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30 Comparisons Of The Food Restaurants Serve vs. How It’s Advertised
235Kviews
When you don’t have any expectations, you can’t get disappointed. But when there’s an advertisement for a delicious meal shoved right up in your face but you get served a big pile of cheap-looking cooking, you can’t help but get angry.
Nobody expects picture-perfect food at restaurants. However, some of these meals are so incomparable to their ads, Bored Panda just had to show you side-by-side examples. Check them out below, upvote the most egregious cuisine lies, and let us know about the times when a restaurant has made you swear like a souped-up version of Gordon Ramsay.
We’re not talking just about fast food here. Restaurants in seemingly good standing are also known to violate the most basic tenet of human relations ever: don’t mess with someone’s food. (Though, come to think of it, can you really expect anything good from places that have pictures of food on their menus? Kidding! Haha! Just kidding! Please don’t hurt me, Picture Menu Restaurant Mafia.)
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My "Cookies And Cream Stuffed French Toast" From Ihop
I Ordered Bruschetta From My Local Pizza Shop
As I see it, there are two main problems when it comes to sloppy reality being far from the picture-perfect gourmet meals you expect to receive. And they have a lot to do with our expectations. The problems are all about the actual cooking standards and the way food adverts can raise our expectations too high.
The first issue is very human: sometimes, the people making your food don’t 'five a guck' about what you’ll get served or they mess up and decide to put the meals out anyway. They might be overworked and burned out. Or they might be lazy and inattentive.
The solution here is simple (and incredibly hard at the same time)—the kitchen staff need to find the inner motivation to take pride in their work. Meanwhile, management needs to maintain acceptable standards. If you wouldn’t eat something you make, why would you expect your customer to? It’s better for the food to be late but presentable instead of rushed and disappointing.
This Steak Salad That Looks Nothing Like It's Advertised
The second looks like when you throw all the leftovers in the fridge together at 2 am because you have the munchies
This Is So Outrageous
Jameson and Ginger had been online dating for a while, when the day came where they would finally meet.....
The second problem, however, is directly related to how things are advertised. What you see on the menus are the ‘perfect’ versions of meals that restaurants want you to see. While some restaurants go for amateur snaps, others go all out and hire professional food stylists to turn grub into glamor shots.
Food styling is an art. Pros can end up using a whole array of tools, from tweezers and tape to blowtorches and paint. So when you take so much time and effort to create a work of art, can somebody in the kitchen who is under pressure really deliver something that’s comparable? Sometimes? Yes! Always? Dear Lord, no.
Menu vs. What They Served Me. No, Millennials Didn’t Kill Appleby’s, They Committed Suicide
Part Of A $3.50 School Lunch. Picture On The Menu And What Was Served
Expectation vs. 2020
Taco Bell, I Try To Love You, So Why Do You Treat Me This Way??
Damn, I Am So Looking Forward To Eating This Delicious Burger With Copious Amounts Of Guacamole, Just As Advertised, And Then- Oh Wait..
Jack In The Box Tacos
Arby's Bacon Beef 'N Cheddar
So... they don´t "have the meats" after all... (as opposed to the Arby´s tv commercials declaring "We have the meats")
The Tempura Green Beans Looked Delicious On The Menu. I Think They Fell A Smidge Short
I Know It's Airline Food, But Sweet Baby Jesus United Airlines, Why Would You Let Someone Pay $10 For This?...
This Is Why You Check Your Food Before You Leave The Restaurant...
When Reality Doesn’t Meet Expectations
Eww. These must all be franchisee run businesses skimping for the biggest profit. I can only assume they live in highly populated areas where they can still survive, even if no one ever goes twice.
The Pico De Gallo Burger At Whataburger
Note: this post originally had 69 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
The problem is that a lot of takeaway joints use props to advertise their food and what is pictured is not actually all food. They make the burgers, pizzas, tacos etc out of numerous things not just food. For example the patties are often undercooked to make them look juicier, the buns are meticulously chosen and sometimes the sesame seeds are glued on. They also use cardboard, pins and special placements to make the foods look bigger and better. Some places even advertise ice creams using mashed potato. Don’t forget the advertisers also use photoshop.
