Day 245 - 07 May 96 - Page 17
1 best for you", it says: "Every time you eat at McDonald's
2 you will be eating good nutritious food"?
3 A. We say that and much, much more.
4
5 Q. Yes, I know you do. We can accept that that is what you
6 are saying, the Company is saying.
7 A. Am I finished with this one?.
8
9 Q. Yes.
10
11 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Keep it there for the moment.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: Mr. Beavers accepted that McDonald's advertised
14 their food as nutritious and Edward Oakley was asked about
15 the guy who was responsible for doing those guides and was
16 asked what nutritious meant in the guide, and he said
17 "foods that contain nutrients". When asked if he could
18 think of a food that did not contain nutrients, he did not
19 really know of anything but he said, "You can put up an
20 argument for black coffee or black tea or mineral water"
21 and he defended Coca Cola and said, "Yes, that could be
22 nutritious".
23
24 David Green, who was a Senior Vice President of Marketing
25 USA, said he thought"Coca Cola was nutritious because it
26 was providing water and I think that is part of a balanced
27 diet".
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That must be one thousandth of the evidence
30 I have heard on nutrition.
31
32 MR. MORRIS: I understand that. The point I am saying is that
33 although it is a matter of opinion in that leaflet about
34 your food: "Every time you eat at McDonald's you will be
35 eating good nutritious food", effectively it is a lie, is
36 it not?
37 A. No, it is not a lie. You are telling such a small part
38 of what is said in that leaflet it defies description..
39 There is a much, much bigger store than one sentence out of
40 a, I do not know, 5 or 6-page document.
41
42 Q. But that is a clear statement, is it not: "Every time you
43 eat at McDonald's you will be eating good nutritious food"?
44 A. It is one statement ----.
45
46 Q. And it turns out that what "nutritious" means is "contains
47 nutrients", so you are effectively conning the public, are
48 you not?
49 A. No, I am not.
50
51 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, if Mr. Morris is suggesting that
52 "nutritious" means something different from that which
53 contained nutrients and is accusing the witness of lying to
54 the public, he should propose to the witness what
55 "nutritious" actually does mean. It might help.
56
57 MR. MORRIS: Would you accept that a definition of "nutritious"
58 that would be helpful would be "conveys a sense of a
59 healthy product that is not dilatorious to one's physical
60 well being. Specifically a product that is nutritious and
