30 Comparisons Of The Food Restaurants Serve vs. How It’s Advertised
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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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 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
Yeah, and including the calorie count isn't a great move either, body image is forced so much already that adding sprinkles of this can lead to disordered eating. I speak from experience.
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So American kids not only have to worry about Covid-19 and school shooters but also about food poisoning or malnourishment?
In America your lucky to get something edible 2 time a week...
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It looks like it fell on the floor sometime during its way to you...and not just once... and maybe someone stepped on it?
As a former lunch lady, I can say not a single sun butter and jelly that I made ever looked like that. We would be in serious trouble if we ever served that to a kid. That sandwich on the right looks like it sat in a locker for a few weeks judging by the mold on the bread. And of course all of the sandwiches we made were made to order, meaning the kid ordered on the spot and waited in line.
I think/hope I agree. Whoever put that in was (hopefully) exaggerating
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School lunch = prison lunch. Not even being snarky; they're often served by the exact same vendors.
That is a bite out of the bread. You are seeing the paper placemat (or whatever it is) underneath.
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You can see how much more love went into the picture than into the kids
How can that even be considered lunch? as well as being crap they could have at least spread it on the bread or made some kind of effort with it.
Unbelievable, really school lunch? This is so shocking, I remembered with much fondness the wonderful school lunches at San Mateo, California, elementary school. No one cooked the roast chickens as well as our school cook. She made the best desserts, salades, and we always had many different vegetables, all this served with a carton of whole milk. Everything was wholesome, we couldn't wait for lunch break. My mother is a fine cook, so these school lunches were as good as mother's. All the children's plates went back to kitchen empty.
This is EXACTLY the reason why I’ve been packing my kiddos lunch from Kindergarten to present. I refuse to eat what they serve so why should I let my kids eat it. I’ve packed bento boxes, hot thermos lunches in the winter, sub sandwiches, etc. Just try to get creative and change it up so the kids won’t get bored with it, plus you know exactly what your kids are eating because YOU packed it! 😊
3,50 for disgusting, nutrition free garbage. Way to care about the children.
What's the word I'm looking for? Aah, yeah... 'shart' that's the one :-(
Our son told us about their lunches so we went to some event and Dad orded some chili. They droped the bowl on the floor top down, picked it up , filled it up and handed it to him, we didn't know he could talk that loud as he put it in the trash. Rest of the year,home cook meals.
I like how you added a piece of poop to the photo on the right! But where's the sandwich?
And now featuring leaded paint chips for that specialist crunch!
I could make a comment about the Previous Administration's highly touted School Lunch Program, but I would probably get marked wrong again.
Disgusting and worse as for a child's lunch..poor kid.Is that a piece of paper or cardboard in it as well?I hope loud complaints were forthcoming to that canteen junk.
I can’t believe they even took the time to make that little photo on the right, from my experience, you eat what you got for school lunch because you’re hungry even it’s disgusting because the majority of school lunch attendants (not all of them) don’t really care
No one spread that non-existent PB&J... just dolloped on. Appalling. I wouldn't eat that.
A Texas Sized Disappointment
Pretty much all the takeaway joints are guilty of doing this.
The 3 Pieces Of Lettuce Was A Nice Touch I Guess
Expectation vs. 2020
Taco Bell, I Try To Love You, So Why Do You Treat Me This Way??
Restaurant’s Charcuterie Board As Advertised vs. What I Got
Damn, I Am So Looking Forward To Eating This Delicious Burger With Copious Amounts Of Guacamole, Just As Advertised, And Then- Oh Wait..
Tim Hortons New Fruit Loop Donuts
Jack In The Box Tacos
Thanks KFC, Totally What I Expected
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...
So I Bought This New Burger From Burger K!ng...
When Reality Doesn’t Meet Expectations
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 +
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/
At McDonalds? Please. Out of all the places.
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
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
it's Instagram vs reality just food version.
Monika Lachova ?
Monika Lachova -
They all get by with it - because we let them.
