Day 024 - 15 Sep 94 - Page 53


     
     1        cholesterol by consuming products that have the effect in
     2        the body of raising your cholesterol level.  That is what
     3        saturated fat does.
     4
     5   Q.   So that was your reason for the complaint, that they had
     6        not mentioned saturated fat content.  Perhaps you can
     7        explain the reason why you were complaining about the
     8        saturated fat content?
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is the first stage to see where Mr. Gardner
    11        says that the cholesterol ad emphasises the relatively low
    12        29 milligram cholesterol content of the regular hamburger,
    13        because that seems to be -----
    14
    15   MS. STEEL:   I think he has answered that.
    16
    17   THE WITNESS:  The emphasis of that is in the chart, your
    18        Lordship.
    19
    20   MS. STEEL:   If a customer reads more about cholesterol and
    21        McDonald's good food and then looks at that chart, what do
    22        you think they would assume from that chart or get from
    23        this overall?
    24        A.  That involves a different consideration than what
    25        I have been talking about, and is a distinction worth
    26        drawing.  The consumer who is looking at this ad wanting
    27        to get information necessary is not going to get it.
    28        There are other consumers who are going to look at this
    29        ad, and their take-away is going to be basically that
    30        McDonald's is doing better about cholesterol; cholesterol
    31        is reduced, or is relatively low as to the fries.  Looking
    32        at the chart, they are more likely for this group of
    33        consumers just to see fries, hamburger, fillet-o-fish and
    34        vanilla milk shake, and not get into the details of the
    35        chart; associate that information with the good
    36        information about the fries.  People want to be told good
    37        news on nutrition.  People want to be reassured that they
    38        are not poisoning their children when they take them to
    39        McDonald's.  They are very likely to respond positively to
    40        positive advertising, reassuring them that what they are
    41        doing is OK; not all but that is what a group of consumers
    42        who will have seen this ad, how they are going to
    43        respond.  The ones who want to go beyond that feel good
    44        aspect of the advertisement and get to the truth cannot do
    45        so from the information that McDonald's provided.
    46
    47   Q.   Then just to go on to the advertising campaign as a whole,
    48        why you consider it was deceptive or if there are any
    49        specifics in any of the other advertisements you
    50        particularly wanted to draw to our attention? 
    51        A.  There is one that occurs to me in reading what I was 
    52        just looking at with regard to the saturated fat content 
    53        in the ad that is titled "Leaner".
    54
    55   MR. MORRIS:  That is page 116 in the bundle and 117.
    56        A.  What McDonald's says is that the Quarter Pounder is at
    57        least 77.5 per cent lean.  It then goes on to say
    58        hamburger meat may have up to 30 per cent, but we have no
    59        more than 22.5 per cent.  The problem there is, that in
    60        terms of nutritional comparison for fat content in foods,

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