Day 309 - 03 Dec 96 - Page 32
1 the next one.
2
3 MR. RAMPTON: Yes. There is a neologism, my Lord, at the bottom
4 of page 9, which I rather like, which I do not think
5 actually exists -- in the bracket in the footnote.
6
7 MS. STEEL: What did you say it was?
8
9 MR. RAMPTON: A neologism; that is a newly coined word. In the
10 penultimate line -- I wish I had written it, but I did not
11 -- "a very misbalanced account". It should be
12 "unbalanced".
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. If I could just look at meaning -----
15
16 MR. RAMPTON: Yes.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If the meaning were this -- and I will just
19 read out what I have put in my note, and if you want to
20 come back on it after the midday adjournment and say what
21 you wish then -- but if the meaning were something as
22 follows: the Plaintiffs, by their advertising and
23 marketing, deliberately and wrongly exploit children for
24 their own profit, aiming nearly all their advertising at
25 them, making them feel that they are not normal if they do
26 not eat at McDonald's, persuading them to put pressure on
27 their parents to take them there, and seducing them into
28 eating poor food -- perhaps one should say it is seducing
29 them into eating poor and possibly poisonous food -- would
30 that, in fact, go beyond the meaning ---
31
32 MR. RAMPTON: I have just been wondering about that.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- you have pleaded? I am not talking about
35 whether it would be justified yet. But would it go beyond
36 -----
37
38 MR. RAMPTON: I am a bit worried about that. I have not --
39 obviously, I like it very much, but.....
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, whether you like it probably depends,
42 at the end of the day, whether I say it is justified or
43 not.
44
45 MR. RAMPTON: I know that. But I have some confidence that it
46 cannot be justified. I may be wrong about that. No, my
47 Lord, in fact, I do not think so. It is differently worded
48 and it adheres a bit more closely to the text of the
49 leaflet ---
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It does.
52
53 MR. RAMPTON: -- than the pleaded meanings do. But remembering
54 (a) the only barrier to the judge or the jury, as the case
55 may be, as your Lordship has just said, it must not be more
56 serious, variations in terminology which convey the same
57 message are unobjectionable. It sounds patronising, but
58 I do not mean it like that. Plainly, if one looks at (J)
59 and (K) together, and indeed (M) and your Lordship's
60 nutrition meaning, which is all part of the context so far
