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Maria Bartiromo talks with the most
noted and respected leaders in business, arts and entertainment,
academia, sports and politics in "Special Report with Maria
Bartiromo." In a long-form and wide-ranging interview format,
Bartiromo discovers what makes her guests excel and moves them to
reveal more of themselves as private individuals, separate from
their role as public figures. Bartiromo's guests also discuss the
major news of the day in the world of business and beyond. |
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CNBC: Special Report With Maria
Bartiromo
Anchor and Co-Producer: Maria Bartiromo
Co-Producer: Diane Galligan
Monday, May 24, 2004
MARIA BARTIROMO, host: Welcome back to SPECIAL REPORT.
When you have a dish as big and as juicy as a Big Mac and you eat it every
day, you're going to gain weight. And when you go after a target that's as
big and juicy as McDonald's, you're going to attract publicity. My next
guest did both very well. After eating nothing but McDonald's for a whole
month, writer and director Morgan Spurlock ended up with an extra 24
pounds and an award-winning documentary. I sat down with Spurlock….
MORGAN SPURLOCK: Well, I mean, the thing is--is I never
really--the--the--you know, the film is not about McDonald's. McDonald's
in the film is iconic of a problem. McDonald's is there because they are
the one that is the largest, the one whose marketing practices are most
insidious, the one who, you know, continues to branch out in more
countries than anywhere else in the world. You know, so I picked them
as--as a symbol of--of our lifestyle and a symbol of what's happening.
So...
BARTIROMO: Some skeptics have done the math.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Sure.
BARTIROMO: And they say there's no way that you can conclude eating three
full meals a day...
Mr. SPURLOCK: Yeah.
BARTIROMO: ...at McDonald's would get you anywhere close to 5,000 calories
a day. Were you snacking? Were you eating something else?
Mr. SPURLOCK: Of course I--of course. Do you have a snack in the
afternoon? We all get snacks in the afternoon. You have lunch and then
later in the afternoon you're like, 'Wow, you know what? I'm a little
tired. I'm going to get a cup of coffee. I'm going to get an apple pie.
You know, I'm going to go get--I'm going to get a muffin.' You know, we
all go get coffee in the afternoon or some--something to tide us over
until dinner so, you know, it's not unrealistic. And the fact is--and I
love the other thing they say. They say, 'Nobody eats like this.
Nobody'...
BARTIROMO: But that is--that is a fair complaint. Nobody does eat like
that.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Well, isn't--you--but here's--you don't eat three meals a
day--but I have...
BARTIROMO: And certainly you don't eat three McDonald's meal a day and
then have apple pie.
Mr. SPURLOCK: But I have friends. I have friends who get up in the morning
and they'll go to McDonald's and they'll get an Egg McMuffin and a hash
brown and a coffee and a juice. And for lunch, they go get Wendy's and
they'll get--you know, they'll get burgers and fries, and then they'll go
home and for dinner, they order Domino's. This is a consistent lifestyle
in
America. So as
unrealistic as the argument is--they say it's so unrealistic--people eat
like this. People like to eat like this in
America every day,
and it's so rooted in our lifestyle of wanting things on the go, of
wanting it quickly. And the film is very representative of what will
happen to you over a 20-, 30-, 40-year period of time. What happened to me
in this small window where I started to develop--you know, I started to
develop liver problems, you know, heart disease, you know, all these
things that I was on a path to getting will happen to you over--over a
20-, 30-, 40-year time….
BARTIROMO: What about this woman--she's a competitor, actually, of yours--Soso
Wiley.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Yeah.
BARTIROMO: OK. She's also doing a film. She ate McDonald's just the way
you did.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Sure. Yeah.
BARTIROMO: Only McDonald's.
Mr. SPURLOCK: How great is that?
BARTIROMO: And sh--she lost 10 pounds.
Mr. SPURLOCK: How great is that, that this film has so inspired someone
that they wanted to go out--and I think there's like three or four other
people that are going out and doing their own McDonald's diets, you know,
to do this.
