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McDonald's: Would you Like Fruit With That?

Aired July 01, 2003 - 14:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well it's a bitter pill for the sweet tooth set, but for food industry lawyers, apparently it's just what the doctor ordered.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's a trend away from fat, sugar, oils, all those things that make food yummy, of course, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to keep your arteries clear and your lawsuits at bay.

Now sink your teeth into this. Kraft, the nation's largest food maker plans to cut calories, fat and portions especially in snacks aimed at kids. so we're talking about Oreos, folks.

O'BRIEN: Now McDonald's, get this, is about to play fast and loose with the "happy" part of the Happy Meal, allowing parents to substitute fresh fruit for french fries in their Happy Meals. How many kids out there are going to be raising their hands for that one?

PHILLIPS: I want the fruit! Yeah, right.

And Frito-Lay is reportedly just weeks away from eliminating so- called trans fatty acids from its chips and snack. While we can't swear that trans fatty acids are tasty, we can just bet that they are.

O'BRIEN: They've got to be because they're bad for you, right?

To help us digest these developments, shall we say, we've called on our crisis management team and experts, Eric Denzenhall in Washington and our branding expert here in Atlanta Laura Ries. Good to have you both with us.

LAURA RIES, BRANDING EXPERT: Great to be here.

O'BRIEN: All right, when Oreo starts talking about changing the magic recipe which put the -- I don't know if it's on top but it has to be near the top of all cookies ever sold -- aren't you playing with fire? I mean this feels like New Coke or that smokeless cigarette that RJR came out with. Bad idea.

RIES: I was just going to say New Coke was a very good example because have you to remember consumers don't taste in the mouth, they taste in the mind. It's the perception of what the brand is going to taste like.

And when you take a most loved brand like Oreos and you say, I'm going to change it, I'm going to have it light, less fat, people are going to say, Wait a minute, I'm not going to like the taste of that. And they won't like the taste.

The answer, though, is new brands. There's no doubt we are the fattest country in the world. And we need to eat less food. We need to eat better, make healthier choices. Launch a new brand that's aimed and has the perception of tasting good like Snack Wells.

O'BRIEN: You could call them "Boreos."

PHILLIPS: Eric, let me bring you in on this. Is this a matter of really worrying about our kids getting too fat or are these companies just wanting to avoid lawsuits? You give more choices then you avoid a lawsuit, right?

ERIC DENZENHALL, CRISIS MANAGEMENT EXPERT: Well the lawsuit is a vehicle for bringing up the controversial issue. And really what is industry is wrestling with is how do we separate with what are we responsible from what is the consumer responsible for?

One of the things you will never see in a consumer driven company is a consumer company coming out saying why do you eat so much? You're responsible. You're overweight. Why don't you exercise and stop playing on the Internet?

So what you see is a high road/low road strategy. In terms of the high road what Laura said is absolutely right. What they are doing is offering the consumer choice. When you offer them choice you deprive your attackers of their message.

However, the other side of it is they have to fight a cultural battle as well which includes the fact that this it is driven by the trial lawyers. And also we have to raise the question of the role of sedentary lifestyles and what are consumers responsible for directly? Which is not something that these companies can poise directly to consumers.

O'BRIEN: All right, what do you think, Laura? Bad Move? For example, if Kraft came to you and said, We're thinking about doing this. Would you tell them to change the Oreo -- I got little Mini Oreos here.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Or come out with an alternative brand so you, in other words, you take away the lawsuits, and then people will, of course, buy the original Oreo right?

RIES: There's a couple things here. Kraft is definitely making the right move. They are the leading food company in America. They need to take a proactive step in saying, Hey, we're going to direct America to eating more nutritious food.

The nutrition advisory panel, great idea. Changing the types of fat in Oreo very good idea. Taking out trans fatty acids and things of this nature. But the real opportunity for Kraft and all food companies is launching new brands that are dedicated to a more healthy lifestyle.

Look, Kraft spent big bucks. They spent a $100 million to buy Boca Burger. They spent $268 (sic) to eat up Balance Bar. These are two very powerful brands that are dedicated to a more natural, healthy lifestyle. And I think they're going to be the big winners in the future, not the low-fat Oscar Mayer hot dogs.

