Day 284 - 22 Oct 96 - Page 10
1 for it says 'Stop using McDonald's, Wimpey, et cetera';
2 i.e., all those things in the 'everything must go' box. It
3 means start looking for alternatives to multi-national
4 corporations. I think that is the general message.
5
6 Obviously I need to do this for every issue in the case,
7 but I am doing it now in a very brief form just to flag up
8 that, in our belief, it to be a coherent, responsible,
9 balanced and encouraging, positive leaflet, clearly the one
10 aim of which is to try to encourage people to create a
11 better world and live healthier, happier lives, and for
12 that very reason McDonald's does not like it because they
13 are on the other side.
14
15 And I think that the message is, when you are looking at
16 the two sides of the equation, which side is McDonald's on
17 in this fact sheet. It is clearly on the side of
18 corporations, profits, and exploitation of people, animals
19 and the environment. And yet, and I think this is
20 important in terms of the evidence in this case, McDonald's
21 are claiming to have, especially since the late 1980s, a
22 whole range of policies claiming concern about the
23 environment and animals, although that is a more recent
24 one, and different issues such as the so-called rainforest
25 policy they formulated, we would say, in 1989, 1988, 1989.
26
27 So we would say such claimed policies, which we would argue
28 the evidence has said are more for marketing, more as a
29 marketing tool, than any kind of effective changes in their
30 business practices - sorry, I lost my train of thought
31 there - such policies are in many ways quite obviously a
32 response to the concerns raised by the organisations that
33 we have heard, and the views that we have heard were in
34 existence before this leaflet was even written.
35
36 So the context, the historical context of this leaflet,
37 which may be another context, is that it is not a leaflet
38 that created any new, or put down any new points about
39 McDonald's Corporation. It brought together already
40 preexisting information, views and opinions as far as we
41 can see, not being involved with the production of this
42 fact sheet.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. Where do you say it should take me in
45 relation to the rainforests?
46
47 MR. MORRIS: I am doing a general overview now so I do not have
48 to do that with each issue. Maybe it is not helpful.
49
50 MR JUSTICE BELL: I thought you made this point yesterday. If
51 you did not think you made it well enough, then tell me
52 again, but you made the point and I understand the point
53 you are making so far as policy is concerned, that if it is
54 made just for PR reasons rather than because of a genuine
55 motive not to harm the rainforest, then that is a factor to
56 bear in mind when I am looking to see whether McDonald's
57 are responsible one way or another for destroying the
58 rainforests. But that is your point on policy, is it not?
59
60 MR. MORRIS: Yes, that is partly it. It is partly that even if
