Day 300 - 14 Nov 96 - Page 04
1 Obviously, that is an example of the packaging being a
2 gimmick and the dressing up of food to make it more
3 attractive to children, unhealthy food to make it more
4 attractive to children.
5
6 She had also looked at the kinds of techniques which the
7 advertisements were employing, which she categorised into
8 themes and executional techniques. The executional
9 techniques were things like animation, humour, fantasy, and
10 the use of cartoons or characters. The examples of the
11 themes were the mastery of skills, being socially accepted
12 and the desire to have possessions, and she said that the
13 McDonald's advertisements used all of those techniques.
14 That was on day 54, page 14, line 7.
15
16 She said that it was important to remember that a great
17 deal of skill, imagination and money went into making the
18 advertisements effective in -- well, to be effective was to
19 encourage the viewer to wish to purchase the product. That
20 was on day 54, page 14, line 25.
21
22 She referred to the advertising industry seminar which she
23 had attended which -----
24
25 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, you mentioned it and gave its name.
26
27 MS. STEEL: Yes, 'Pester power, how to reach kids in 1994',
28 which was a conference for people, companies and the
29 advertising in general who wanted to learn the most
30 successful techniques of how to advertise to children. And
31 a McDonald's advertisement, where children memorised items
32 from the McDonald's menu, was quoted as being particularly
33 successful. That was on day 54, page 15, line 15.
34
35 She said that a similar thing was used by McDonald's at the
36 time of the World Cup, which was the advertisement which we
37 referred to yesterday, when they showed a boy practising
38 his football skills. She said that this technique of
39 showing children mastering a skill has been shown to be an
40 effective way to appeal to children. That was day 54,
41 page 16, line 10. Obviously it appeals to children because
42 if you can master a skill it is one way of fitting in and
43 being socially accepted.
44
45 It is clear from the title of this conference that the
46 advertising industry in general does set out to target
47 children through advertising, with the aim of getting them
48 to pester their parents into buying things which they may
49 very well not want to buy. Obviously, McDonald's are a
50 part of that.
51
52 Another theme which she said was widely used was that of
53 being socially accepted, and she quoted examples of a group
54 of children being taught to sing a McDonald's song by
55 ronald mcdonald, another advert with a group of children at
56 a pantomime with Ronald, and another at a party, and that
57 the implication was that the children would want to be a
58 part of the group of children who were seen to be enjoying
59 themselves.
60