O'BRIEN: Low-fat hot dogs. Geez.

PHILLIPS: What about targeting? Do you think advertising, Eric, is going to change instead of targeting kids? I mean that was so popular. You target the junkie foods to kids. Are we not going to do that anymore?

DENZENHALL: Well I think it probably will continue. The problem with the whole issue of children is whenever you are accused of abusing a vulnerable population, there's a tendency for people to become outraged.

So I think that if you are using advertising to communicate choice, that's fine. I think that the bigger tricky issue here is how the food industry is going to fight the culture war. And what I mean by that is how will the industry address the question of who is responsible for obesity? will they embrace the problem as being entirely their fault, which I don't think they should do. Or will they mobilize forces in the culture to talk about the role the trial lawyers are playing and to talk about the role that personal responsibility plays in how you take care?

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: This is as bad as the recording industry going after its consumers. You have to be careful what you do, right?

DENZENHALL: You do.

PHILLIPS: Tobacco it was proven it was addictive. Fatty foods, are they proven to be addictive?

(CROSSTALK)

RIES: The problem with food is you have eat food every day. You can easily give up tobacco and there's a strong case for doing that, but food is a little dicey issue.

Some fat is good. You need to eat some fat, you need to eat some carbohydrates. I think McDonald's is making a mistake. They are putting parents in a very difficult position. I have a little one. If I'm going to take my little one to McDonald's for a Happy Meal, would you like the fruit or the fries? Oh come on. That's a hard place to put a mom.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I'll have the hot apple pie, mom.

RIES: The better solution is to just take your kid to Subway where all the choices are healthy and that's a better choice.

DENZENHALL: And I think that there is a fundamental difference between tobacco, which is an unequivocal hazard, and food, which if abused could be some hazard. But I don't think you can compare the two.

But what the trial lawyers are doing is hammering the issue over and over again so that ten years from now, five years now, what is now just vilification could eventually be a legitimate lawsuit when it took years for them to do it to tobacco.

O'BRIEN: So the lawsuits are ruining our Oreos?

DENZENHALL: Well, the lawsuits aren't necessarily ruining the Oreos. But the lawsuits are the vehicle for a pounding the issue into the public consciousness that this is somehow the responsibility for the food industry. And initially that won't be taken seriously. But eventually the very same news media that thought these lawsuits were frivolous, is now beginning to pay attention. Repetition works.

PHILLIPS: You know as parents, though, you bring your kids up, you've got to teach your kids how to eat right. My mom, you know, she didn't let me have sweets every now and then it was a special occasion to have a Happy Meal or something like this. You don't want it all the time.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I see you scarfing up some Oreos there. You be careful now.

RIES: We have to be good role models, too. There's no doubt about that. Parents overall can't be supersizing themselves and expect their kids to eat the carrot sticks.

O'BRIEN: Self-responsibility and parental responsibility is something that obviously is an important thing. It's difficult to market that idea, right?

DENZENHALL: Well nobody wants to be held personally responsible for that. Like Laura I have kids, too. But when Laura and I and, I imagine, you were growing up, even though we ate some junkie food we also weren't sitting in front of the Internet all day long.

PHILLIPS: That's true.

DENZENHALL: And I think...

O'BRIEN: What? It was "Leave it to Beaver" then. What's the difference?

PHILLIPS: No it was computers, games. What was it? Was it "Pong"?

RIES: Yes, and Atari.

O'BRIEN: That's for you youngsters. All right. Well, anyway...

PHILLIPS: We can probably keep going on this.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we could.

PHILLIPS: Oh wait. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in our ears...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... thank you very much. This is something to track, I guess, as we watch the food industry become the target of litigation. It is litigious society we live in, isn't it?

RIES: It gets attention. I think that's the biggest thing. It's the P.R. to get attention and get the media to talking about it, which I think is a good thing. We need to talk about foods, what we should eat, how much we should eat, and where we should go...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Laura Ries, Eric Denzenhall...

RIES: I'm not eating an Oreo.

O'BRIEN: Have an Oreo.

PHILLIPS: She's refusing. We'll save one for you, Eric.

O'BRIEN: You can have one. It's OK.

