, is basically what McDonald's are famous for, and we
    29        say it is completely unrealistic and misleading on the part
    30        of the Plaintiffs to contend that ordinary people associate
    31        the words McDonald's food, or the average McDonald's meal,
    32        with the entire range of foods which may or may not be
    33        available at any given store at any given time.
    34
    35        In other words, if the people that McDonald's are anxious
    36        should never read the leaflet were stopped in the street
    37        and asked what they considered the words 'McDonald's food'
    38        or 'typical McDonald's meal', or 'average McDonald's meal',
    39        referred to, they would not answer, side salads, orange
    40        juice and apple pie, which McDonald's say are now available
    41        at some stores; but they would answer, Big Mac and fries,
    42        or hamburger and fries, or cheeseburger and fries, thick
    43        shakes, which is exactly what the text itself immediately
    44        describes after this paragraph, when it says, in the very
    45        first paragraph -- sorry, no, it is not immediately after
    46        this paragraph.  It is before that paragraph.  It refers to
    47        mass produced hamburgers, chips, colas and milkshakes.
    48
    49        I mean, obviously there is the point that most of those
    50        products that McDonald's are now trying to rely on have
    51        only come in since -- well, most of those products which
    52        McDonald's are now trying to rely on to say they have got
    53        so-called healthy options available, have only come in
    54        since the date of the alleged libel and are not available
    55        in all the stores.
    56
    57        In any event, as I say, it is clear from the leaflet that
    58        the products that are being referred to in relation to
    59        whether or not they are a useful and nutritious part of any
    60        diet are products such as hamburgers, chips, colas and

Prev Next Index