A lot of fast food places are known for using edited food photos in their marketing materials. It just makes the food look more appetizing. However, is it not a little bit disingenuous? Sure, the food looks better, but it’s not reflective of the actual product.
Fast food pictures have always been dressed up a little bit to make them look more appealing, but the minor changes to these edited food photos seem almost totally unnecessary. Then again, when you’re mass marketing something to your consumer base, it’s probably best to make it look as appealing as possible.
These edited food photos were taken from the McDonald’s media website and loaded into Photoshop. There, a reporter for Business Insider discovered that there was a layer titled ‘retouched.’ When she turned it off, she saw just how much editing went into creating these fast food photos. The food may look more appetizing, but the message is totally dishonest.
First up is the iconic Big Mac. The creases are removed from the bun and the image is darkened to give the beef patties are more appealing color.
Next up is the classic McDonald’s cheeseburger. Similar to the Big Mac, the creases in the bun are smoothed out. The beef patty is also given a fuller look.
The Egg McMuffin got touched up in its bread component. The picture is also brightened up to make the colors of the sandwich really pop.
The apple pie didn’t need too much work. Like the other photos, it gets brightened up, but moving the pieces closer together just seems like an arbitrary change.
Even the beverages aren’t safe from Photoshop. The McDonald’s iced coffee needs to be darkened after being photographed to make it look more like, you know, coffee.
McDonald’s offers the healthy alternative of getting apple slices with a Happy Meal, but even those need to be retouched to make them look better.
The sausage biscuit the most retouching. The biscuit is filled out and made more symmetrical, and the curve of the meat is totally removed.
Just remember the next time you see an ad for a McDonald’s burger, it’s completely designed and edited to appear more appetizing than it may actually be.