RIES: One.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired July 1, 2003 - 14:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well it's a bitter pill for the sweet tooth set, but for food industry lawyers, apparently it's just what the doctor ordered.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. It's a trend away from fat, sugar, oils, all those things that make food yummy, of course, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to keep your arteries clear and your lawsuits at bay.

Now sink your teeth into this. Kraft, the nation's largest food maker plans to cut calories, fat and portions especially in snacks aimed at kids. so we're talking about Oreos, folks.

O'BRIEN: Now McDonald's, get this, is about to play fast and loose with the "happy" part of the Happy Meal, allowing parents to substitute fresh fruit for french fries in their Happy Meals. How many kids out there are going to be raising their hands for that one?

PHILLIPS: I want the fruit! Yeah, right.

And Frito-Lay is reportedly just weeks away from eliminating so- called trans fatty acids from its chips and snack. While we can't swear that trans fatty acids are tasty, we can just bet that they are.

O'BRIEN: They've got to be because they're bad for you, right?

To help us digest these developments, shall we say, we've called on our crisis management team and experts, Eric Denzenhall in Washington and our branding expert here in Atlanta Laura Ries. Good to have you both with us.

LAURA RIES, BRANDING EXPERT: Great to be here.

O'BRIEN: All right, when Oreo starts talking about changing the magic recipe which put the -- I don't know if it's on top but it has to be near the top of all cookies ever sold -- aren't you playing with fire? I mean this feels like New Coke or that smokeless cigarette that RJR came out with. Bad idea.

RIES: I was just going to say New Coke was a very good example because have you to remember consumers don't taste in the mouth, they taste in the mind. It's the perception of what the brand is going to taste like.

And when you take a most loved brand like Oreos and you say, I'm going to change it, I'm going to have it light, less fat, people are going to say, Wait a minute, I'm not going to like the taste of that. And they won't like the taste.

The answer, though, is new brands. There's no doubt we are the fattest country in the world. And we need to eat less food. We need to eat better, make healthier choices. Launch a new brand that's aimed and has the perception of tasting good like Snack Wells.

O'BRIEN: You could call them "Boreos."

PHILLIPS: Eric, let me bring you in on this. Is this a matter of really worrying about our kids getting too fat or are these companies just wanting to avoid lawsuits? You give more choices then you avoid a lawsuit, right?

ERIC DENZENHALL, CRISIS MANAGEMENT EXPERT: Well the lawsuit is a vehicle for bringing up the controversial issue. And really what is industry is wrestling with is how do we separate with what are we responsible from what is the consumer responsible for?

One of the things you will never see in a consumer driven company is a consumer company coming out saying why do you eat so much? You're responsible. You're overweight. Why don't you exercise and stop playing on the Internet?

So what you see is a high road/low road strategy. In terms of the high road what Laura said is absolutely right. What they are doing is offering the consumer choice. When you offer them choice you deprive your attackers of their message.

However, the other side of it is they have to fight a cultural battle as well which includes the fact that this it is driven by the trial lawyers. And also we have to raise the question of the role of sedentary lifestyles and what are consumers responsible for directly? Which is not something that these companies can poise directly to consumers.

O'BRIEN: All right, what do you think, Laura? Bad Move? For example, if Kraft came to you and said, We're thinking about doing this. Would you tell them to change the Oreo -- I got little Mini Oreos here.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Or come out with an alternative brand so you, in other words, you take away the lawsuits, and then people will, of course, buy the original Oreo right?

RIES: There's a couple things here. Kraft is definitely making the right move. They are the leading food company in America. They need to take a proactive step in saying, Hey, we're going to direct America to eating more nutritious food.

The nutrition advisory panel, great idea. Changing the types of fat in Oreo very good idea. Taking out trans fatty acids and things of this nature. But the real opportunity for Kraft and all food companies is launching new brands that are dedicated to a more healthy lifestyle.

Look, Kraft spent big bucks. They spent a $100 million to buy Boca Burger. They spent $268 (sic) to eat up Balance Bar. These are two very powerful brands that are dedicated to a more natural, healthy lifestyle. And I think they're going to be the big winners in the future, not the low-fat Oscar Mayer hot dogs.

