Day 043 - 01 Nov 94 - Page 47

     
     1        Children's time is less expensive to buy on a rating point
     2        basis versus adult time on a rating point basis.
     3
     4   MR. RAMPTON:  So does that mean, if I have understood it
     5        correctly, that your exposure frequency per child is less
     6        than is your exposure frequency per adult?
     7        A.  Yes; on an average overall basis, it is about
     8        two-thirds.
     9
    10   Q.   How, then, do you react to the suggestion that nearly all
    11        McDonald's advertising is aimed at children?
    12        A.  That is not true.
    13
    14   Q.   Can I ask you some questions, Mr. Green, arising out of
    15        that series of advertisements which we have seen?  First of
    16        all, is there any information about the extent to which
    17        children in the United States watch television on their own
    18        without adults?
    19        A.  I have not seen any information along those lines.
    20
    Q.   Secondly, we noticed at the last part of that, Ronald, as
    22        you said, promoting reading as a worthwhile activity to
    23        children; is that right?
    24        A.  That is correct.
    25
    26   Q.   We noticed also that one of the premiums offered by some of
    27        those advertisements were books about the rainforests,
    28        prepared, you said, by Conservation International?
    29        A.  Yes.  As I mentioned before, a few times a year we want
    30        to have toys or premiums that are significantly educational
    31        in their value.
    32
    33   Q.   What commercial interest does McDonald's have in promoting
    34        educational materials and ideas of that kind?
    35        A.  Well, I think for a number of reasons.  First and
    36        foremost, it is something that I think parents would like
    37        to see their children do; and, by doing it, it establishes
    38        that McDonald's is a kind of place that cares about what
    39        your children do and, ultimately, it generates a better
    40        feeling about McDonald's in both parents and kids, which
         leads to their patronage.
    42
    43   Q.   You are here as a representative, Mr. Green, of what
    44        I might call McDonald's public face; you are in charge of
    45        its public face.  Would you agree with that?
    46        A.  Yes.  Sometimes we call it the brand, or brand
    47        McDonald's.
    48
    49   Q.   You say that one of the advantages from a commercial point
    50        of view is that provision of that kind of educational 
    51        implement or programme makes people think that McDonald's 
    52        care about that kind of thing? 
    53        A.  And, in fact, McDonald's does care about that.
    54
    55   Q.   I was going to ask you that.  That is the public face.
    56        What is the private face; does McDonald's care?
    57        A.  Absolutely.  I think it has been a tenet of McDonald's
    58        from the beginning that our success is very much dependent
    59        on our customers patronising us on a local basis,
    60        restaurant by restaurant.  Right from the beginning, in the