I wish I knew this was a thing--I would have submitted my Giant Meatball from Olive Garden. It was the ONLY reason I even went there in the first place. What I got looked more like meat sauce on spaghetti.
Naomi Armitage follower
Absolutely do not believe some of these. However, not uncommon for burger and sandwiches to look all smashed when they are take out. If I went to a restaurant and got some of these, however, I would so not pay for them.
I do think there is a level here of Managing your Expectations....a lot of these are exactly what I would EXPECT to get from a fast food franchise / delivery having seen the promo pic Then, there are the ‘send it back immediately’ examples - I feel for the limp espresso martini recipient.
Exactly. They expect cheap and they expect gourmet. You can't have both. If you want a meal like is in the picture go to a high end restaurant and pay for it. If you buy from a food truck or a mall food court take what you get and be glad you do not live in a third world country where you can't even get that kind of food.
Insta return, some exceptions due to bad lighting but majority looks inedible
Food stylists spend hours making the foods for ads look delectable. They use vaseline, food coloring, toothpicks, glycerin, etc. The poor chef in real life has twenty seconds to fill the order.
Well...I'm not hungry anymore...
a) Who actually expects the real thing to look like the ad photos, and b) I just don't buy most of these. No Subway in my town would serve that whatever the hell it is to a paying customer.
Ok, this must be very upsetting. For you. I gotta couple laffs
This is why even well before the pandemic I shop at the grocery store, and make my own meals 99% of the time.
These are not issues of the product not matching the promotional image, but rather that they are truly disgraceful. No food should ever be served that looks that disgusting.
I'm laughing because some of those are seriously criminal!
And many are bogus. Made to look especially bad for the topic.
J.B. good
That reminds me of Michael Douglas' restaurant scene in Falling Down. 😂
CLASSIC!!!
Janine B. lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJs9p-VNORw
Janine B. what
yb-agopatria no
The food in the adverts is expertly made with precision. I've seen modellers construct the items; every minute detail is taken of. They are genuinely made by food artists. That is why the food you get will never look like what you anticipated. Never. Also, as someone has already commented, most of these are franchises and you can see where they have reduced the fillings to gain more profit.
Steve Barnett lol
Steve Barnett lol
pairwin Good response!
I lost my appetite
I did momentarily, but it's since come back :-D
I think most of the places this posting refers to ought not to be called "restaurants" but, at best, fast good shacks.
I understand why some food may not be up to par, but these are jut sad. If you love your job, why not take the time to put some love, and in these cases, time, into waht you make? I can understand fast food restraunts, but for somebody who has opened their own, make food IRL look presentable. Before you serve it to someone else, think "whould I want to eat that?" Thank you!
These are all fast food places (or semi-fast food). They don't get time, they have a certain amount of seconds in which they are expected to create a food item. And that's a very challenging amount. So they don't have time to make it look like the pic, or even remotely like a food item at some cases..
Honestly, that's really no excuse. If you advertise something and it looks a specific way, at least make an effort to make it look as advertised. It doesn't have to be perfect. Food isn't supposed to look sad or make you sad. Although I understand it's a strategy of advertising but it's all scam really.
Most of these were fast food joints, so no love there
This is why I don't go to fast food chains. The clue is in the title - Fast Food. If it's Fast it's usually Crap.
I know the props for the photos are pretty fake, but these guys should be fined for false advertising. So much of this isn't even close to the pictures.
All that cooked lettuce.
has anyone seen that film Standing Down with Michael Douglas?
Well. Most of these foods are garbage mixed with additives of all categories to begin with, the fake photoshopped pictures fit the concept. Beware of those lying adds and go for actual food stuff instead.
Why do people do this stuff just for money like for instance what if someone was about to pass out because they hadnt eaten in a while and they pay 20 dollars for food and it looks and tastes like abselute crap and they dont eat and pass out while driving then cause 10 cars to crash just because they didn't do their job correctley like this needs to stop or be illiegal and this is coming from a 10 year old even i am smart enough to know this kinda stuff like geez you have job just at least try to do it correctly. Thank yall all for listiening
Lorelei Michael Good response!