O'BRIEN: Low-fat hot dogs. Geez.

PHILLIPS: What about targeting? Do you think advertising, Eric, is going to change instead of targeting kids? I mean that was so popular. You target the junkie foods to kids. Are we not going to do that anymore?

DENZENHALL: Well I think it probably will continue. The problem with the whole issue of children is whenever you are accused of abusing a vulnerable population, there's a tendency for people to become outraged.

So I think that if you are using advertising to communicate choice, that's fine. I think that the bigger tricky issue here is how the food industry is going to fight the culture war. And what I mean by that is how will the industry address the question of who is responsible for obesity? will they embrace the problem as being entirely their fault, which I don't think they should do. Or will they mobilize forces in the culture to talk about the role the trial lawyers are playing and to talk about the role that personal responsibility plays in how you take care?

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: This is as bad as the recording industry going after its consumers. You have to be careful what you do, right?

DENZENHALL: You do.

PHILLIPS: Tobacco it was proven it was addictive. Fatty foods, are they proven to be addictive?

(CROSSTALK)

RIES: The problem with food is you have eat food every day. You can easily give up tobacco and there's a strong case for doing that, but food is a little dicey issue.

Some fat is good. You need to eat some fat, you need to eat some carbohydrates. I think McDonald's is making a mistake. They are putting parents in a very difficult position. I have a little one. If I'm going to take my little one to McDonald's for a Happy Meal, would you like the fruit or the fries? Oh come on. That's a hard place to put a mom.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I'll have the hot apple pie, mom.

RIES: The better solution is to just take your kid to Subway where all the choices are healthy and that's a better choice.

DENZENHALL: And I think that there is a fundamental difference between tobacco, which is an unequivocal hazard, and food, which if abused could be some hazard. But I don't think you can compare the two.

But what the trial lawyers are doing is hammering the issue over and over again so that ten years from now, five years now, what is now just vilification could eventually be a legitimate lawsuit when it took years for them to do it to tobacco.

O'BRIEN: So the lawsuits are ruining our Oreos?

DENZENHALL: Well, the lawsuits aren't necessarily ruining the Oreos. But the lawsuits are the vehicle for a pounding the issue into the public consciousness that this is somehow the responsibility for the food industry. And initially that won't be taken seriously. But eventually the very same news media that thought these lawsuits were frivolous, is now beginning to pay attention. Repetition works.

PHILLIPS: You know as parents, though, you bring your kids up, you've got to teach your kids how to eat right. My mom, you know, she didn't let me have sweets every now and then it was a special occasion to have a Happy Meal or something like this. You don't want it all the time.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I see you scarfing up some Oreos there. You be careful now.

RIES: We have to be good role models, too. There's no doubt about that. Parents overall can't be supersizing themselves and expect their kids to eat the carrot sticks.

O'BRIEN: Self-responsibility and parental responsibility is something that obviously is an important thing. It's difficult to market that idea, right?

DENZENHALL: Well nobody wants to be held personally responsible for that. Like Laura I have kids, too. But when Laura and I and, I imagine, you were growing up, even though we ate some junkie food we also weren't sitting in front of the Internet all day long.

PHILLIPS: That's true.

DENZENHALL: And I think...

O'BRIEN: What? It was "Leave it to Beaver" then. What's the difference?

PHILLIPS: No it was computers, games. What was it? Was it "Pong"?

RIES: Yes, and Atari.

O'BRIEN: That's for you youngsters. All right. Well, anyway...

PHILLIPS: We can probably keep going on this.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we could.

PHILLIPS: Oh wait. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in our ears...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: ... thank you very much. This is something to track, I guess, as we watch the food industry become the target of litigation. It is litigious society we live in, isn't it?

RIES: It gets attention. I think that's the biggest thing. It's the P.R. to get attention and get the media to talking about it, which I think is a good thing. We need to talk about foods, what we should eat, how much we should eat, and where we should go...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Laura Ries, Eric Denzenhall...

RIES: I'm not eating an Oreo.

O'BRIEN: Have an Oreo.

PHILLIPS: She's refusing. We'll save one for you, Eric.

O'BRIEN: You can have one. It's OK.

RIES: One.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com