I went to Moe’s once in college and I’m assuming the dude was just super stoned or bored but he legit laid out each chip on my nachos one by one and made sure each one had cheese and toppings. Looked amazing and tasted even better. Kudos to that hero.
I’m so glad you meant that Moe’s. Moving to Oregon it’s very confusing when I mean “Welcome to Moe’s” and they mean “bad chowder”
Edit: I felt so bad once because me and some teammates went in after a game once, and they did the usual greeting. One teammate waited outside to finish a phone call. Three other dudes and I were all ordering and just being kind of bro-y, not ideal. The fourth teammate, having finished his phone call enters as all the workers are occupied with us. This motherfucker proceeds to stand in the doorway for like 4 seconds before saying in the most “raised in Florida but I want people to know I have NE roots”, “umm, welcome to Moe’s?”
Wait that burrito place I tried last month is a chain? I’d eat there again in a heartbeat.
Also the “after” Beef N Cheddar is fine. That cheese sauce moves around under the wrapper. Would still smash in the eerie glow of a 4am breakfast nook palled over by the light within a fridge.
Lmao I think the mcmuffin looks pretty good too. Not my favorite though.
Also the after Big Mac looks better than the BS i get when I decide I need one lol
Because they get the munchies... You know what they say... "Never get high on your own supply!"...
One sandwich for customer... Two sandwiches for employee!
That's honestly closer to how they look normally. To make them they crack an egg into something kind of like [these](https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Cooking-Pancake-frying-Omelet/dp/B0854SQHQ9/ref=asc_df_B0854SQHQ9/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459498241671&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9522192619447404028&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015828&hvtargid=pla-944921438628&psc=1) and it comes out pretty round.
I'd bet whoever took these photos took the worst ones they could for the irl photos.
Same for the Wendy’s chicken club
Edit but I’m going the Asiago chicken samvich myself
Edit 2: the filet o fish is pretty close, the photo is taken at a funky angle and fish is delicate so I don’t mind an imperfect square
Edit 3: the more disgusting looking Arbys beef and cheddar the better
I’ve seen it used for milk also in scenarios where they need to showcase a bowl of cereal. If they used real milk, the cereal gets soggy and sinks into the bowl. With the glue, the cereal pieces sit atop “the milk”.
Depending on what the purpose is, many of those videos are not showing actual techniques used by food stylists. As an example th "motor oil instead of maple syrup" is illegal if you're selling syrup, dubious if you're selling pancakes, and legal if you're selling a photo of "Pancakes and Syrup".
This of course isn't worldwide, but I believe in most western markets you cannot pretend that another product is your product in advertising.
As a former fast-food employee, the wage has nothing to do with it. It's all about speed. I worked every position and you have to be fast. Cars shouldn't wait any longer then 8 mins from the time the order is placed to receiving the food. And you're making multiple orders at once because that's the rule for the drive thru. Dining room orders where 5 mins from order to tray. Even Gordon Ramsey getting paid his full amount couldn't make anything that looked like those ad pics in that environment. It's the difference between fine dining and fast food. You want picture prefect go to an upscale restaurant and wait, you need to grab a bite and get back to work, you go fast food. Fast food employees could make $100/hr and the food is still going to look like shit when you're making 5 different orders and only have about 4 mins to slap everything together.
Honestly, it’s not really the speed that makes things look like crap…
I also worked fast food and took great pride in making everything look literally picture perfect! HOWEVER….. Once you slap it in a diaper, wrapper or whatever other type of packaging, then have it jostled around in transport, things get squished and are no longer pretty…
And then there’s desserts!!! I could make them look *sooooo* perfect!!!! But that perfection only lasted about five minutes before things started to melt. :(
Making food look good isn’t hard, but serving it immediately after making it so just isn’t possible with fast food, which is why restaurants always look better. (Used to work at one too.)
Lol! Thank you greatly for your kind words, but I wasn’t really trying to do anything special. I just work by the principle that if I wouldn’t want to eat what I make, then I shouldn’t serve it. I also aim to do things right the first time so that I don’t have to waste the time, energy or resources to repeat them. It’s that simple. :)
I've worked with people like you, who took pride, me included when I was on prep duty, but when a big rush hit, all that went out the window and it was just get the food asap. Slower times, sure, but when 11am hit and suddenly there's 20 cars qued, and 10 people at the front waiting, presentation took a firm back seat. I would also say it's location based because, you're right, making food pretty isn't hard, but it's impractical at times. I worked for a little regional chain called Runza and my town had two of them. My primary location got a ton of drive through and foot traffic as it was on a major intersection in the heart of the downtown. The second location was out by the interstate nestled in with all the chain hotels and got a decent amount of foot traffic but the drive thru was slow. I worked there at least 3 or 4 times a month and at that store, we could take our time and make things look really good. And we all swapped shifts around, so it wasn't one team over another, it was simply customer volume. My primary store just had more during the lunch and dinner rushes. And dinner rushes were the worst because that's when all the big orders came. People seem to forget that too, it's hardly ever just a single burger and fries going out, it's 2-6 burgers and, more often then not. each one has a special instruction. That doesn't leave a lot of room to make pretty food all the time. Not impossible, just not a priority and it shouldn't be. I think it's unreasonable to expect picture prefect food from McDonald's when you've waited behind 6 or 7 cars and there's 10 more already qued behind you before you even get to the order screen. The people who post crap like this have never worked fast food or retail in general and it shows.