BARTIROMO: OK, but that's her point.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Yeah.
BARTIROMO: She only ate McDonald's.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Yeah.
BARTIROMO: Sh--the documentary's coming out in a couple months.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Let's--OK. Let's--let's talk...
BARTIROMO: She lost 10 pounds.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Here's--here's--let's...
BARTIROMO: Does that discount your idea?
Mr. SPURLOCK: Let's--where--here, let's read her diary, what she says in
her diary. And she writes online where she says, 'I'm eating less and I'm
exercising.' What are the two things no American does? Americans don't eat
less and we don't exercise. You know, these--of course you're going to
lose weight if you eat less and exercise. That--those go hand in hand.
Welcome to
America, where that
doesn't happen. You also have to question, you know, Ms. Wiley's motives.
You know, she works for a
Washington,
DC, based lobby group called
the Competitive Enterprise Institute that lobbies on behalf of the food
industry, the petroleum industry, the cigarette companies. So, you know, I
came into this to--to save a population. She came into this to save a
corporation. There's completely different motives behind our--behind the
agenda.
BARTIROMO: When did you first tell McDonald's this was coming out?
Mr. SPURLOCK: I--I called them about midway through my diet to try and set
up an interview. And then I called a second time and a third time and then
I just tried to call--get anybody. I'll speak to anyone, any spokesperson
for McDonald's. And all they kept saying was, 'Yeah, well, maybe we can
set up an interview,' 'Maybe if you called back next week,' 'Well, if
you're in Chicago, perhaps we could do it,' 'We really don't have an
answer for you now. Maybe we could do it.' You know, and so then I sent
them an e-mail, you know, and said, 'Listen, I want to'--you know, they
said, 'Send us an e-mail outlining what you want to do,' and now they've
released this e-mail like it's some kind of a smoking gun.
It's--it's--it's absolutely fantastic.
BARTIROMO: Let--let's talk about your e-mail. We have a part of it here.
Mr. SPURLOCK: Sure.
BARTIROMO: 'I am amazed at the work currently being done by McDonald's...'
Mr. SPURLOCK: Sure. Yeah.
BARTIROMO: '...in conjunction with their franchisees to create and deliver
healthy alternatives to their consumers.'
Mr. SPURLOCK: Sure.
BARTIROMO: 'I believe your involvement will show what most people are
witnessing: that McDonald's is committed to the healthy future of
America.'
Mr. SPURLOCK: Yeah.
BARTIROMO: Did you--you wrote that?
Mr. SPURLOCK: Of course--of course I wrote that. And, look, wh--what did I
just say to you? I picked McDonald's because they're the leader. They're
the industry leader. They came out with salads. They're coming out with
healthier options. Once again, these things are still window dressing
around a bigger problem. You know, they're--they're still not educating
their consumers. They are re--releasing healthier options. One--on--one of
the things they love to tout is how many salads they sold last year. Last
year McDonald's sold 150 million salads. People--people who come to
McDonald's make smart choices. They care about their health. A hundred and
fifty million salads sounds great when you hear the number, until you
start to think about McDonald's feeds 46 million people a day; 17 billion
people a year. That means not even 1 percent--not even one out of 100
people who go to McDonald's buys a salad, because that's not why we go
there. We don't go there for salads. We go there for the stuff we like:
for the burgers, the shakes, the french fries.
So how do you help educate your consumers to make healthy choices? You
see, that's where the slippery slope lies for a company like McDonald's,
'cause to start educating them to make healthier choices, you really stand
to affect the profitability of your company, and that's a...
BARTIROMO: But you...
Mr. SPURLOCK: ...that's--and that's--that's--that's a tough road to tow.
BARTIROMO: Were you in a different frame of mind when you wrote that
e-mail? Did change your mind after going through the process?
Mr. SPURLOCK: I mean, there's nothing in that e-mail that's different from
what I'm telling you right now.
BARTIROMO: It just seems that you were talking positively about
McDonald's, that they are...
Mr. SPURLOCK: I still...
