TheRainbowegoSweet007
22777
579
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Aug 9, 2026 9:00 AM
TheRainbowegoSweet007
22777
579
22
hushpuppyextraordinaire
People were griping about this back in the 80’s .
makesense
It's long been known that burgers shown like that in commercials are plastic things stacked together to look nice. However, I once worked at a different fast food joint where the manager noticed one of the line crew make a burger that looked so much like the photo that he literally decided to pick it up, hold it up to one of the prop photos and comment about it being exactly like it. We all groaned because now that customer's order had to be remade.
pietone
this is le big mac, not cheeseburger
AtmaDarkwolf
Treated with glue and hairspray, sometimes actually injected with a silicon agent to give it 'boost and body' and other times actual RAW food is used, again, after being soaked and infused with resin to give it a more 'fresh' appearance. EVERYTHING u see in those (promo pics, commercials, etc) are fake. The whole 'do not have to show someone eating it' rule was a godsend for them, it allowed them to truly fake the entire thing.
JAPONfan
cheeseburgers have sesame on buns?
LittleDragon
The movie Falling Down has a bit where a guy pulls out an uzi (iirc) in a restaurant because of this. I feel like this should fall into "false advertisement".
DMSledge
"false advertisement" is for the rich people. Us poors get "puffery" instead.
tinyfootprints
IIRC, the last time I set foot in a McD was 1983. I bought a Big Mac. The guy working there wrapped it in wax paper and then reached for more packaging. I said, "Don't bother, that's fine as it is." But he told me that he was legally required to do the rest of the steps, which included a cardboard sleeve around the wrapped sandwich, and then put that into a styrofoam box, and then put the box in a paper bag before he could hand it to me to unwrap. What a bloody waste. I stopped going there.
Findlocalsloths
Anyone who has ever been to McDonalds knows this. They don't care because it just tastes so damn... No, cant be that... Because it's very chea... Hmm, no, not that either. Why do people go to McDonalds again?
Bizarkly
"Why do people go to McDonalds again?" Welp, it's *pretty* fast -- and it's *almost* food...
Detacheddavid
They should show a banana for scale.
thegreenestknight6
If they’re gonna charge $15 can they at least try to make it look like the picture
implosion3
Not gonna lie.. I still like a big Mac for what it's worth. Do I think it's a great burger.. no, however I still like it
PostHartmann
Between it and a quarter pounder, yes. But I'll take a Wendy's jr. bacon cheeseburger first
implosion3
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1MHlxNG0zaTJsM2dpMXVmNnhkZnRkMmlnMXQya241NXdiZXdxazUxMSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/QqkA9W8xEjKPC/200w.webp
Ben209
This should be illegal!
tinytyrant
either way...
v
RElGNMAN
All marketing pictures are doctored, we all know that, which is why taste matters. If you need the picture to look like the product then you should go to Chipotle or Qdoba. The bowls, quesadillas and burritos are on point to the picture and taste good, but currently avoid the lettuce and jalapeños for reasons.
https://www.chipotle.">e.com">https://www.chipotle.com
https://order.qdoba.com/menu
FiftyShadesOfMascarpone
RegionofThud
That's because the ones on top are made by a food stylist who makes between $55,000 and $81,000 a year and the bottom row is made by somebody making $12 to $15 an hour. You get what you pay for.
Grimlinnan
Mc Lie.
Resistance1000
There used to be laws about truth in advertising and there was a story in one of the ad industry trade magazines many years ago about a fast food ad where they went to locations all over the city and bought about 100 Big Macs or Whoppers or whichever chain it was in a quest to find that one perfect, real example to photograph. For you kids under 40, a "magazine" was a....
Bizarkly
Kids under 40: "Oh, *we know* what a 'magazine' is -- it's where you store spare rounds!"
Megadestructo
I'll say this: I went to McDonald's a few times when I was visiting my family in Macau, China because it's open early (as my jet lag woke me up at 5am for a week) and because my kid just wanted a burger one time. The sandwiches looked almost exactly like the pictures, the service was fast, and the restaurant was CLEAN.
There are infinitely better options for food, of course, but I was impressed.
TryTheGrayStuffItsDelicious
To be fair, the McDonalds workers are trying to get those burgers out as quickly as possible. If they took their time, they probably could make the burger look nicer. But then people would complain that it took too long, so they don’t
bbchaz23
Remember when the CEO couldn't even eat his own product?
