Day 043 - 01 Nov 94 - Page 50

     
     1
     2   Q.   It is a bit like the educational information, is it not:
     3        it has a benefit to the consumer and a benefit to the
     4        company?
     5        A.  Yes, it does.
     6
     7   Q.   One other question arising out of those television
     8        advertisements:  we saw, towards the end, Ronald getting
     9        what I might call predictable answers from his talking dog;
    10        yes?
    11        A.  Yes.
    12
    13   Q.   That is a children's advertisement, is it not?
    14        A.  Yes, it is.
    15
    16   Q.   Any particular age group?
    17        A.  Well, again, I think it goes pretty much to the under
    18        eight, nine, 10 year-old that would enjoy it the most.
    19
    20   Q.   What I was going to ask you is this, arising out of that:
         do you advertising people, do you, as an advertising
    22        person, have a view of the perception and intelligence of
    23        children at different ages, the ability to understand the
    24        message?
    25        A.  Certainly.  I think it grows as they get older and as
    26        they get more mature.
    27
    28   Q.   In a sense, that "dog" advertisement is quite a clever joke
    29        which might be appreciated by an adult?
    30        A.  Not only appreciated by an adult, but also by a
    31        child.  I am afraid that we have copied it from some movies
    32        that I remember seeing, featuring the Marx Brothers.
    33
    34   Q.   What I was driving at was this, really:  how validly do you
    35        think it may be suggested that a child of three, four or
    36        five is incapable of understanding an advertisement to be
    37        saying to him:  "Here is something which you would like to
    38        experience.  It is something which you may have experienced
    39        or you may not have done, but come and enjoy it"?  Do you
    40        think that small children are capable of that sort of
         appreciation?
    42        A.  Yes.  I think that they appreciate being entertained by
    43        Ronald.  I think that in the youngest group that is pretty
    44        much what the advertising is about.  It is entertaining, it
    45        is fun and they enjoy it.  As they get older, they might be
    46        able to understand other parts, as we talked about, maybe
    47        even the puns that we talked about, in the commercial.  I
    48        do not think that a child really feels, almost at any age,
    49        that a dog really is talking in that particular
    50        advertisement. 
    51 
    52   Q.   I asked you about the magic puppy that appeared in Ronald's 
    53        hand at one other point in those advertisements.  Do you
    54        think there is any risk -- maybe I have asked you this
    55        before, I do not know -- that a child might think that
    56        those nuggets or fries, or whatever, represent a kind of
    57        reality in the store?
    58        A.  No.  I think that they are very familiar with puppets
    59        from a very young age and understand that puppets are part
    60        of a fun, somewhat fantasy world, but fun world that they