BARTIROMO: ...attempting this healthy lifestyle, and yet when we're
talking right now...
Mr. SPURLOCK: Yeah. Yeah.
BARTIROMO: ...it seems that you're saying they need to make more
responsibility and--and stop...
Mr. SPURLOCK: It's because I'm trying to get an interview. What do you
expect me to say. Do you want me to say, 'Hey, you horrible people, you
know, come talk to me'? You've got--look, you've got to be realistic. You
know, it's like you're not going to call somebody up and, you know, call
them a (censored) sucker and you want an interview.
BARTIROMO: There you go.
Mr. SPURLOCK: You know, you're going to call somebody up and you're going
to say, 'Hey, I like--I'd like to have an interview with you. Let's--let's
sit down and talk about this.' Yeah.
BARTIROMO: So part of it was your lure into getting them to talk to you...
Mr. SPURLOCK: Oh, yeah, yeah.
BARTIROMO: ...by writing that e-mail.
Mr. SPURLOCK: You--you always want to--you know, you always want to make
sure people will want to talk to you. You know, if you're rude you won't
no--want to talk to anyone….
BARTIROMO: Is Michael Moore some--a mentor of yours?
Mr. SPURLOCK: I think--I--I...
BARTIROMO: I mean, what did you think of the Michael Moore story, where
Disney was trying to persuade Miramax not to release it?
Mr. SPURLOCK: Oh, I mean, I think--I think it's terrible. I thi--I think
Disney's going to lose a lot of money. I think that--I think that, you
know, we live in a country where people should have the right to say what
they want. And you know, I understand Disney's point of view. Once again,
they're a business. McDonald's is a business. You know, you have to do
what's best for business. And to not lose tax breaks or potential tax
breaks in
Florida, yeah, maybe. But I
think that his--his film's going to get out. You know, his film's going to
get seen and I don't know what's going to happen. But and I--too, I mean,
Michael Moore is a great filmmaker. Errol Morris is a great filmmaker. I
love tons of filmmakers, Stanley Kubrick, Elia Kazan, Frank Capra. You
know, there's a lot of people I admire…..
About Maria Bartiromo:
With the July 2002 debut of CNBC's "After Hours with Maria Bartiromo"
(formerly "Market Week with Maria Bartiromo"), Maria Bartiromo is
continuing to set the standard for business news programming around
the world. The show, co-produced by Bartiromo, broadcasts live from
the floor of The New York Stock Exchange and is seen on CNBC, CNBC
Asia and CNBC Europe. Bartiromo also serves as a daily anchor for the
first hour of CNBC's "Closing Bell".
In addition, Bartiromo covers breaking news from
CNBC’s New York Stock Exchange bureau during “Squawk Box.” (8-11
a.m.). She was the first journalist to report live from The Floor of
The New York Stock Exchange on a daily basis. Bartiromo contributes to
NBC's "Today In L.A", "Today in Chicago" and CNBC Asia's daily
broadcasts. Her morning reports are presented live from the NYSE
floor, beginning prior to the opening bell on Wall Street. And, when
warranted by vigorous stock market activity, Bartiromo provides
business news reports to NBC’s “Today” Show, CNBC sister network
MSNBC, NBC flagship station WNBC and other NBC affiliates nationwide.
Bartiromo joined CNBC in 1993 after five years as a
producer and assignment editor with CNN Business News. She has
anchored The Columbus Day Parade for the past 5 years live on WNBC and
WPIX. Additionally, she writes monthly columns for "Individual
Investor" and "Ticker" magazines. In 1996, Bartiromo was nominated for
a Cable ACE Award for her three-part series on the Internet and its
implications for investors. In 1997, she received the Coalition of
Italo-American Associations’ Excellence in Broadcast Journalism Award.
Her first book, "Use the News: How to Separate the
Noise from the Investment Nuggets and Make Money in Any Economy," was
published in June 2001 by Harper Collins. She graduated from New York
University, where she majored in journalism and minored in economics.
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