Day 057 - 29 Nov 94 - Page 33
1 MS. STEEL: Also there was the chart that we were looking at
2 just before lunch that was in the Annual Report, it was not
3 just for the figures of McDonald's food; it was for the
4 calorific values etc. of the other foods that were listed
5 there as well.
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, very well. I can see there might, in
8 fact, turn out to be more difficulty about that because it
9 may have been based -- it may not be possible to know what
10 it was based on now; if it is, it may be based upon some
11 general publication which may or may not be available, but
12 I hope that some enquiry will be made about that in
13 addition to the highlighted items, McDonald's items. What
14 about the 1987 US advertising campaign document?
15
16 MR. MORRIS: Yes.
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have to say that I think this is right on
19 the fringe of things because, at the end of the day, it
20 does not matter too much what the Attorney Generals, or may
21 not matter what they thought of it, it is what I thought of
22 it. If I think it was deceptive, it did not matter that
23 McDonald's did not particularly or might not. On the other
24 hand, if I did not think it was deceptive, it might not
25 matter that the Attorney Generals do.
26
27 By all means, pursue the question of disclosure but whether
28 at the end of the day, again among all the evidence, what
29 the Attorney Generals thought is a matter of great
30 importance in the case, we will have to see.
31
32 MS. STEEL: I would say that if the Plaintiffs' amendment F2 is
33 allowed, "despite knowing it is an accepted medical fact
34 deliberately and dishonesty conceal that fact from the
35 public by publishing nutritional guides" etc., it would be
36 absolutely central to that issue, the question of their
37 knowledge and the concealing of that knowledge and
38 portraying their food as something other than what, in
39 reality, it is.
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not want to get bogged down on this,
42 because I would rather deal with the question of
43 discovery. But why do you say what the Attorney Generals
44 actually thought is decisive of the matter?
45
46 MR. MORRIS: No, the document we are trying to discover is the
47 memo of McDonald's prelaunch meeting which discussed --
48 this is the blanked out document, is that the one we are
49 talking about?
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I thought you were aiming at that with a
52 view to how long it was intended it should last.
53
54 MR. MORRIS: That is part of it. You also said that a matter of
55 contention is the area of deceptiveness in the intent and,
56 obviously, the debate that took place at that meeting.
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, I see.
59
60 MR. RAMPTON: I intervene to say this, if I may, at this stage
