Day 041 - 28 Oct 94 - Page 05
1
2 Q. What about national television advertising? Who is in
3 control of that?
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I thought he said -- indeed it is shown on
6 our screens -- in terms of putting the advertising together
7 that is down to the local country. I wonder whether the
8 witness is talking about "local" within the United Kingdom
9 or "local" in the sense of the United Kingdom.
10
11 MR. RAMPTON: If he was talking about the former, then we are at
12 cross-purposes.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Perhaps it should be made clear.
15
16 MR. RAMPTON: Would you like to clarify that; did you
17 misunderstand what I thought I was asking you?
18 A. I am not sure. As far as the advertising is concerned,
19 we are responsible for it here and -----
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: In the UK?
22 A. In the UK, and we approve it here in the UK. It does
23 not have to go anywhere else to be approved.
24
25 MR. RAMPTON: But that is at the local level, it is left
26 to ----?
27 A. When you say "local", do you mean in this country?
28
29 Q. I meant within this country; you might have a franchise in,
30 let us say, Liverpool or Manchester, for example; what I
31 was asking is, to what extent is he or she master of his
32 own advertising and promotion?
33 A. In that case I did misunderstand.
34
35 Q. I wondered whether you had.
36 A. Around the local restaurants a franchisee can place a
37 local advertisement. That is something that we often would
38 give guidance on, and there are certain regulations to do
39 with trademarks, for instance, that we would require, but
40 it is possible for them to place that locally.
41
42 In terms of any national advertising or, indeed, anything
43 that goes up on a bigger scale, such as regional
44 advertising, that would be approved by ourselves at head
45 office in this country or maybe by a regional office in
46 this country.
47
48 Q. Thank you. I would like, if I may, to ask you some general
49 questions about your perceptions of the purpose and effects
50 of advertising generally -- not for the moment McDonald's
51 advertising but advertising generally. Can I ask you this
52 -- I am not allowed to and do not wish to put any
53 suggestions into your mind; I want you to give it
54 unvarnished -- first of all what, in your view, is the
55 purpose of advertising a product or a range of products to
56 the public at large?
57 A. There are a number of specific reasons. The simplest,
58 of course, would be to purely communicate that that product
59 exists. As one moves forwards, and particularly as one
60 moves into competitive marketplaces, so one is trying