Ardback
D-Fens knew that.
lesteros
I mean I get that ads use tricks to keep things in place and frigin glue it all. But the fact that the bun is like half the size should be sue-able issue
jimicus
Not even that. They'll take the burger apart and move the cheese and lettuce to the edge. Looks like there's loads in there - of course there's not.
FiftyShadesOfMascarpone
The burgers are a lot flatter too in reality, and the lettuce doesn't look anywhere near as fresh.
DontAskMeAboutMyUsernameOkay
Are the buns actually half the size, or is mcdonalds gonna pull a subway and say that they just look different cause it was frozen and thawed/smashed by other buns?
UprootedGrunt
Yeah, they're just compressed. The fact is, McDonalds *could* serve burgers that look like the ones in the advertisements. They'd just have to take 10+ minutes each to carefully put them together, and that's antithetical to being "fast food".
PapaJoeNH
Those are Big Macs (in America), not cheeseburgers. The first one is missing the middle bun
DMSledge
is there meat with a piece of pseudo cheese between the buns? Sounds like a cheeseburger to me.
NomadUniverse
No thats the "son of mac", not missing the middle bun, 2nd is the regular mac and last one is the relative new one, I forgot what they called it
alexpatt665
likely quarter pounder or "royale with cheese"
PapaJoeNH
No lettuce on a QP or Royale
nintendolunchbox
And water is wet
certainlynotaserialkiller
water isnt wet, it makes things wet.
nintendolunchbox
And contrarians don't have many friends.
ILovedUnicornsFirst
Yes, I do. (Haha, just kidding. I’m not even in this conversation.)
LinguisticBitch
I switched to BK for my munchies when I get one. Bacon and cheese whopper pretty dope.
dodgese
I usually get a whopper , no cheese and put one bbq dip packet. It's like a rodeo burger without the onion ring.
Babomonkey
Eh, BK doesn't fare any better in the ad vs reality department
LinguisticBitch
They look and taste a lot better than McDonald’s. The meat tastes like meat not soggy cardboard with a hint of ‘beef’ seasoning from a MrNoodle ramen pack.
Babomonkey
They both use the same grade of beef, the main difference there being that BK uses frozen patties and McDs uses fresh for 1/4 patties and frozen for small. Any flavor difference is from the cooking method, griddle vs flame grill.
HeresYourSauce
Should be illegal.
It's not. The rule I heard is as long as they don't show someone eating it, it doesn't have to be real food.
I mean. I'm find if they cherry pick a little. Find the best McDonalds burger, and show that. These are just lies though.
LawfulEvilGrady
It has to be the same materials. So the meat is actually raw, charred briefly to looked cooked. Actually cooking it shrinks it. The buns are the same, just not crushed. Things like the condiments are likely glue
chackstar
This reminds me of the restaurant menu in Brasil. They present a photo of what you expect to be served but the dish is just two ice cream scoops of “lobster” or “steak”.
thedill2000
Idk, I saw that ad with the ceo eating real food. And my take away, was that he isn't a real person.
Goodmerlinpeen
Sounds like Almost Pizza /gallery/almost-pizza-S1enwm2
LaronX
Puffery is among the most anti consumer ideas ever convinced.
slightlybrokenegg
You can actually report this kind of thing to McDonalds corporate if you want to. It’s a fine line for me between do your fucking job and fuck corporations keep making fucked up burgers until they are bankrupt.
FuzzyX
Just be thankful if you live in a country where what they have to advertise is real food. I mention that when adverts where they pull pizza slices apart can often be coloured glue as the stringy cheese. Even on the food level a lot can simply be seriously uncooked.
IMO before they release an advert they should make the CEO eat the food to win approval else the advert should be marked "unreal food".
NotAllowedToArgueUnlessYouPay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC0BNmayDYs
Volpe42
Cheese won't hold up to all day shooting under hot studio lighting. Everyone uses stand ins. It's a normal practice
zanaria
A model who did a burger ad for some company (I think she said Carls Jr or something like that) was on the show Ridiculousness and told them that she was warned it wasn't a real burger, there were needles all through it to hold it together and she could only bite into it in one specific spot to avoid the needles.
Volpe42
That's normal for basically all ads with food. The food won't hold up to all day shooting under lights so most everything is gimmicked
zanaria
Yup, exactly. Though I wouldn't exactly want to eat food that held up all day :p
Volpe42
Like the moon pie in RED 2
CelestialSea
Wait until you find out what the 'cheese' in pizza commercials is made from.
7qd26tttv7
Wait until you find out what the "cheese" in actual pizza is really made from....
CelestialSea
I suspect you and I have different definitions of the term, 'actual pizza.'
