Article 2

Article 2 - 

Why restaurants meals don't look like the ads.

 By Katie Little 2014

During the making of a restaurant ad , there are certain tools that the food stylists use. Like for example 'blowtorches, tweezers and glue' Little (2014). Little says that the process of a restaurant meal ad is quite long. It takes various food stylist, photographers and a lot of tools to make the food look as perfect as possible for the ad. Apart from the 'range of instruments' they use 'good lighting, fresh ingredients and attention to detail' (2014). Therefore this is why the meals purchased are much more different than the advertising images.

''Nothing is just plopped down and put in the centre like it is when you order at a restaurant,' said Jean Ann Bybbe , owner of Bybee Photography and co-author of a pair of books about food styling.''  Little (2014).

In order to be sure, CNBC ordered some items from different restaurants and compared them with ones on their ads. The pictures of the food ordered look more sloppy and definitely not the same as the promotional images. Little continues by saying that the food in the ads is usually not cooked through out in order to keep the size, shape and colour of the food. 'Once cooked, meat and vegetables tend to shrink, and vegetables begin to wilt' (2014). Kalesis commented that the main reason is that usually ads take hours to be finalized and therefore the food has to look fresh all along. 

Stylists writes that nowadays they have to be more careful to abide by the companies concerns, sometimes even legal documents have to be signed so that the stylist cannot change and manipulate the food completely.  ''Most companies today want it to be fresh, natural, not overworked,'' says Adar (2014). CNBC tried to contact various brands on this topic, like Mc donalds, burger king, starbucks etc but these did not reply. 

The ones that replied like Dunkin' Donuts says that they use real food in their ads, the exact ingredients they use in the restaurants. On the other Hand 'Federal Trade Commission spokeswoman Betsy Lordan told CNBC by email that truth in advertising laws do apply to restaurant menu items displayed in ads. The Commission examines both what's implied by and stated in an ad to determine whether it's deceptive' Little (2014).

Little says that a person cannot complain about the food looking different from the ads as there are no laws concerning this. 

A Mc donalds ad styling video was published in 2012 were it reveals the stages they take for a final ad. This includes styling of food, photography and also computer programmes for final retouches. Effects like steam and size are added, but apart from these the stylists insists that the food is real. Last but not least, Kalesis goes on by comparing the food with a model that needs make up to look better in photo shoots.