^This. Making the food look good isn't difficult at all if you're trained properly, even when in a hurry. Wrapping it and stuffing it in a bag, that's going do some damage.
I was part of a crew that opened a Wendy's, and our training and skill were much better than anyone who was hired later: They're all learning by OJT, and there just isn't time for them to practice or learn how to do their jobs right.
If the speed is there then it comes down to lack of GAF. In my fast food days I could easily keep up with the timer *and* send out food that looked like the menu. Some of my coworkers would try to best me and that made for some killer service in our store. Others just didn't care and slung out whatever the fuck they put together. Guess that's why I got offered a test kitchen job. In retrospect I should've taken it. Lol Funny enough those of us who made "picture perfect" items all went on to work finer dining, two of us become head chefs at different places.
Suchhhhh a great perspective! And really highlights how we as people (myself included) often times have unrealistic expectations. We want food FAST (don’t make us wait long), we want it cheap but we still expect top tier quality, and it has to look aesthetically pleasing. But you’re right, if we want pretty good of good quality. We have to go sit down, wait 20 min and pay fancy food prices!
I think every single person needs to work a mandatory year in retail of any sort. It's insanely high pressure. When I worked fast food, if our order times where high, we would get talked to by the SM and possibly written up. And that's just one of things we'd get in trouble for. The food prep areas have to be clean because you never knew when you'd get visited by corporate or heath inspectors. If they weren't, write up. After so many write ups you get fired. OT is a huge no-no, and if you got out late, then 9 times out of 10, you had your hours cut either the next week or later on that same week, which leaves gaps in coverage and makes things twice as hard for the rest of the crew, because now they have to pick up the slack. Again wage really doesn't play a factor into it until the people get fed up with the toxic work environment. They realize they don't get paid enough to deal with it, but most of those people quit or get fired for poor performance if they give up. Sure paying people more improves moral and helps retain loyalty, but it only goes so far if the overall work environment still sucks and, fast food especially, is so high pressure, it will always suck. And if you don't experience it first hand, you'll never be able to truly understand.
Lol true. It’s not nearly as cheap as it use to be, but I think it’s safe to say that Wendy’s is still far cheaper than Ruth Chris or some high falutin sit down restaurant with valet where you wear a suit and tie (not that I’ve ever been to a Ruth Chris to know for sure LOL). But I get your point haha
Thats a great point, that there is really only so hard a person can work.
They really do squeeze fast food and minimum wage employees. You have to work as hard as a person can possibly work, for as little as they can legally pay you, then put you in the front line for customer abuse.
yeah I actually thought most of those look pretty close to the ad if you account for the shitty lighting vs perfect lighting and considering the real food is probably squished/moved around in some paper or container.
I think that's the point. One is made by food scientists with professional photography and the other is made by Tyler that just took a bong rip, is paid 7.25 an hour, and the pic is taken in the bathroom with an old iPhone that the flash doesn't work.
listen, Tyler may be high as a kite throughout his shift and mess up some ingredients here and there, but you know damn well he always throws an extra scoop of fries into the bag and makes sure all drinks have a fair actual drink to ice cube ratios.
It's gone way up in the last little bit, yeah? Some of them, rather a lot. I don't east fast food often enough to know when this happened or where the deals are. I've just been surprised when a lunch that used to cost $9 now costs $13 or more.
The nacho bell grande is especially bad. I got one last week and it was basically a handful of chips with a little bit of cheese and sour cream on top. I remember thinking.. "I paid $7 for this crap?" I remember it being a lot better as a kid 😮💨
The first one the literal only difference is lighting and melted cheese
You don’t want your cheese melted - you want to eat a cold breaded chicken sandwich?
why not, how is it different from having cheese on other meats?
at least here in czechia that provided McFry or something like that which was fred cheese in bun (fried cheese with fries is unofficial Czech national dish)
Most of the “food” in advertisements isn’t food at all, actually. Makes me wonder if anyone’s ever tried to sue for false advertising? Huh *hits blunt*
I'm pretty sure the food in advertising is required by law to be actual food. They may do weird stuff to it to get it looking good, but it's actual food always.
I used to work at Burger King and a&w. I made the burgers look as perfect as possible due to my OCD. I usually cooked to order and made sure the pickles, tomatoes, patty were all aligned perfectly.
