Day 057 - 29 Nov 94 - Page 05
1 McDonald's meals which are high in fat etc. to make your
2 diet high in fat etc., then you take a real risk of having
3 cancer of the breast or bowel or heart disease or, put more
4 simply, that if you eat enough McDonald's food it may cause
5 cancer of the breast or bowel or heart disease.
6
7 For instance, such an interpretation might be thought to
8 take account of the use of the word "link" rather than
9 outright cause. It might take account of the distinction
10 between, any distinction between, diet and a meal, and it
11 might take account of the fact that many customers, i.e.
12 not all customers, are referred to in the lower part of the
13 page in relation to heart attacks.
14
15 I am not, as I have said, making a final decision on that,
16 but I do not want to fence with you -- I find it very
17 difficult to see how the leaflet can mean other than causal
18 link in some respect such as that.
19
20 MS. STEEL: I have explained what I feel that the M's at the
21 top represent. I think they are just, as I said, a
22 satirical banner. I have mentioned that "McCancer" is not
23 even on the same page. I do not really think that people
24 are likely to read "McCancer" and then directly go and
25 search out where there is a reference for "cancer" in the
26 leaflet. I think they will read all the headings at once
27 at the beginning, and then forget about them and then just
28 go on to what the whole of the text says. They are not
29 going to connect the two.
30
31 The cartoon at the bottom, as I have said, I do not think
32 it does represent people being killed by eating McDonald's
33 food and getting cancer and heart disease. It does not
34 mention them and there is no reason why, if somebody dies
35 of heart disease, they would end up in the middle of a
36 hamburger bun. To me, it is clear that that is
37 representing people being crushed, people and animals being
38 crushed, by the hamburger industry.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am aware of your argument in relation to
41 that. I have said I am not reaching a final view, but
42 I think it is only fair that I say these things to you.
43 I think one thing you have to face, putting a large "M" and
44 a small "c" in front of something is a way of associating
45 it, it seems to me, with McDonald's. I mean, I have seen
46 some papers where -- a publication somewhere; I cannot
47 remember where -- you and Mr. Morris are referred to as the
48 "McLibel Two". That is a further illustration of the
49 point; everyone reading "McLibel Two" immediately thinks
50 "McDonald's Libel Two".
51
52 MS. STEEL: "McCancer" could equally mean "McCancer" on society
53 as in, you know, that they are something that is bad for
54 society. The thing is that, according to the law that
55 Mr. Rampton has referred to in his skeleton argument, you
56 are not allowed to find a meaning which is higher than that
57 which the Plaintiffs' pleaded. They have pleaded link and
58 we have based our case on that and, therefore, if it is now
59 changed to cause and, you know, things stay the same as
60 they are, we have not tried to prove that higher meaning.
