Isn't it always disappointing when you actually buy one and unwrap the container to find a flat, thin, dried-out piece of meat with thinly-sliced tomatoes, wilted lettuce and tiny strips of bacon?
A couple of years ago I was so annoyed at the difference between what was being advertised and what I found at the fast food outlet, that I contacted the Advertising Standards Canada and complained about "false advertising."
Their response was that if I really wanted to make an official complaint, I had to document the time and channel of each TV commercial depicting the fake burger and submit my claim.
I couldn't believe that no one had done this yet. But, on the other hand, everyone I talked to said the same thing: "Of course, the burger you see on TV is not like what you get in the restaurant. So what?" It's just an accepted and expected practice.
Despite my friends' comments, I tried to do capture this "false advertising" for about a month with my VCR. It was really tricky predicting when a commercial would be shown for a fast food burger. It was taking way too much videotape and way too much time rewinding and fast forwarding until I found one. It was almost as if, every time I set my VCR, a secret message went out to the burger advertisers not to show any of their commercials.
I just gave up and forgot about doing anything to stop the tide. You might even be thinking: "This person has way too much time on his hands. Get a life!"
But after seeing the movie, Supersize Me, and having had some experience with the Standards Council in propelling them to actually force another company (Molson) to remove ads that depicted truly dangerous and illegal behaviour, I thought why not find a way to show the differences between the way burgers are advertised and what is actually served at the fast food outlet.
A digital camera was the key. There are plenty of print versions of the way the companies want us to see the burger and, naturally, no photos of what the burgers actually look like.
What follows here are photos that represent the official version of the burger versus the actual version. (No animals were hurt to perform this task.)
None of the actual photo versions have been altered or modified using photo software, etc. I've tried to "arrange" the burger to be as identical as possible to the official version and placed each version side-by-side. I've also tried to include objects in the photo in a way to be able to provide size comparisons
Please note that this isn't an attempt to say the burgers are bad. I like this kind of fast food, and although I have my own favorite (hint: it's flame broiled), I've eaten my share and will continue to do so. My goal in this is to see if we can force a "truth-in-advertising" approach to showing the burgers. Either change the advertising photos or make better burgers.
Here's what I've found so far. If you want to participate, send one of your photos or comments to rey@peer.ca.
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