Day 001 - 28 Jun 94 - Page 09
1 McDonald's prefer the name 'fast-food'. This is not just
because it is manufactured and served up as quickly as
2 possible - it has to be eaten quickly too. It's a sign of
the junk-quality of Big Macs that people actually hold
3 competitions to see who can eat one in the shortest time."
4 "Paying for the habit" is the next heading. Another
blob: "Chewing is essential for good health, as it
5 promotes the flow of digestive juices which break down the
food and send nutrients into the blood. McDonald's food
6 is so lacking in bulk it is hardly possible to chew it.
Even their own figures show that a 'quarter-pounder' is
7 48% water."
8 If that is meant to suggest McDonald's add water to their
meat, again it is one hundred per cent false. Nothing is
9 added to the beef which goes to make the hamburgers. "This
sort of fake food" - my Lord, perhaps there one finds the
10 confirmation that the defendants in this leaflet are
alleging water is added to the quarter pounder -
11 "encourages over-eating, and the high sugar and sodium
content can make people develop a kind of addiction - a
12 'craving'. That means more profit for McDonald's, but
constipation, clogged arteries and heart attacks for many
13 customers."
14 Once again, my Lord, if this is meant to mean something
more than that, there are quite a lot of people in the
15 world who rather like to eat McDonald's food, then again
it is completely false.
16
Over the page: "McRip-off, McTorture, McWasteful,
17 McGarbage". Again another box headed: "Getting the
chemistry right. McDonald's stripey staff uniforms,
18 flashy lighting, bright plastic decor, 'Happy Hats' and
muzak, are all part of the gimmicky dressing-up of
19 low-quality food which has been designed down to the last
detail to look and feel and taste exactly the same in any
20 outlet anywhere in the world. To achieve this artificial
conformity, McDonald's require that their 'fresh lettuce
21 leaf', for example, is treated with twelve different
chemicals just to keep it the right colour at the right
22 crispness for the right length of time. It might as well
be a bit of plastic." Again a wholly false statement.
23
There is another main subheading about children: "How do
24 McDonald's deliberately exploit children? Nearly all
McDonald's advertising is aimed at children". My Lord,
25 again a wholly false statement. It is a low proportion of
McDonald's advertising which is targeted at children --
26 well under 25 per cent. "Although the ronald mcdonald
'personality' is not as popular as their market
27 researchers expected (probably because it is totally
unoriginal), thousands of young children now think of
28 burgers and chips every time they see a clown with orange
hair."
29
Heading: "The Normality Trap. No parent needs to be told
30 how difficult it is to distract a child from insisting on
a certain type of food or treat. Advertisements
