Day 042 - 31 Oct 94 - Page 60
1
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: How do you avoid ever doing it in front of
3 children? Are they not standing right beside the parent in
4 question?
5 A. It is actually quite rare, yes.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: Under "Free Premiums": "When it comes to your
8 McDonald's, offering free premiums for children is one of
9 the best things you can do to make them loyal supporters of
10 your restaurant". Is that, in your experience, correct
11 then?
12 A. Yes, it is certainly one of the best things you can do.
13
14 Q. If we go down the bottom right hand side: "McDonaldland
15 Fun Times magazine". Second to last paragraph -- sorry,
16 above it it says something about its "12-page full-colour
17 magazine that is published six times a year and distributed
18 free of charge". Underneath it says: "The Magazine is an
19 outstanding premium designed to reinforce the promise to
20 Ronald-age children that McDonald's is a fun place.
21
22 Where do 28 million copies per year go? Into the homes as
23 a constant reminder of McDonald's." Is that your
24 experience?
25 A. Well, not mine personally because we do not run the
26 McDonaldland Fund Times here.
27
28 Q. So it does not happen in the UK?
29 A. It does not happen in the UK.
30
31 Q. We will move on then. "Birthday parties" over the page:
32 "Everybody loves a birthday party- adults and senior
33 citizens, but especially children. Put them together at
34 McDonald's and you've got an important way to generate
35 added sales and profits, build total volume, promote
36 off-hour business, and bring a lot of fun and excitement to
37 your restaurant". It may be an obvious question, but it is
38 clear there that birthday parties are profit-making
39 ventures for McDonald's?
40 A. Yes, they are.
41
42 Q. If we move over the page just to reinforce that point, on
43 the first column near the bottom, just above "Pricing
44 Birthday Parties", it says: "Suggestive-selling of food to
45 adults attending the party - sold at menu-board prices -
46 will expand the party's sales and profitability". So, it
47 is not just the children that are wanted at the party; it
48 is the parents as well?
49 A. It is all very well if the parents come too, yes.
50 Typically, what happens is the birthday party's child
51 parents come and stay at the party and most of the others
52 do not; they just come to deliver and pick up.
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54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. I remembered the other day when I could
55 not remember whether I had been in a McDonald's -- I do not
56 suppose it matters -- I have been in a McDonald's to
57 collect a child from a birthday party.
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59 MR. MORRIS: I will leave my experience of McDonald's to
60 cross-examination by Mr. Rampton. (To the witness): Under
