Fast food false advertising

[KP]

The photographs must be taken of products prepared with the actual ingredients available to the restaurant

I apologize in advance: If I’m forceful, it’s because I’d like any supporting evidence to emerge before I go on a crusade to gather evidence to debunk it.

I’ve read this claim in GQ and elsewhere many times, but I’ve never been able to locate such a law. I’ve asked for a cite many times, and never gotten one. In many countries, this is explicitly not the law. “Simulated” “Display” and “artificial” for menus, advertising, and other displays is an actual industry, independent of ad agency photography prep and other tricks. (A mass-produced plastic pie or roast is likely to only superficially resemble the ones prepared/served in the restaurant)

I’ve had people claim that “actual ingredients” only applies to restaurants, not packaged foods, but though the chains are fiecely protective of their corporate image, I believe (I won’t be more emphatic, since I don’t have a cite) I’ve seen shows about the making of (e.g.) Wendy’s commercials in its early years, and they seemed to use the full array of tricks available to Swanson’s

There are many US examples where the pictured “foods” aren’t remotely the same food served. Ice cream was cited, but dairy products like milk also use paint (or similar substances) instead because real milk is the wrong color, and doesn’t have “TV” viscosity and pouring properties, I doubt an anti-fraud law says “unless it’s too inconvenient to get the picture you want.” In the soup example, they don’t stock the marbles in the restaurant, much less serve them. Many depictions of roast poultry aren’t blowtorched, but painted (with carmel color, often, but based on the news, infotainment, and documentaries I’ve seen, any surface treatment that gets the desired result is considered fair game)

Take a look at this Whopper™ on the official website. I’ve never seen a Whopper in real life (and I used to eat a lot of them when I ws younger) where the meet extended beyond the bread, and the bread and patty sizes are highly standardized. Sure you could say they just painted an uncooked patty, but frankly, I don’t think even that would suffice, and I doubt they bother creating a special ultra-thin cupped 40z patty for these photos (that’s certainly never come up in any of the TV shows I’ve seen) The same applies to the products of the other chains. (again, Wendy’s came to mind)

I’m going to ask again for a cite of this putative law. I’m half an inch from believing this is an urban myth, and I’d prefer to be wrong. There may be a weasel-worded “fair representation” clause, but I’ve seen no evidence of a “ingredients as pictured” law, and contrary evidence is hardly uncommon.

[adirondack_mike]

1. Mighty_Girl has it right. Film doesn’t quite record color the same way we do. Not only is the film more sensitive to different colors you have to worry about light temperature, filters, and all other kind of nasty stuff.

Also the product isn’t the most helpful model. If you want to take picture of let’s say your nana’s cream of raisin and tripe gumbo you put the stuff in a bowl and you get a flat yellowish brown liquid with a blue tint becuase you put it in a blue bowl to give it some color. The nummy things all sink so your cream of soup looks like all other cream of soups. What to do? Put a thin layer in the bowl or some padding (like PB) so the good stuff is sticking out a bit so you can tell what’s in the soup. So you change the bowl to red to give it a nice warm glow and use goobers and rubber bands since in the final pring they look more like raisins and tripe then raisins and tripe do.

Welcome to the world of advertising.

2. Advertising only goes so far - it gets you in the door. If you don’t like the product you either return it or don’t buy it again. Nana’s Raisin and Tripe Creamed Gumbo looks good in the pictures but if it tastes anything like I think it would taste like it won’t last long. They can have the biggest tittied women giving out balut on every street corner in the US and it will never sell (although the link makes it actually sound good - but don’t be fooled)

3. The Fast Food Industry operates on the premise that if you order a Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy in Quincy it should look and taste the same as the one in Des Moines. The Fast Food industry didn’t get as big as it is by selling foul tasting unappetizing crap. (Not that I am a fan of the industry.)

[Mighty_Girl]

Interesting

Even so, food stylists and photographers cannot legally use just anything when photographing food. Current law mandates that food advertised in the photo must be of the real product. Accompanying garnishes, props and side dishes, however, can be fake or real.