Day 301 - 15 Nov 96 - Page 04

     
     1        is nothing wrong with it, that is not the case where it is
     2        done with an ulterior motive.
     3
     4        I think the point is that it is clear that McDonald's do
     5        have ulterior motives; they are not giving away these
     6        things out of love for the children; they are doing it out
     7        of love for the money that they will be making out of the
     8        children or their parents through selling them junk food.
     9
    10        I think the use of the clown, a clown character, Ronald
    11        McDonald, at fetes and school safety shows and charity
    12        events is particularly insidious.  ronald mcdonald makes
    13        his appearances wearing the company colours, he has the
    14        company logo on his clothes, he is the symbol or the
    15        personification of McDonald's, and it is clear that he is
    16        there as an advertisement for the company.
    17
    18        But children will not realise that.  They will think, as
    19        intended by McDonald's, that he is a fun character, that he
    20        is their friend, he gives them flags and sweets and toys
         and party hats.  The reality is he is not their friend.  He
    22        is there to sell them products or get them to go into
    23        McDonald's in order to sell them products.
    24
    25        I think that in this day and age, when parents warn their
    26        children of the dangers of speaking to strangers and
    27        accepting gifts from them, that it is something of a
    28        contradiction that somehow it is acceptable for a complete
    29        stranger to speak to children and to give them gifts just
    30        because he is doing it on behalf of a multi-national
    31        company.
    32
    33        The reality is that ronald mcdonald is one stranger that
    34        parents certainly should warn their children about.  We
    35        know he has ulterior motives, to seduce children into
    36        eating junk food in order to increase the profits of the
    37        company that he works for.
    38
    39        The final point that I wanted to make was in relation to
    40        context in the leaflet.  I just wanted to remind you that,
         not on the cover but on the first page of text of the fact
    42        sheet, it does say in the third block, "We're all subject
    43        to the pressures of stupid advertising, consumerist hype,
    44        and the fast pace of big city life - but it doesn't take
    45        any special intelligence to start asking questions about
    46        McDonald's and to realise that something is seriously
    47        wrong".
    48
    49        The section, I think it is the second to last page in the
    50        "everything must go" box, "What's wrong with McDonald's is
    51        also wrong with all the junk food chains like Wimpy,
    52        Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy, etc.  All of them hide their
    53        ruthless exploitation of resources, animals and people
    54        behind a facade of colourful gimmicks and family fun".
    55
    56        So it is talking about all of these companies using
    57        gimmicks and advertising to manipulate people and to hide
    58        the truth from them.  "The food itself is much the same
    59        everywhere - only the packaging is different."  Obviously,
    60        the packaging is a gimmick as well.  "The rise of these