Food presentation in Advertising

It is clear to us all that whatever is in the picture of an advert (particularly for fast food outlets) that the presentation of food is highly unlikely to resemble the reality.  But that's the exact art of advertising - the buggers want to draw us in to these tasty looking meals but in reality in terms of how it looks - it's all a bit naff really.

Here's an example I'm sure you've all seen before: 
 
And a few other shockers just to open up your eyes and drop your jaws!
 
 
 


It's crazy how different the advertisement vs reality is! This lets us switch back to the glazing descriptions by Roland Barthes in Ornamental Cookery who states how the power of presentation gives of the notion of "dream-like cookery".  He describes how in the particular magazine in question - 'Elle', "never show the dishes except from a high angle, as objects at once near and inaccessible, whose consumption can perfectly well be accomplished simply by looking".  Advertisers and marketing experts use techniques to ensure food looks as appetising as possible in order to draw in their customers.  The people who this work just as hard as make-up artists and are known as food-stylists.  On search of the world wide web I came across a BBC article where they discuss the art of food styling and came across a list of the styles and ways they make food look as good as it does.  The process is by no means as easy as it looks - one food stylist, Mari Williams, speaks of how she used tweezers to present grains of rice in the most attractive way possible, all for the sake of advertisements.  I bet you never though rice of all things could have a stylist!



Here's a few tips to make your home plates just as good as the adverts!

Tricks of the trade
We asked the food stylists for their top tips on making food look great at home:

• Think of shapes when you are cutting your ingredients, cutting spring onions on an angle looks so much better than straight across, same with bread.  Shave cucumber into ribbons rather than slices.
• Think about what you’re plating your food on. You'll be amazed at how a lovely plate or bowl can transform the way your food looks- even if it's just a jacket potato! Choosing neutral, simple plates allows food to be the star.
• Always wipe the plate before serving to get rid of any dribbles or splashes (a wet cotton bud is good for soup bowls or glasses).
• Many supermarkets now sell micro herbs – they look so pretty either in a clump on top of a dish or scattered over a plate.
• Taking a few extra moments to garnish plates - a sprinkle of chopped herbs, a drizzle of olive oil or a grinding of black pepper.