• by Nina Lentini , Staff Writer @Nina_Lentini, October 12, 2007

"Go and watch Saturday morning TV," urges McDonald's CMO Mary Dillon. "Spend time understanding how we communicate with kids."

Dillon appeared a tad defensive about her company's efforts around junk food eating by kids. Then again, she said she focuses on the consumer and not the media so either she hasn't paid much attention to the attacks on McDonald's for contributing to childhood (and adulthood) obesity or, more likely, her focus on the consumer is laser-like and that is why McDonald's continues its long-standing "turnaround."

"Folks can jump on the [anti-McD's] bandwagon," Dillon says, "but at the end of the day, [food advertisers] must be able to communicate with children." She noted that even in the U.K., which has installed restrictions on advertising junk food to kids, "in spite of regulations and surprising to many people, we can still advertise to kids."