CheeseCoffeeChests
Depending on the country
Poopoopeepeevagina
It is in Japan I think. It like that makes a difference for us here in the US.
certainlynotaserialkiller
fun fact: it is illegal in japan. marketing/packaging has to show the actual food in real size and color.
ILikeFood2000
Idk about this. I just googled Japan Big Mac and the non-ad versions still look sloppy sad too.
ArmedandOverclocked
Ive been to mcdonalds in japan and the food you get is pretty similar to what you see on the instore menus. Also their ice cream machines never seem to be broken.
CheeseB0t
https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1aDVjNm5oNGwwdXJ0YjF6dXNuY2FvaGFwNDA4bW56NW9tOTkxeGd4dyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/lKrrumbdd7LY4/200w.webp
ThinkThisOut
The McDonald’s machines aren’t broken, they have a program that locks them out for preventative maintenance after a certain period. Taylor corporate worked that into their service contract with McDonalds corporate. The Middleby bought Taylor a few years back. Taylor had its own private fleet of service tech but they got redistributed into the larger Middleby service network which was too much for them.
Sensiblyinteresting
In Japan right now
Streiquer
Can confirm, but I want to supplement this with: regardless of its legal status in the rest of Asia, other Asian countries seem to show some pride in their output and I can assure you if you get a BigMac or a Whopper in Taiwan, it’s going to look very much like the ad.
Living there for over a decade, it killed me how Taiwan did American restaurants so much better than America ever dreamed of - everything from McDonald’s to Texas Roadhouse or TGIFriday’s.
PUNKem733
Things start in the shit country of america, and go to other countries to get MUCH better, cleaner, faster...etc.
Aranon1183
From watching JapanEats, I can aasure you that Japanese Burger Kings are just as awful as the Statesian ones. Lol
whoatherebigfella
I had a layover in Taiwan so I grabbed a double cheeseburger and a coffee from McDonald’s. I asked for no onions. They actually just scraped them off (actually, just attempted) one that was already prepared. I was like WTF! Am I in America?
FuzzyX
Well you were in the airport flight side area so not actually in Taiwan until you pass through immigration. I don't know who controls McDonald's airport restaurants but as all roads lead to Rome then all such restaurants eventually lead back to McDonald USA.
DMSledge
That kind of stuff is why eating with allergies sucks.
IrrationalNumber
So if I buy a large roadside banner ad, the product has to be life size?
Makerofroads
If there is food on it, it has to be the same size. That being said, I dont think I saw food billboards in japan on the side of the road, so they may just not do thay.
Spidey209
If it is on the package.
IrrationalNumber
Comment I replied to said marketing, are advertisements not "marketing"?
Spidey209
I clarified the actual japan law.
IronMagnus
People debate In-n-out. Some like their fries, some don't. Whatever. This is why I like them. This is what their burgers look like fresh out of their kitchen. Like the God damn commercials every time.
MarsIsAfire
This photo makes me wish I ate red meat!
ThatOtherMacAvoyWoman
I moved to a place without In N Out. I have DREAMS about In N Out. God I miss them.
homoerection
The in and out burger I had was the worst burger I’ve ever had. It looked nothing like this photo. It was bland, thrown together, and smashed beyond recognition. Never went back.
4etherling
Same experience I had.
TheMentallyillist
Same! It was dry and tasteless. 5 Guys destroys In and Out.
mikeatike
Still better than the overpriced slop that is 5 Guys, tho.
4etherling
I don't mind paying for 5 guys and getting a ton of topping options I can't get from the usual chains.
mikeatike
The quality dropped considerably over the past decade. And abaoutely fuck paying $20 for a burger fries and drink.
Tarmaccian
You heard incorrectly. The advertised product has to be exactly what’s sold. No change in ingredients or cooking.
What’s allowed is to prepare the product for photography in ways that don’t change it substantially, like picking the best of 50 buns, putting cardboard between burger layers, shifting the lettuce forward, or using toothpicks to hold everything just right.
However, non-product items can be fake, like using mashed potatoes in place of ice cream when showing off a cookie.
HeresYourSauce
Sounds like I need to research the rules.
It has been a while. Like I think this is a middleschool rumor I held on to. I was really sure, but also, that was a long time ago.
uzetaab
As soon as I saw this post, I was expecting to see comments about it not being real food. The 99% invisible podcast did a great episode on this topic several years ago. The twist is that the only thing you are wrong about is that it is illegal NOW. There really was a time when they used engine oil instead of maple syrup.