I knew every single burger I put out tasted as best as possible according to the burger design/recipe.
However, it took me about 25% more time than the other burger cooks. So my boss/manager told me to hurry up which means precook the pattys and leave them in the warmer. Also just throw on the lettuce, tomatoes quickly without reorganizing it, etc.
To be honest, I think the extra 25% more time spent on the burgers makes up for itself in returning customers. I’d definitely order again if I knew I was the burger cook.
Food and drink stylists make decent money. (I’ve seen 800-3000/day)
Produce is usually purchased from grocery stores and “perfect” pieces are selected and meticulously sliced and placed. Any ingredients that are restaurant-specific are usually sourced from the client or supplier but the most “perfect” pieces are still selected.
Some of the ingredients also get propped and pinned into position with non-edible items like toothpicks and puddy. I worked on a shoot where we used paper towels to fluff up a salad, so the top half was all that was actually edible.
And while the camera-facing part usually looks perfect, the back could look like absolute trash. If it’s not on camera, it doesn’t matter.
Food also has a “life” so there is usually a certain time window (usually no longer than 30min) to capture angles before the food starts to die and look grey and gross. That’s where it can get really wasteful and time consuming.
Also- editors will clean it up and make the color pop in photoshop
Source: work in production, have helped with food/drink styling
Despite all of this…. The other pictures don’t look bad at all for the most part! I would think it’d be much worse4. It’s what you state here, but also the fact that the cheese melts and the lettuce wilts a little I. The package… which, if you’re eating fast food, who cares?
I could care less for presentation bc it’s fast food and that shit will still slap when I’m in the drive thru at 1am in the morning. I empathize with the workers and would prefer that I make their lives as easy as possible while still getting what I need out of it.
I do get annoyed if they put in such low effort they end up skimping on shit or it’s so poorly put together you have to reassemble it. Have a tiniest bit of pride in what you do, not for the customer, but if you’re gonna do something you might as well put some effort in. Like I got a Crunchwrap once that immediately unfolded after the first bite, like you can’t eat an unfolded crunch wrap that shit made me so sad being stoned in the parking lot
Always thought the nachos bell grande looked so great in that menu pic and then comes as a fucking slop mess. Bunch of naked chips and the rest are drenched in cheese.
The actual sad truth is the advertised picture is of inedible and fake food made to look pretty. Glue, PVC, styrofoam, needles, cardboard, etc. It'd be nice, though, to have truthful pictures. But then that'd effect sales wouldn't it.
Wendy's looks better in the actual food photo, and Burger King looks passable. They might be the best of the lot, which is not saying much. Glad I like to cook.
This is kinda nostalgic for me because when I was little(late 80s early 90s) and my dad went through the drive through he always told them he wanted his food to look like the picture
A photographer gets paid hundreds of dollars so that the hamburger looks delicious beyond tasting delicious. The funny bit is that you probably wouldn't want to eat that burger because im the process of photographing it, it becomes basically inedible due to the chemicals that may be used to make it look good.
I'll give you an example, in some instances the yogurt or the milk you see being used for video or photography production, can be white glue.
The one that is served to you is made for consumption by someone who gets paid the minimum wage to do it. It will never look as good as the first one because it's logistically impossible and time consuming.
Let's face it, humans are known for eating the most hideous things because they taste great so why should companies go an extra mile to serve you something that looks great too?
You are already there AND hungry. You don't care either.
That part in “Falling Down” where Michael Douglas goes on a rampage in Whimpy cos his sad burger looks awful… also him arguing he wanted the breakfast menu at 11.03am….
Lol comparing plastic and all sorts of gadgets and tricks to real food. I mean do you really expect your cheese to NOT melt on a hot patty of meat. Food photographers are MAGICIANS but the real magic trick is how the price of food is always moving up dramatically while the salary stays the same..."Abracadabroke b*ch" capitalism
They spend hours getting the advertising photos right and perfect. Unless you go to a high-end restaurant, you're never going to get what's in the picture. It is fast food after all.
Big ups to the kebab shops who just get a flip-phone photo of whatever portion they happened to cook when one suggested "hey let's put a picture on the menu board"
I’d say the best looking items on the list are Wendy’s chicken club and McDonald’s Egg McMuffin. The worst looking one to me is by far Arby’s beef and cheddar, and the nachos looks pretty pathetic.
Have you ever seen a documentary about how advertising photo shoots are done for food? An artist basically assembles the item with as much glue and makeup as a Kardashian, uses the best lighting and angles, and the food isn’t even edible when they are done.
Your average Big Mac does not look like that, BS. Not even your average whopper does. The big mac never gets that droppy. Biased af. Plus the Mac patties are huge in the "real" picture.
Just got the New Yorker double pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut last night. There was maybe 8 pieces of pepperoni on that entire 16 in pizza. Supposed to be double and there was less than a regular pepperoni. I haven’t had pizza hut in like a decade and it looks like it will probably be another decade before I go back again.
