Misleading Food And Product Advertisements

This is why people need to research what they're buying.. food, drugs, skin care etc etc etc. It's not a new thing that the big guys in all industries are lying to us. they put things in that don't need to be labelled and they say things on the packaging that isn't true. They can say ANYthing they want as long as they don't say it's a cure for something.

 

The commercials are almost always much better than the actual product...they're trying to sell it to you but it would be better if they were concerned about bringing you good quality things (or at least getting return business!).

 

That Mcdoanlds breakfast from France looks so delicious and like a proper breakfast unlike the unhealthy breakfast you get here in the States. That being said, most of my encounters with misleading food labels have been with the supposed healthy food which is all natural or no sugar added.

 

Golden rule: never trust ads. I watched TV, seen the posters, they're all a load of exaggeration. And it doesn't only apply to foods, even household utilities like clorox, dish cleaners and stuffs like that get exaggerated to a point where it doesn't make an sense. It's their strategy to attract consumers, so...we can't really blame them.

 

I find almost every where has misleading advertising I once got this thing from walmart it was suppose to help look slimmer in clothing and it didn't work at all instead it made me look more bulky.

 

My cousin is a photographer and he told me that fast food companies regularly have their products "retouched" when being photographed. The foods stylists as they are called perform additional enhancements on burgers like making them look thicker than the ones they really serve. They also add veggies, tomatoes and other ingredients to make it look fuller. They even spray the patty with other ingredients that make the color richer so it photographs well. Why do you think the Thanksgiving turkey's you see on the front of cooking magazines always look so delicious and the one you cook does not look anywhere near the picture even if you follow the recipe exactly.

 

I think that's pretty standard for many companies. They trump up the pictures to look more enticing, making the meat look thicker with more frills added to it like the lettuce, pickles, onions, tomato ect... Then when you actually receive the burger or other item, the patty is smaller and there is less things loaded onto the sandwich. This is not always the case, but I find this a good amount of the time. Really annoying.

 

It's also possible there's a mirror trick going on. Kind of like how objects in a rear view mirror appear closer than they really are.

 

I've grown used to false advertising in fast food ads by now, sadly, and I kind of understand it too because it's hardly practical to advertise a very thin burger when you want to wow your audience. The false claims that I look out for the most is the labels in food where products claim to be natural or healthy, because they often use loopholes to get to claim those. For example, I've seen products that claim that they contain natural fruits, but when you inspect it closer you'll see that the product is mostly chemicals and it probably only has a few drops of fruit juice or something, which technically still makes their claims true.

 

Yes, Burger King had a french fry burger at one time that I thought looked kind of appealing. The ad had the burger loaded with fries. When I actually bought the burger it had about 2.5 french fries in the Burger. It was a joke actually. However, it isn't just fast food places that do it. I think that truth in advertising...is a rallying cry because it happens everywhere.

 

This happened to me yesterday. I don't use to buy Christmas decorations because I get most of them for free, but I usually go to the stores on these days when those items have impressive discounts and I can get something that I don't have already, as in example, I was able to bought a small porcelain nativity figure for one dollar when its regular price was $22.

However I was so hungry that I fell for a banner outside Burger King promoting their new Rodeo burger. It looked so tasty that I thought it was worth stop by.

Of course, the burger I got served and that of the advertisement were not closely the same :\

 

I think that by law, in the US at least, restaurants must display the actual sandwich which is being sold in their ads - in other words, they can't use a 1/3 1lb of fresh ground beef for the burger pictured, if their actual product is a thin processed patty full of fillers. Same goes for the veggies and the bun and condiments, they can't use some fake plastic props that look like the real thing, they have to use the exact same veggies and condiments, in their respective amounts as it's sold.

That said, there are still plenty of camera tricks and lighting, as well as simply being more careful when putting together the sandwich, that they can use to make the end product shot look far better than what you actually get - yet still remain within the law.

McDonalds actually published a video to Youtube to show how one of their product shots are done. It's pretty interesting to see that they did in fact cook and prepare the burger pretty much as it would be prepared in store. Of course, for the product shot, they're picking the freshest bun, with no blemishes, which hasn't been smashed down. They're choosing the best tomatoes and best lettuce for the shot, arranging things with tweezers, etc...

I've generally enjoyed Wendy's burgers for the most part. But if you were ordering from their "value" menu - yep, those burgers are paper thin. But their standard burgers are a decent size imo.

 

I think the worst was KFC they were the chicken littles and that was no joke they were a half bite special. Its been awhile since i've seen them but looking at the ad we thought they would be like kids cheese burger, nope. They tasted great but it was a wheres the chicken moment? AKA "wheres the beef" Wendy's biggest and most popular ad.

 

I have noticed the Sizzling Plate outlet in malls here. They have the fabricated plastic to mimic the real thing. So you see the displays of plates with rice and steak or chicken. The display looks good but when you order, the steak is sliced very thin so unlike that in the display. Just last Sunday we had lunch in Sizzling Plate and I just shook my head when my order of porterhouse steak arrived. So far from the display.

 

Maybe the burger started out as 1/3 lb before cooking. No telling how much smaller the patty will be after cooking. Sometimes the ad will specifically have a very tiny asterisk telling you this. It also depends on the restaurant and who was cooking your food at the time. Some people can't cook and you may have been served by such people unfortunately.

 

The problem is most companies invest too heavily on the marketing and advertising aspect of the product at the expense of the substance. Most people are visual buyers. The product in some cases is not worth the graphics. The cost is borne by the consumer. I wish they focused more on the product to lessen the cost and reap from positive customer reviews.

 

I agree there are many advertisements that make the product look so good and once you get the product you are disappointed. That is the reason I have a problem purchasing clothes online. In the store I can tell if the work and the material is good quality and worth the money I am paying for it. The advertiser will say they are just doing their job, making the picture look so good you want to purchase it.

 

I have been noticing a lot of misleading advertising as well, which has led to many wrong purchases. I think the advertisers are really getting good at their jobs and their moral standing is slowly deteriorating.