ArcaneM37
The put glue in pizza to make it look like a good cheese stretch. You *could* eat glue, but who would want to?
Tarmaccian
They actually don’t. That’s a recent urban legend. Adding glue to mozzarella cheese actually makes it less stretchy.
That said, picture this… a commercial for a big shiny 95-inch TV, perfect for hosting that party for the big sportsball game, complete with pizza and frothy beer. That’s where the pizza can be glued, and the beer can be yellow plastic, because those aren’t the product being advertised.
quelin
In the USA its entirely legal to advertise something being fancy but delivering something dumpy. It is called puffery. https://legal-resources.uslegalforms.com/p/puffery
quelin
and the justification is wild, in that, we are so used to 'fast food' being shitty that its ok to advertise it being nice since every consumer should already expect a shitty product.
baldertindaicon
The thing is, the burgers in the store could look that good too, if the workers took the time to prep them that way. The issue is, that would greatly slow down the pace of their work, and speed is more important for people eating "fast" food.
slightlybrokenegg
Yep the corporate McDonalds in my town has great food FOR A MCDONALDS it’s still over priced slop but atleast it isn’t smashed to death by an underpaid employee. I think that’s actually the reason to they start everyone out at 15 an hour and that’s more than a lot of factories pay around here if it isn’t skilled positions.
aristera
Not really, when everyone has the "best" pizza in town. We know that it's both a matter of opinion and also not possible for them all to be the best.
slightlybrokenegg
Hey I am going to need a source burden of proof lies on the original comment
slightlybrokenegg
I mean in order to legally make that claim a publication has to name you that. But with the way it works you can literally just create a blog with one post and start advertising lol.
OdinYggd
Putting cardboard between layers to add volume and using toothpicks to hold the components aligned would render the photographed representation unsafe to eat, and should trigger a class action lawsuit. Picking over the ingredients to choose only the best looking ones is ok by me, but the photographer should be able to eat the burger after taking the pictures.
SalmonTheWise
That would be a good addition to the law. "The photographer has to record a video of a marketing executive eating it as is to completion"
B3N15
Within reason, I'm fine with the toothpicks or other things to hold components together, like if they can be removed easily and the food is consumable afterwards. This is mostly on logistical grounds of photography/videography
AzgarOgly
thatwoodguy
That was the only sour point of that movie was when we went after a wage sleeve in a fast food joint for stuff that's Way Beyond his control. That didn't seem fair
Baronaccio
vladrichdemaclant
Yes.
DeepThought42
“Falling Down” 1993 Michael Douglas was brilliant & captured the angst lots of people are feeling now, lack of control over personal life & identity in work & lack of money, the world no longer making sense, the need to do something to feel in control of his life again. Stopping for breakfast just as the clock changed the store menu to lunch was a trigger.
stabbermcshooty
Always seemed to me that movie only ever said white men should just kill whoever doesn’t capitulate to them. Because holy shit does it just look and watch like a klan members we dream
stabbermcshooty
Wet dream*
Centroid
The main character was the villain of the movie, but when confronted with an avowed Nazi, he kills him in disgust.
IrateWolfe
This is one of those movies I don't like admitting how much I like, because so many people missed the point, like Fight Club
ToSisPoS
Look at how some of the fan base were so angry that the Riddler was turned into an incel Messiah in the Batman.
They want a self-insert bad ass bad boy that they can relate to and dress up as on Halloween. Not a mirror.
jamiekellyxxx
At least he killed a nazi. Thought bought some points.
Wonkable
Rick and Morty, as well as the most recent Joker.
DSREX
Both Jokers, not that I saw the one with Gaga in it. Not really looking to watch an art piece after the first one nailed the social commentary and mental health issues the world faces so perfectly.
Lampmonster
Agreed. While some of his complaints are valid, the main character is an egotistical, violent asshole who makes his issues everyone else's problem. And like Breaking Bad, some people still refuse to accept it even when the bad guy does himself. "I'm the bad guy?"
DianNaoChong
I think the premise of the movie was to show the growing concerns of near future America and a angry white dude with privilege and guns effectively mixes in with the theme. The moral of the "good cop", it's tainted and he's ruining his life because he enjoys chasing and shooting people too much.
AzgarOgly
Have you even seen the movie?
IrateWolfe
But Walt was the hero! He was just looking out for his family and it definitely wasn't just about his ego! /s
Mithi
Jip, his whole "I did it for ME!" monologue was just to throw Skylar(?) off.
IrateWolfe
Obviously Skyler is the real villain /s