Day 046 - 04 Nov 94 - Page 70


     
     1        but the vast majority of the letters that you get are very
     2        positive?
     3        A.  Yes.
     4
     5   Q.   Do you remember saying that?
     6        A.  Absolutely, especially when it concerns Ronald
     7        McDonald.  We get literally hundreds and hundreds of
     8        letters from parents talking about he being a very good
     9        role model for their children, teaching them things maybe
    10        they had not been able to teach them.  As I mentioned the
    11        other day, we even get more than a few "makes you feel
    12        good" letters from parents who said that because of some
    13        educational aspect of a Ronald programme that we were
    14        actually able to save their child's life.
    15
    16   Q.   Can I ask you this, so far as you are aware, how often --
    17        I am not asking for numbers; I am asking for a rough idea
    18        of the sort of significance -- do you get letters of this
    19        kind -- these are merely speculative or hypothetical
    20        examples -- "I took my little son John to McDonald's the
    21        other day and he was devastated to find that the McNuggetts
    22        he was given to eat did not talk"?
    23        A.  I do not remember ever getting a letter that was near
    24        that.
    25
    26   Q.   What about:  "My son was mortified to find that hamburgers
    27        do not grow in patches"?
    28        A.  I do not ever remember receiving any kind of
    29        communication that would be even close to that either.
    30
    31   Q.   More seriously, perhaps:  "This sort of advertising is
    32        wicked; it leads children to confuse fantasy with reality"?
    33        A.  Again, we may have received a letter or two from people
    34        that do not like children's advertising, but the vast
    35        majority, if not almost of all of it, is positive, and I do
    36        not remember a specific letter that used any of those kinds
    37        of words.
    38
    39   Q.   What is the evidence you do have as "the big cheese", if
    40        I might, in advertising in McDonald's in America of
    41        children's response to the experience they have when they
    42        come into your restaurant?
    43        A.  Well, our restaurant managers, our owner operators, the
    44        people who work in the restaurant, obviously see the
    45        experience of the children and, as I have indicated before,
    46        it is usually a very popular and pleasant place for
    47        children to go; they enjoy the experience very much.
    48
    49   Q.   Can I ask -- this is the last document I am going to ask
    50        you to look at before you return to the United States -- 
    51        volume VIA, the pink Nutrition file? 
    52        A.  Yes. 
    53
    54   Q.   Can you turn to the back, nearly at the back of tab 45,
    55        which is the Walker Research Analysis?
    56        A.  Yes, I have it.
    57
    58   Q.   Turn, please, to page 220.
    59        A.  Yes, I have it.
    60

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