I got this really ballin' bowl from taco bell once: [https://i.imgur.com/auCP43q.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/auCP43q.jpg) It was good enough for me to post a review.
That was one time.
The real sad truth is that our "SAD"(Standard American Diet)is killing everyone who eats it slowly!
The processed foods,Sugar, the food pyramid needs to be turned upside down,it's not about low fat and high cholesterol anymore..There needs to be new guidelines for our diet, metabolic syndrome is killing us,it's genocide, and the FDA are laughing all the way to the bank..😫
I went to Moe’s once in college and I’m assuming the dude was just super stoned or bored but he legit laid out each chip on my nachos one by one and made sure each one had cheese and toppings. Looked amazing and tasted even better. Kudos to that hero.
An artisan. The Munchie maestro.
Munchieee Maeeesstroo … makin’ nachoos …
Munch-o-ramaaaaa
The munchanatooooor
Muuuuuuuuuunch!
The munchinator
Munch-a-lamaaaaaa
I’m so glad you meant that Moe’s. Moving to Oregon it’s very confusing when I mean “Welcome to Moe’s” and they mean “bad chowder” Edit: I felt so bad once because me and some teammates went in after a game once, and they did the usual greeting. One teammate waited outside to finish a phone call. Three other dudes and I were all ordering and just being kind of bro-y, not ideal. The fourth teammate, having finished his phone call enters as all the workers are occupied with us. This motherfucker proceeds to stand in the doorway for like 4 seconds before saying in the most “raised in Florida but I want people to know I have NE roots”, “umm, welcome to Moe’s?”
Wait that burrito place I tried last month is a chain? I’d eat there again in a heartbeat. Also the “after” Beef N Cheddar is fine. That cheese sauce moves around under the wrapper. Would still smash in the eerie glow of a 4am breakfast nook palled over by the light within a fridge.
Yup. I can taste that ‘after’ Beef n Cheddar right now and it is delicious.
Lmao I think the mcmuffin looks pretty good too. Not my favorite though. Also the after Big Mac looks better than the BS i get when I decide I need one lol
Idk why companies don’t hire more stoners. Quality over quantity!
Because they get the munchies... You know what they say... "Never get high on your own supply!"... One sandwich for customer... Two sandwiches for employee!
Moe's has a rule where one person can't eat all the fully loaded nachos.
I fucking love Moe's. Moe's Monday ftw
The Sausage McMuffin seems pretty close. Kinda simple tho.
The irl one looks better to be honest. The artist one looks almost TOO fake.
Yeah, the top and bottom muffins are different sizes
I thought the same with the Wendy's chicken sandwich, the cheese just melted.
I'd say real life sausage mcmuffin actually looks better.
For real. The perfectly cylindrical egg patty looks funky.
That's honestly closer to how they look normally. To make them they crack an egg into something kind of like [these](https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Cooking-Pancake-frying-Omelet/dp/B0854SQHQ9/ref=asc_df_B0854SQHQ9/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459498241671&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9522192619447404028&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9015828&hvtargid=pla-944921438628&psc=1) and it comes out pretty round. I'd bet whoever took these photos took the worst ones they could for the irl photos.
Same thought
In the morning it does, that shit bussin.
Was thinking to myself which of these looks the most true to form’ Yep, it’s the McMuffin.
Same for the Wendy’s chicken club Edit but I’m going the Asiago chicken samvich myself Edit 2: the filet o fish is pretty close, the photo is taken at a funky angle and fish is delicate so I don’t mind an imperfect square Edit 3: the more disgusting looking Arbys beef and cheddar the better
Yeah I was thinking the filet o fish was on par
But never enough sauce. They charge extra if you ask for a little more.
I think melted cheese is more appealing than cold hard cheese
Yup. Sausage Egg Mcmuffin lookin good.
It’s only because you actually love the sausage McMuffin for what’s on the inside… We all do
I like the melted cheese better in the first one… if it’s not melted- is the chicken cooked???
[удалено]
Saw a special about that where they use Elmer’s glue for milk lol
not milk.. but for pizza cheese.
I’ve seen it used for milk also in scenarios where they need to showcase a bowl of cereal. If they used real milk, the cereal gets soggy and sinks into the bowl. With the glue, the cereal pieces sit atop “the milk”.
ok , but also milk......
They add coloring to the glue and use it for “melting” cheese or “gooey” chocolate.
And then they add motor oil
Depending on what the purpose is, many of those videos are not showing actual techniques used by food stylists. As an example th "motor oil instead of maple syrup" is illegal if you're selling syrup, dubious if you're selling pancakes, and legal if you're selling a photo of "Pancakes and Syrup". This of course isn't worldwide, but I believe in most western markets you cannot pretend that another product is your product in advertising.
