Day 001 - 28 Jun 94 - Page 04

     
     1        If I may expand this slightly now, it will be much
              expanded in evidence.  There are three areas of particular
     2        relevance to this case in which McDonald's insists on
              uniformity of excellence throughout its operation.  First,
     3        quality of its products and the well- being of its
              customers.  Second, the welfare of its employees
     4        including, in particular, equal opportunities for women
              and ethnic minorities.  Third, responsibility to the
     5        community including, in particular, responsibility in
              environmental matters.
     6
              My Lord, with that short introduction, I will come, if
     7        I may, to the leaflet which is the subject of this action.
              I will hand in, if I may, one of the very few copies in
     8        our possession now of the actual leaflet which was
              published by the defendants in 1989 and 1990.  (Handed).
     9
              Your Lordship sees that this is an enlarged copy but it
    10        folds out.  It starts with this gentleman on the front.
              My Lord, I did hand up not long ago in a Chambers hearing
         to your Lordship a copy of the leaflet printed serially on
              A3 paper.  That is what I propose to use in going through
    12        the leaflet.  It may help if your Lordship has the same
              copy because one can refer to it page by page.
    13
              My Lord, as I have said, the leaflet is entitled:  "What
    14        is wrong with McDonald's?  Everything that McDonald's do
              not want you to know".  One sees the illustration on the
    15        front cover.  The mask with the rather repellant looking
              gentleman with a cigar in his mouth is holding a facsimile
    16        of the face of one of McDonald's advertising creation, a
              client called ronald mcdonald's.  Behind the mask --
    17        plainly the intention here is to suggest there is a
              deliberate deception -- there is a face which McDonald's
    18        does not want the world to see.
 
    19        One sees, as I say, a rather gross individual.  One
              notices that instead of a pupil, the eye which is shown
    20        has a dollar sign; that he is wearing a McDonald's logo on
              his right lapel and that his tie is decorated with
         hamburgers; that he is wearing as a ring on his finger a
              head of a cow or steer.
    22
              Your Lordship may be persuaded -- what is the meaning of
    23        the contents of this leaflet is a matter for your Lordship
               -- but if this were a jury action it would be a matter
    24        for the Jury, but in this case it is a matter for your
              Lordship -- a clear implication of that front cover is
    25        that McDonald's have indulged in a large deception
              calculated to hide from customers or the public at large 
    26        the ugly reality that lies behind the mask. 
  
    27        Turning over the page, one sees that there is a series of
              headings all decorated with the golden arches, McDonald's
    28        logo.  They read as follows.  I will read right across the
              leaflet.
    29
              "McDollars, McGreedy, McCancer, McMurder, McDisease,
    30        McProfits, McDeadly, McHunger, McRipOff, McTorture,
              McWasteful, McGarbage".  One comes back on the second to