Food porn (noun): Close-up images of juicy, delicious food often used for advertising purposes.
I hate food porn. I think it's one of the great wrongdoings of the ad industry. It's false advertising, simple as that.
I'd actually equate it to meeting someone online and exchanging pictures only to meet them in real life and realizing that the previously sent pictures were photoshopped. It's blatant lying.
Do I understand why clients love food porn in their spots? Yes. Appetite appeal is huge and it probably actually draws some people in to try the product. But that's where the problem begins.
Because unless that's what your product looks like when the consumer orders it, there will be a huge let down. There will be anger. The consumer will know they have been lied to. And you can't build brand loyalty on lies.
It used to be a lot more acceptable. However, consumers these days are not only smart and engaged, but they're also cynical. They know when they're being lied to and they're savvy enough to share their experiences with other consumers on sites like consumerist.com.
When was the last time you ordered a hamburger that looked as good as it did on TV? My guess? Never.
Here's what I think we need to do as an industry to confront the food porn trend:
1. Convince clients that if they want beauty shots of their food in advertising, they need to ensure that's exactly how they will deliver the food to consumers. Every burger served needs to look like the burger you used in the spot. No exceptions.
2. We need to be more realistic with how we showcase food in ads. Wrinkle free buns don't exist on an operational level, so don't use them in the food shots. Embrace the imperfections. Showcase exactly what consumers will get when they order, but do it in the best light possible. Be honest.
Nobody likes being lied to. So let's stop using food porn to sell food. It's distasteful and quite frankly, it's not doing the client any good.
But it is doing the client some good. If you see a burger on TV that looks awesome, you might just buy it next time you're hungry and near that place. They don't care that they're lying, sadly. They rang the register and that's all that matters.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to the whole career of "Food stylist." Never has a more bullshit but necessary job existed.
Some has compiled a bunch of hilarious comparisons between advertised and real fast food here: http://www.thewvsr.com/adsvsreality.htm