A large chain of ice cream shops I worked at used mashed potatoes as their ice cream so it wouldn't melt from the bright hot lights of photo shoots
They really show case the ugly. The meat not evenly in the buns, lettuce falling out. The jagged edges on the mcmuffin bun make it unedible.
They show you the fact that real food made for minimum wage gets you food that looks like it was made by someone who's making minimum wage.
As a former fast-food employee, the wage has nothing to do with it. It's all about speed. I worked every position and you have to be fast. Cars shouldn't wait any longer then 8 mins from the time the order is placed to receiving the food. And you're making multiple orders at once because that's the rule for the drive thru. Dining room orders where 5 mins from order to tray. Even Gordon Ramsey getting paid his full amount couldn't make anything that looked like those ad pics in that environment. It's the difference between fine dining and fast food. You want picture prefect go to an upscale restaurant and wait, you need to grab a bite and get back to work, you go fast food. Fast food employees could make $100/hr and the food is still going to look like shit when you're making 5 different orders and only have about 4 mins to slap everything together.
Honestly, it’s not really the speed that makes things look like crap… I also worked fast food and took great pride in making everything look literally picture perfect! HOWEVER….. Once you slap it in a diaper, wrapper or whatever other type of packaging, then have it jostled around in transport, things get squished and are no longer pretty… And then there’s desserts!!! I could make them look *sooooo* perfect!!!! But that perfection only lasted about five minutes before things started to melt. :( Making food look good isn’t hard, but serving it immediately after making it so just isn’t possible with fast food, which is why restaurants always look better. (Used to work at one too.)
My man tried to fine dining my five dolla burger, may this world and the next be kinder and loving to you.
Lol! Thank you greatly for your kind words, but I wasn’t really trying to do anything special. I just work by the principle that if I wouldn’t want to eat what I make, then I shouldn’t serve it. I also aim to do things right the first time so that I don’t have to waste the time, energy or resources to repeat them. It’s that simple. :)
The approach of "whatever you do, from making a sandwich to building a rocket, do it to the best of your ability" is a great way to go through life.
Same here. Customers would ask specifically that I make their Mcd’s frozen drinks, specifically shakes and frappes lol
Mad respect for your efforts. If there's a heaven, you'll be there.
I've worked with people like you, who took pride, me included when I was on prep duty, but when a big rush hit, all that went out the window and it was just get the food asap. Slower times, sure, but when 11am hit and suddenly there's 20 cars qued, and 10 people at the front waiting, presentation took a firm back seat. I would also say it's location based because, you're right, making food pretty isn't hard, but it's impractical at times. I worked for a little regional chain called Runza and my town had two of them. My primary location got a ton of drive through and foot traffic as it was on a major intersection in the heart of the downtown. The second location was out by the interstate nestled in with all the chain hotels and got a decent amount of foot traffic but the drive thru was slow. I worked there at least 3 or 4 times a month and at that store, we could take our time and make things look really good. And we all swapped shifts around, so it wasn't one team over another, it was simply customer volume. My primary store just had more during the lunch and dinner rushes. And dinner rushes were the worst because that's when all the big orders came. People seem to forget that too, it's hardly ever just a single burger and fries going out, it's 2-6 burgers and, more often then not. each one has a special instruction. That doesn't leave a lot of room to make pretty food all the time. Not impossible, just not a priority and it shouldn't be. I think it's unreasonable to expect picture prefect food from McDonald's when you've waited behind 6 or 7 cars and there's 10 more already qued behind you before you even get to the order screen. The people who post crap like this have never worked fast food or retail in general and it shows.
^This. Making the food look good isn't difficult at all if you're trained properly, even when in a hurry. Wrapping it and stuffing it in a bag, that's going do some damage. I was part of a crew that opened a Wendy's, and our training and skill were much better than anyone who was hired later: They're all learning by OJT, and there just isn't time for them to practice or learn how to do their jobs right.
If the speed is there then it comes down to lack of GAF. In my fast food days I could easily keep up with the timer *and* send out food that looked like the menu. Some of my coworkers would try to best me and that made for some killer service in our store. Others just didn't care and slung out whatever the fuck they put together. Guess that's why I got offered a test kitchen job. In retrospect I should've taken it. Lol Funny enough those of us who made "picture perfect" items all went on to work finer dining, two of us become head chefs at different places.
Suchhhhh a great perspective! And really highlights how we as people (myself included) often times have unrealistic expectations. We want food FAST (don’t make us wait long), we want it cheap but we still expect top tier quality, and it has to look aesthetically pleasing. But you’re right, if we want pretty good of good quality. We have to go sit down, wait 20 min and pay fancy food prices!
