Day 125 - 12 May 95 - Page 45


     
     1        was Barry Klein; is that correct?
     2        A.  That is indeed.  I was about to make the comment that
     3        the Barry Klein I referred to earlier in the week, the
     4        father of ronald mcdonald, the person that came up with the
     5        original idea of ronald mcdonald, that is Barry Klein.
     6
     7   Q.   The one that wrote most of the McDonald's ads, Ronald's
     8        ads?
     9        A.  I would not say that he wrote the ads; he might have
    10        had the final blessing, made the final creative decision on
    11        the ads, but he was the guy that came up with the concept.
    12
    13   Q.   That was a shot of McDonaldland, yes?
    14        A.  No, what you saw with the little bridge and the little
    15        hamburger things, was a set.  That was a set, production
    16        set, where one or more of the McDonald's commercials, kids
    17        commercials might have been shot.  That particular set
    18        seems very dated.  I would say that is probably done back
    19        in the 60s, late 60, early 1970.
    20
    21   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I thought "ronald mcdonaldland" was any set
    22        in which Ronald operated, which might or might not coincide
    23        with what most of us consider the real world to be.  Is
    24        that right, or are there familiar sets which occur and
    25        reoccur so that you can say: "That is ronald mcdonaldland"?
    26        A.  Yes.  In those days, you know, the setting was kind of
    27        surreal.  It was not the real world, but later on Ronald
    28        was put in more light -----
    29
    30   Q.   I have seen him skating on, or a skating scene on what
    31        looks likes real ice and so on, but was McDonaldland
    32        familiar landmarks and sets all the time, or did it change
    33        according to the design of the next commercial?
    34        A.  It was the latter.  It changed according to the next
    35        commercial.
    36
    37   MS. STEEL:   When you said it was not McDonaldland, is that
    38        because you were thinking of specific McDonaldland theme
    39        parks or something along those lines?
    40        A.  I was referring to the fact that that was a set that
    41        was used for, you know, some of the commercials that were
    42        done in the early days.  Many of our restaurants have
    43        playlands that might feature a statute of Ronald or have
    44        some plaques that may show ronald mcdonald.
    45
    46   Q.   Have you seen that clip before?
    47        A.  No, I have not, no.
    48
    49   Q.   At that time do you know whether the Company was spending
    50        most of its advertising budget, or more of its advertising 
    51        budget, on children's advertisements? 
    52        A.  We probably did.  In the early days we probably did. 
    53        I mean, ronald mcdonald was not a household name.  Most
    54        people did not know who ronald mcdonald was, but within a
    55        very short period of time Ronald was one of the most
    56        well-known, popular characters in America.
    57
    58   MS. STEEL:   I think that is it.  Shall I leave the television
    59        until we have finished?
    60

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