I think they use elmers glue for mayo.
Well, i'm living in France, there is a difference between ad and reality, but not this much... Here, this difference is called robbery.
Misleading advertisements should come with hefty fines.
In most European countries laws were passed years ago that prohibit the use of non-food items to represent food in advertisements.
Kryogen haha
Kryogen good
kidsmiley +
So when they advertise sports cars with a beautiful woman spread across the bonnet, she's not actually included with the car? Oh no! I've been "deceived"! lol
Oh… so you still waits for her to show up from buying the Panthera??? Has she even sent her bikini yet? 😉
Wax is also used often when photoshooting ice cream.
Or colored mashed potatoes
Here is an interesting video showing a McDonald's photoshoot. The food is real. https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/food-photography-tips-mcdonalds/
Thank you! I went there and watch the video! Very interesting. If the “this-is-what-I-got” pictures above had been even close to how MD does and serve it would have been a lesser problem. In most of those pictures not even the ingredients are included though. IF those pics are real… The person who take them also have the opportunity to alter the truth. Not to forget. The best thing to do could be just to place all ingredients beside each other, then the person who make them know how many picked cucumber, slices of cheese and amount of ketchup is meant to be included. A franchise could be refused to represent a food chain if they don’t serve what the chain stands for.
At McDonalds? Please. Out of all the places.
Exactly! It’s impossible to make photo sessions in hot light and long hours with food as your model! However I don’t know how things work in other countries, I can only speak for how it works in mine. If someone would get what is shown in these photos it would be returned and refused to be payed for by most of my country people. A restaurant serving bad food in any way would not survive very long.
Like lipstick on strawberries! (They will want to wear high heels and go on unchaperoned dates next).
Wrong. They make it out of real food but many places buy the menus from someone who is doing their best to photograph the food to make the food item look its best. Like a swimsuit model on Instagram versus that same model in real life. Edited to add - I once asked a waitress if a certain item pictured came with the mushrooms the way it was shown and she told me straight up that the pic was bogus.
WildBerry +
They often use non food items for advertising for example they use engine oil instead of maple syrup, they glue sesame seeds onto buns, they undercook patties to make them look juicier and colour them with shoe polish to make the grill marks and to look properly cooked, cardboard inside layers of cake, they use hairspray to make fruit and veg shinier. Even the steam showed in food advertisements are faked. They do have special food artists that pick the best of the best food items but they still use other tactics to make them look better for advertisement. BTW I am not saying all, these are just some of the common things used when advertising food.
They use mashed potato for ice cream photographs for a pretty good reason - ice cream has a tendency to melt very quickly under studio lights. If they didn't use potato, they would only get photos of disgusting soggy melted messes or photos in very poor lighting that help no one.
Gabby M - Not sure if you know how hot studio lighting is, but the ice cream wouldn't survive for even one shot, thoe lights are that hot.
I get the reason why (the melting)...what I don't get is how many shots do you need to take for it to be necessary to fake it. How many angles are there. Ya ya the lights but for real ... It's not moving.
Gabby M -
Most of these are from fast food franchises so the product will vary from owner to owner. They all use cheap unskilled labor anyway so it is unrealistic expect quality.
Also, the manager may be telling them to use X amount of the ingredients because of pressure from the owners, who want to build their own profits. It will also affect the manager's salary.
Exactly. Those "cheap unskilled" laborers would be hooking you up if it wouldn't get them fired. Stuff like this is always the fault of management/the company...Not the people who actually do the work.
mph seti Good response!
exactly my thoughts. But even if they make the food as it is advertised. Most franchises pack their food into tight plastic/paper wraps and squish them together. It will never look pretty once you unpack it.