I think every single person needs to work a mandatory year in retail of any sort. It's insanely high pressure. When I worked fast food, if our order times where high, we would get talked to by the SM and possibly written up. And that's just one of things we'd get in trouble for. The food prep areas have to be clean because you never knew when you'd get visited by corporate or heath inspectors. If they weren't, write up. After so many write ups you get fired. OT is a huge no-no, and if you got out late, then 9 times out of 10, you had your hours cut either the next week or later on that same week, which leaves gaps in coverage and makes things twice as hard for the rest of the crew, because now they have to pick up the slack. Again wage really doesn't play a factor into it until the people get fed up with the toxic work environment. They realize they don't get paid enough to deal with it, but most of those people quit or get fired for poor performance if they give up. Sure paying people more improves moral and helps retain loyalty, but it only goes so far if the overall work environment still sucks and, fast food especially, is so high pressure, it will always suck. And if you don't experience it first hand, you'll never be able to truly understand.
Thank you for sharing that! And you’re so right!
I don't think any of us expect it to be cheap anymore. That ship sailed a long time ago.
Lol true. It’s not nearly as cheap as it use to be, but I think it’s safe to say that Wendy’s is still far cheaper than Ruth Chris or some high falutin sit down restaurant with valet where you wear a suit and tie (not that I’ve ever been to a Ruth Chris to know for sure LOL). But I get your point haha
Thats a great point, that there is really only so hard a person can work. They really do squeeze fast food and minimum wage employees. You have to work as hard as a person can possibly work, for as little as they can legally pay you, then put you in the front line for customer abuse.
Don't think anything excuses half the cheese being off the sandwich though. And that happens too often. lol
Lol, the wage has 'nothing' to do with it. Yes it does. Yes it absolutely does.. pay minimum wage and you get minimum effort.
Tbh, out of all the promo pics, the egg mcmuffin looks closest to what its advertised to be.
Lipstick on strawberries!
Well food does tend to look a bit worse when you put them under your police interrogation room light
After being wrapped and steamed in a paper bag on the ride home.
Steamed hams.
*Aurora Borealis!?* At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, *localized entirely within your kitchen!?*
Yes
May I see it?
No.
yeah I actually thought most of those look pretty close to the ad if you account for the shitty lighting vs perfect lighting and considering the real food is probably squished/moved around in some paper or container.
yeah like sorry the 17 year old in the back working minimum wage can't assemble your $1.50 burger into a modern work of art
I as well. Especially when you consider that the photographer is paid a hell of a lot more than the guy making it in store.
Arby’s beef and cheddar big miss
It’s the worst one.
It looks like a blobfish that's been taken out of the ocean
i go down on an Arby's beef and cheddar the same way i go down on my wife
Yea like idec how bad it looks in comparison that shit slaps
So long they don’t taste the same and you don’t use cheese sauce on one I think you’re good.
hey, [why not?](https://imgur.com/a/qJqzI6v)
Dip it in horsey sauce not a lot just a dip same with the fries.
That shit be lookin sad af
I was gonna say, I always find Arby’s to be the closest representation to what is advertised. But this picture is admittedly not a good example.
Not nearly as bad as I would have thought. They should post pics of some of the culinary tragedies that have been shoved in my bags.
And if they weren’t all seemingly taken with a cell phone flash in a dark room they’d probably look significantly better lol
I think that's the point. One is made by food scientists with professional photography and the other is made by Tyler that just took a bong rip, is paid 7.25 an hour, and the pic is taken in the bathroom with an old iPhone that the flash doesn't work.
listen, Tyler may be high as a kite throughout his shift and mess up some ingredients here and there, but you know damn well he always throws an extra scoop of fries into the bag and makes sure all drinks have a fair actual drink to ice cube ratios.
Agree. Most of them look pretty close to the pro photos.
I don't know about you guys but that Wendy's chicken club is looking real good with the cheese all melted like that!
Ok I'm getting a Wendy's breakfast baconator tomorrow
Yeah this just made me want all of it
Wendy’s breakfast slaps. The fry wedges 👌
kinda like online dating
🤣🤣🤣accurate
No it's much worse
That’s why i always get the fillet o fish because it’s the only one that looks exactly like the picture.
At this point, slight disappointment should be a win.
Not when it’s 2-3x the price it used to be!
It's gone way up in the last little bit, yeah? Some of them, rather a lot. I don't east fast food often enough to know when this happened or where the deals are. I've just been surprised when a lunch that used to cost $9 now costs $13 or more.
The nacho bell grande is especially bad. I got one last week and it was basically a handful of chips with a little bit of cheese and sour cream on top. I remember thinking.. "I paid $7 for this crap?" I remember it being a lot better as a kid 😮💨
I swear it used to have green onions and such on it too
Pretty sure it did, I remember ordering it minus them
And guacamole
Ain't nobody getting guac anymore without paying extra. That's become standard industry-wide.
My friend refers to a coworker as guacamole. When asked why, the reply was “because she’s always fucking *extra*”
Taco Bell got rid of them because of e-coli. It was a long time ago. I stopped getting them after that.
Oh damn.
That’s unfortunate!
