One of the things that always amazes me is how good food in advertisements can look. When I worked at CCL, we did a lot of labels for food products, and it seemed like those jobs only came up just before lunch (at least the more memorable ones did!) Always made me hungry(er!)
But another thing that produces a similar amazement is when you go to a fast food restaurant and order the food you’ve seen in the ads, and how little resemblance it bears to what you’ve seen advertised. The image above shows a Big Mac from a McDonald’s ad compared to a real one from a real McDonald’s. Well, turns out I’m not the only one noticing the discrepancy; Jeff Kay of the West Virginia Surf Report* has a page chronicling that phenomenon here. Keep up the great work, Jeff (and thanks for the photos!)
* hey, wait a minute; wouldn’t that be the same as the South Dakota Surf Report? Where do you surf in WV?
One exception that I can recall was a Big Mac that I purchased at a McDonald’s in York, UK, when visiting there in 1984. I remember being dumbfounded that the thing was so perfect; both all-beef patties visible from the side, a little bit of special sauce dribbling down the patties onto the bun, a proper amount of lettuce beneath the patties, the cheese slices readily visible; all melty and delicious looking, a pickle or two & some onion sticking out from the perfectly toasted sesame seed bun… It was truly a work of art. I concluded that that was where they did all the photo shoots for their advertising.