Spotted this via BoingBoing the other week where someone has gone to the trouble of comparing the publicity photos of fast food with what you actually get.

I was also amused by this related quote on BoingBoing:

I worked (briefly) in the photography studio of one of the biggest ad agencies in NYC. They paid a professional “food stylist” around $2000 a day to make the food look like that. Every golden sesame seed or drop of crystalline dew was hand placed. That mayonnaise isn’t mayo, it’s hair gel and that chicken looks so good because apparently everything looks yummier when it’s been sprayed with lacquer. A lot of that “food” isn’t food at all and the stuff that is food has been treated with more chemicals and “tricks of the trade” than most super models.

Mayo that’s hair gel? Chicken covered in lacquer? Hmmm nice! Although for some fast food, that’ll probably taste better!

The thing this initially reminded me of was a scene from Falling Down (wiki) with Michael Douglas where he goes to Whammyburger and tries to order something off the breakfast menu. When that fails, since it was a couple of minutes after breakfast serving time, he orders a burger and then goes ballistic when what he gets is a sloppy mess that looks nothing like advertised.

Not that this should come as a surprise to anyone who eats fast food. The local Burger King microwaves all their burgers so it’s no wonder they’re always soggy…