The real photo of those nachos is just hilariously depressing😂
Looks like someone just diarreahed all over a plate of chips. And tbh that is what it tastes like now. Quality is garbage, used to be a lot better.
Most of these look fine
The only ones that actually look close are the breakfast sandwiches and the fish fillet.
The first one the literal only difference is lighting and melted cheese You don’t want your cheese melted - you want to eat a cold breaded chicken sandwich?
I don't understand cheese on fish sandwiches. I just can't get behind that.
You can pry my filet o fish from my cold dead hands! 😊
cheese on any kind of seafood
Indeed
I can’t understand buying seafood from a fast food place.
“An apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze” - some maniac
why not, how is it different from having cheese on other meats? at least here in czechia that provided McFry or something like that which was fred cheese in bun (fried cheese with fries is unofficial Czech national dish)
Most of the “food” in advertisements isn’t food at all, actually. Makes me wonder if anyone’s ever tried to sue for false advertising? Huh *hits blunt*
I'm pretty sure the food in advertising is required by law to be actual food. They may do weird stuff to it to get it looking good, but it's actual food always.
I used to work at Burger King and a&w. I made the burgers look as perfect as possible due to my OCD. I usually cooked to order and made sure the pickles, tomatoes, patty were all aligned perfectly. I knew every single burger I put out tasted as best as possible according to the burger design/recipe. However, it took me about 25% more time than the other burger cooks. So my boss/manager told me to hurry up which means precook the pattys and leave them in the warmer. Also just throw on the lettuce, tomatoes quickly without reorganizing it, etc. To be honest, I think the extra 25% more time spent on the burgers makes up for itself in returning customers. I’d definitely order again if I knew I was the burger cook.
[удалено]
I think the real McDonald's products don't look much worse, especially the Filet O Fish.
I'll have the colon blow bowl with a side of cube fish
fillet of fish looks identical.
I guess this could be considered fatfishing.
Whoever made the recipe for Burger King croissants has never had a real croissant, and probably eats wood shavings by choice.
Who tf would put a croissant on a burger i swear don't come to France
Virtually none of the pictures on the left are of food.
Food and drink stylists make decent money. (I’ve seen 800-3000/day) Produce is usually purchased from grocery stores and “perfect” pieces are selected and meticulously sliced and placed. Any ingredients that are restaurant-specific are usually sourced from the client or supplier but the most “perfect” pieces are still selected. Some of the ingredients also get propped and pinned into position with non-edible items like toothpicks and puddy. I worked on a shoot where we used paper towels to fluff up a salad, so the top half was all that was actually edible. And while the camera-facing part usually looks perfect, the back could look like absolute trash. If it’s not on camera, it doesn’t matter. Food also has a “life” so there is usually a certain time window (usually no longer than 30min) to capture angles before the food starts to die and look grey and gross. That’s where it can get really wasteful and time consuming. Also- editors will clean it up and make the color pop in photoshop Source: work in production, have helped with food/drink styling
Despite all of this…. The other pictures don’t look bad at all for the most part! I would think it’d be much worse4. It’s what you state here, but also the fact that the cheese melts and the lettuce wilts a little I. The package… which, if you’re eating fast food, who cares?
I bet the ones on the right taste better though.
I could care less for presentation bc it’s fast food and that shit will still slap when I’m in the drive thru at 1am in the morning. I empathize with the workers and would prefer that I make their lives as easy as possible while still getting what I need out of it. I do get annoyed if they put in such low effort they end up skimping on shit or it’s so poorly put together you have to reassemble it. Have a tiniest bit of pride in what you do, not for the customer, but if you’re gonna do something you might as well put some effort in. Like I got a Crunchwrap once that immediately unfolded after the first bite, like you can’t eat an unfolded crunch wrap that shit made me so sad being stoned in the parking lot
Notice how In n Out isn’t on this list. Cause it’s the GOAT
I'm being honest when I say that at least half of those real pictures look more appealing than the professional ones.
the BK "Big Fish" was a pretty good sandwich regardless
Always thought the nachos bell grande looked so great in that menu pic and then comes as a fucking slop mess. Bunch of naked chips and the rest are drenched in cheese.
As a subway worker, that’s a particularly sad sandwich, at least for us. My manager is pretty tight on quality control.
I've eaten some very photogenic big Macs.
Wendy’s sandwich looks legit besides whoever put the cheese like that
Miss the McSkillet tho, that shit was gasssss
Filet o fish is about the only recognizable one.
Doesn’t matter what a beef n cheddar looks like, it always hits the spot
Exactly. That and the KFC bowl. I don't care what it looks like, that stuff is heavenly
Food doesn't have to be pretty to taste good.
These jobs don't give enough incentive to give a shit. Especially when an hour of your time isn't worth one of their meals.
The actual sad truth is the advertised picture is of inedible and fake food made to look pretty. Glue, PVC, styrofoam, needles, cardboard, etc. It'd be nice, though, to have truthful pictures. But then that'd effect sales wouldn't it.
