At least these tricks involve using (mostly) edible items. Some food stylist techniques include using Elmer’s glue in place of milk in cereal ads, painting food with glycerin to make it look shiny and juicy, and spraying food items with spray paint to enhance color. Granted, nobody’s ever going to eat the food used in commercials and photo shoots, but it’s the sort of unrealistic expectation that food ads create that results in situations like Domino’s Pizza having to “reboot” their product because the reality was so unappetizing. (I wonder if they’re going to fix the pasta bowls, too)

It’s my assumption that most of us are fully aware of the business of food styling — the people who are responsible for making food look so damn good in photographs, commercials, and product packaging. It’s a speciality business, but a lucrative one, and many people who go through the culinary school process find themselves drawn to it as an alternative to the restaurant business.

I also assume that there are few of us who aren’t aware that food stylists use all manner of tricks and tweaks to make the food look like that. Indeed, in many cases what winds up being photographed is often something totally inedible because of the enhancements (the one that always sticks out in my mind is that the “milk” in cereal bowl photos is usually mixed with Elmer’s Glue).

But just to give us a reminder of the cognitive dissonance we cause for ourselves when we actually choose to eat the food these ads represent, this website does a little side-by-side comparison of the food porn ad photos and what you actually get (link via The Presurfer). I actually chose one of the better looking ones for this post; just wait until you see some of the other comparisons.

Still lovin’ it?