Happy_Pandalover what
Happy_Pandalover what
keyontoh no
keyontoh good
garretsuhrie like
Momma Rose knows.
Most of these 'what I really got' pictures are also not real. They've been altered to look bad for the sake of the posting. I eat at a few of these places and the food looks good
I was thinking the same thing. Some of the “reality” photos look staged or they altered the order.
Soggy Crumpet no
Couldn't agree more
The problem is that a lot of takeaway joints use props to advertise their food and what is pictured is not actually all food. They make the burgers, pizzas, tacos etc out of numerous things not just food. For example the patties are often undercooked to make them look juicier, the buns are meticulously chosen and sometimes the sesame seeds are glued on. They also use cardboard, pins and special placements to make the foods look bigger and better. Some places even advertise ice creams using mashed potato. Don’t forget the advertisers also use photoshop.
I think they use elmers glue for mayo.
Well, i'm living in France, there is a difference between ad and reality, but not this much... Here, this difference is called robbery.
Misleading advertisements should come with hefty fines.
In most European countries laws were passed years ago that prohibit the use of non-food items to represent food in advertisements.
Kryogen haha
Kryogen good
kidsmiley +
So when they advertise sports cars with a beautiful woman spread across the bonnet, she's not actually included with the car? Oh no! I've been "deceived"! lol
Oh… so you still waits for her to show up from buying the Panthera??? Has she even sent her bikini yet? 😉
Wax is also used often when photoshooting ice cream.
Or colored mashed potatoes
Here is an interesting video showing a McDonald's photoshoot. The food is real. https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/food-photography-tips-mcdonalds/
Thank you! I went there and watch the video! Very interesting. If the “this-is-what-I-got” pictures above had been even close to how MD does and serve it would have been a lesser problem. In most of those pictures not even the ingredients are included though. IF those pics are real… The person who take them also have the opportunity to alter the truth. Not to forget. The best thing to do could be just to place all ingredients beside each other, then the person who make them know how many picked cucumber, slices of cheese and amount of ketchup is meant to be included. A franchise could be refused to represent a food chain if they don’t serve what the chain stands for.
At McDonalds? Please. Out of all the places.
Exactly! It’s impossible to make photo sessions in hot light and long hours with food as your model! However I don’t know how things work in other countries, I can only speak for how it works in mine. If someone would get what is shown in these photos it would be returned and refused to be payed for by most of my country people. A restaurant serving bad food in any way would not survive very long.
Like lipstick on strawberries! (They will want to wear high heels and go on unchaperoned dates next).
Wrong. They make it out of real food but many places buy the menus from someone who is doing their best to photograph the food to make the food item look its best. Like a swimsuit model on Instagram versus that same model in real life. Edited to add - I once asked a waitress if a certain item pictured came with the mushrooms the way it was shown and she told me straight up that the pic was bogus.
WildBerry +
They often use non food items for advertising for example they use engine oil instead of maple syrup, they glue sesame seeds onto buns, they undercook patties to make them look juicier and colour them with shoe polish to make the grill marks and to look properly cooked, cardboard inside layers of cake, they use hairspray to make fruit and veg shinier. Even the steam showed in food advertisements are faked. They do have special food artists that pick the best of the best food items but they still use other tactics to make them look better for advertisement. BTW I am not saying all, these are just some of the common things used when advertising food.
They use mashed potato for ice cream photographs for a pretty good reason - ice cream has a tendency to melt very quickly under studio lights. If they didn't use potato, they would only get photos of disgusting soggy melted messes or photos in very poor lighting that help no one.
Gabby M - Not sure if you know how hot studio lighting is, but the ice cream wouldn't survive for even one shot, thoe lights are that hot.
I get the reason why (the melting)...what I don't get is how many shots do you need to take for it to be necessary to fake it. How many angles are there. Ya ya the lights but for real ... It's not moving.
Gabby M -
Most of these are from fast food franchises so the product will vary from owner to owner. They all use cheap unskilled labor anyway so it is unrealistic expect quality.