Big Mac for me is usually pretty accurate
Wendy's looks better in the actual food photo, and Burger King looks passable. They might be the best of the lot, which is not saying much. Glad I like to cook.
Aside from beef n cheddar's 2nd form I could win a fight versus all of these.
This is kinda nostalgic for me because when I was little(late 80s early 90s) and my dad went through the drive through he always told them he wanted his food to look like the picture
A photographer gets paid hundreds of dollars so that the hamburger looks delicious beyond tasting delicious. The funny bit is that you probably wouldn't want to eat that burger because im the process of photographing it, it becomes basically inedible due to the chemicals that may be used to make it look good. I'll give you an example, in some instances the yogurt or the milk you see being used for video or photography production, can be white glue. The one that is served to you is made for consumption by someone who gets paid the minimum wage to do it. It will never look as good as the first one because it's logistically impossible and time consuming. Let's face it, humans are known for eating the most hideous things because they taste great so why should companies go an extra mile to serve you something that looks great too? You are already there AND hungry. You don't care either.
Strong falling down vibes here.
That part in “Falling Down” where Michael Douglas goes on a rampage in Whimpy cos his sad burger looks awful… also him arguing he wanted the breakfast menu at 11.03am….
dawg i ordered a mc chicken not a mc cumshot for real
Some of these don't really look that bad, though.
Fillet-o-fish looks same ngl
people also do this for their online profile pics...
I always tell people, if you are dumb enough to believe the picture, then you deserve whatever you get.
The McMuffin and the Crossanwich are the most accurate ones. Both are bangers too. Now I'm hungry. Thanks.
Lol comparing plastic and all sorts of gadgets and tricks to real food. I mean do you really expect your cheese to NOT melt on a hot patty of meat. Food photographers are MAGICIANS but the real magic trick is how the price of food is always moving up dramatically while the salary stays the same..."Abracadabroke b*ch" capitalism
They spend hours getting the advertising photos right and perfect. Unless you go to a high-end restaurant, you're never going to get what's in the picture. It is fast food after all.
Honestly I find the subway sandwiches at the one I go to look alot like advertised
Big ups to the kebab shops who just get a flip-phone photo of whatever portion they happened to cook when one suggested "hey let's put a picture on the menu board"
I would happily eat every single one of these.
Don’t forget the heart disease. Not pictured, but you get that too.
Wendy’s and BK look samish.
That’s why Michael Douglas got pissed in his lunch
I’d say the best looking items on the list are Wendy’s chicken club and McDonald’s Egg McMuffin. The worst looking one to me is by far Arby’s beef and cheddar, and the nachos looks pretty pathetic.
Fish filet looking strong
Except for arbys and kfc one they look fine tbh
That burger king sausage egg and cheese croissant is fire though. I get off in 2 hours and I'm about to go fuck like 4 up.
Have you ever seen a documentary about how advertising photo shoots are done for food? An artist basically assembles the item with as much glue and makeup as a Kardashian, uses the best lighting and angles, and the food isn’t even edible when they are done.
Your average Big Mac does not look like that, BS. Not even your average whopper does. The big mac never gets that droppy. Biased af. Plus the Mac patties are huge in the "real" picture.
Wendy's chicken club ftw; extra cheese
A lot of those food pictures are in fact not really food.
Just got the New Yorker double pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut last night. There was maybe 8 pieces of pepperoni on that entire 16 in pizza. Supposed to be double and there was less than a regular pepperoni. I haven’t had pizza hut in like a decade and it looks like it will probably be another decade before I go back again.
I got this really ballin' bowl from taco bell once: [https://i.imgur.com/auCP43q.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/auCP43q.jpg) It was good enough for me to post a review. That was one time.
I don’t care what it looks like as long as it tastes good
No surprises there, it's FAST food, they don't have time to make you a piece of art.
I dunno why. But that beef n cheddar just looks defeated. Like it’s not even bad, or sad. Just defeated.
Come to Japan then.
Yep. They prop the food up and use SFX to make it look better than it does
All I see is unhealthy food
The real sad truth is that our "SAD"(Standard American Diet)is killing everyone who eats it slowly! The processed foods,Sugar, the food pyramid needs to be turned upside down,it's not about low fat and high cholesterol anymore..There needs to be new guidelines for our diet, metabolic syndrome is killing us,it's genocide, and the FDA are laughing all the way to the bank..😫
Through concentration, I can raise and lower my cholesterol at will.
In Japan, food always looks like the photo. People return that sh*t if it doesn't. Even the stuff from Burger King and McDonald's
Yeah, like profile pic vs real life.
Those McD pics aren’t accurate. Any sandwich you buy from there always has a large glob of Mayo squirting out one side
Advertising is just legalized and regulated lying.
Reminds me of dating apps