Who you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes? ~Attributed to Groucho Marx
In December of 2022, I published a post about Foley art, which is a process by which studios create background sounds for television shows or movies. Listeners think they recognize the sounds as footsteps or thunder, for example. However, it’s all fake. Well, you hear real sounds; they simply aren’t being made by the objects you imagine. Turns out advertisers do the same type of bait-and-switch with the visual side, too. How do they do that? And why?
Looks delish to your lying eyes
We may not see as many commercials these days as we did 20 years ago. By-passing them on television is fairly easy as long as a program is recorded. Alas, we are not always at home, and the medium is not always a television we can control. As we travel down the interstate we see billboards. At home we might thumb through magazines and view beautiful photos that could be ads or simply used for illustration. Either way, you are exposed to images you don’t often see in “real” life. Think about the juicy hamburgers, topped by fresh lettuce and a fluffy bun, the frosted glasses filled to the brim with highly-carbonated soda, or a milk shake with a perfect twirl of whipped cream and a cherry on top. But what was really in front of the lens when the shutter clicked?
Courtesy of Peta Pixel, here are some possibly surprising tools photographers use:
- Inserting cardboard spacers to give height to food
- Replacing milk with glue to avoid soggy-looking cereal
- Pouring motor oil on pancakes because it sits on top instead of soaking into the pores
- Painting raw birds with browning liquid so roasting isn’t required
- Applying vegetable oil to burgers to make them look juicy
- Piling shaving cream on a dessert in place of whipped cream
Yes, your lying eyes have been lying for a long time
All those shenanigans make the Clinique counter offerings look positively transparent. Of course, most of our faces are not as delicate as ice cream (they use corn syrup and food coloring to avoid the melted look, by the way) and even with makeup, we are at least reasonable facsimiles. Food is a different story. When is the last time you saw a hamburger in a fast food establishment that bore any relationship to what you saw in the ad? Yes, I’m aware that billboards fade and sometimes the food looks like a ghastly parody of nourishment, but I’m referring to current advertisements. There’s a deep chasm between the promise and the delivery. Likely there always has been. It’s just the difference between the demo and the actual product, and we’ve gotten used to it.
Tips for visually appealing food shots - really
Some of you may enjoy sharing food pics, and you probably want to produce images without resorting to time-consuming trickery. If so, keep reading.
Before I get to the tips, I need to share that laws surrounding food photography do exist. However, the devil is in the details, as always. The FTC requires advertisers to be honest to the degree that what they’re selling is accurately represented. This means that if the ad is for cornflakes, those have to be the real thing. However, the milk does not. When you see an advertisement, the real deal is in there somewhere. it just may have fake accoutrements.
On to tips:
- Lighting -manipulate the shot so that the light is coming from behind and to the side of the dish. Yes, you may need more than one light source.
- Framing – pizzas might look best from a shot directly above, but a dish of ice cream might benefit from a 45° angle. Whatever you do, keep the camera level.
- Accessories – add color with napkins and contrast with flatware.
One other thing I found interesting is that round plates are considered more visually appealing than square ones. Perhaps that’s in the eye of the beholder, but the professionals may know more about what people are looking for than I do.
Go to Serious Eats for more details.
No, I don't care about my lying eyes, either
I have been cynical about advertising, among other industries, for decades. I’m not in the least surprised that what I see is not what I’m getting. What is surprising is the level of creativity employed with the presentation. Seriously. Motor oil for syrup? And how did they know it would sit on top of the pancakes without disappearing into the fluffy, structureless exterior? Impressive.
Just so you know, though, if you come to my house to eat, you won’t see anything spectacular. Nothing to see here, folks, except plain food that looks exactly the way it came out of the oven. Or pan, as the case may be. You may have the pleasure of dining on a cholesterol-packed–but delicious–dish or it may be tough and tasteless. What I can promise, however, is generally good stuff that’s always gimmick-free. Feel free to fact-check me on that. I’m not skeered.
Very interesting!
I won’t be disappointed anymore when my culinary delights don’t look as good as the “doctored” versions 😂
Nah. Taste is what matters, even if, as they say, “You eat with your eyes first.” The taste is what lingers, what you remember. The stuff in the magazines is akin to the image of a 70-something-year-old whose photo has been airbrushed. The two are related, but not identical. 🙄
You are a bit too close to your expiration date to be taking shots at us 70 something year olds…….just sayin.
I am in no way taking shots at 70 year olds and I am not too close to my expiration date. I am just exactly the right distance from my expiration date, which statistically is a shade over 4 years after yours. 🤔😂
I’m not surprised, but some of the tips and tricks are amazing. I always laugh at the ridiculously tall burgers and sandwiches. They look great, but how are you supposed to eat them? My jaws don’t work like that. But I do venture to Mug & Bun once a year, for a home brewed root beer in a genuine frosted mug.
I haven’t even heard of Mug & Bun. I may need to try that the next time I’m up your way.
Sign me up for some of that “generally good stuff”! 🙂
Come see me anytime!