"flame broiled, dripping with, you know, juiciness"

August 31, 2023 10:41 AM

Burger King must defend its Whopper size in court. Other fast food chains may follow [CBC] Includes a quote by "the Vanilla Vigilante" lawyer Spencer Sheehan.
posted by readinghippo (76 comments total)

Reading that article made me hungry. :(
posted by mazola at 10:48 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

How many hands does it take, really?
posted by bitslayer at 10:48 AM on August 31, 2023

The thing about this suit is--who in this day and age doesn't know that of course advertising is deceptive and food stylists make food look better than it is?

Even if they weren't playing with the food in the image (whether they're using undercooked beef, as one of the stylists said, or simply pushing all the fillings to the front or propping them on toothpicks), the lighting and color deepening are obvious. Who really expects to get food that looks like that, especially if you've seen even one fast food burger out of the wrapper? And even if they do--are they harmed if they don't get it?

This really feels like a nuisance suit to me.
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:54 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]

The thing about this suit is--who in this day and age doesn't know that of course advertising is deceptive and food stylists make food look better than it is?

Whatever is, is right?
posted by praemunire at 10:55 AM on August 31, 2023 [6 favorites]

The thing about this suit is--who in this day and age doesn't know that of course advertising is deceptive and food stylists make food look better than it is?

Sure, I think that's true. This suit asks us to open our minds to the possibility that these practices matter and should be changed.
posted by billjings at 11:00 AM on August 31, 2023 [70 favorites]

Along these lines: I was just thinking when I am appointed Chancellor of the World I will require any container containing a dry ready-to-eat food (chips, etc) to be filled to at least 80% of the container size (when said container is expanded to its full size, if container is collapsible.)

And if any commercial features a talking McNugget, I expect them to talk, dammit.
posted by credulous at 11:00 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

Based on the images in the article, Burger King are the least egregious of the fast food chains in this regard. The actual Whopper pictured looks a lot more similar to the ad than the examples from Wendy's or Taco Bell. Maybe the veg is a little more plentiful, a little more colourful, and ask the ingredients are spilling out the front side of the burger (which they do little too hide - the top of the bun looks like it's at an angle, like the back is much thinner) but the differences between advert and reality in the other examples are very, very stark.
posted by Dysk at 11:02 AM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

I feel like the food in the ad should have to be an actual burger served by an actual restaurant. I don’t think any of the deceptive tactics to make the food look better should be legal. I don’t think most people have any clue how that stuff goes.
posted by Slinga at 11:06 AM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]

I mean, they say right up front that it's a whopper
posted by chavenet at 11:10 AM on August 31, 2023 [30 favorites]

Is the consequence of these suits succeeding going to be that every fast food joint starts serving their burgers with all the ingredients crammed to one side, rather than change how they photograph stuff?
posted by Dysk at 11:11 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

This really feels like a nuisance suit to me.

Eh, then fight it and win. It's not as if Burger King lacks legal resources.
posted by ryanrs at 11:18 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I will require any container containing a dry ready-to-eat food (chips, etc) to be filled to at least 80% of the container size

Recently I read that potato chip bags are mostly empty because they are filled with nitrogen. Chips go rancid VERY quickly, and the nitrogen keeps them from doing that when on the shelf. Also they turn into dust when they get bashed around, and having a large amount of air under some pressure helps as well. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean there isn't food science reasons for some things.
posted by aspo at 11:18 AM on August 31, 2023 [31 favorites]

All the above, plus the bags need to be sized so they don't pop at high altitudes because of lower air pressure.
posted by ryanrs at 11:20 AM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

Along these lines: I was just thinking when I am appointed Chancellor of the World I will require any container containing a dry ready-to-eat food (chips, etc) to be filled to at least 80% of the container size (when said container is expanded to its full size, if container is collapsible.)

Man, it makes me sad, but I get why they do this for chips. The extra air space in the bag helps keep them from breaking in transit, especially when going from low pressure->high pressure regions.
posted by billjings at 11:21 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

Credulous, I will go along with the Talking McNugget Law but only if amended to state that, when I eat one, it has to scream in high, squeaky horror.
posted by Quindar Beep at 11:21 AM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]

It feels like this is an easy thing for Burger King to defend. As long as I can remember, the Whopper has been described on the Burger King menu as containing a quarter pound of beef before cooking. That seems easy enough to prove. Of course any given burger being slapped together across the country is going to look different than the promotional photo; the question is the level of deceit. In this case (and unlike, say, the nebulous quantity of beef in a Taco Bell Crunchwrap), Burger King has generally been clear about the specifics.

I would argue that what the promotional photos don't show, but is absolutely integral to the Whopper experience, is the almost insane amount of mayo that every Whopper I've ever eaten has had slathered upon it. You can make that burger look perfect in the photos, but that image never truly represents the strange combination of Maillard-reaction beef, strangely under-ripe (but still red) tomatoes and vast quantities of mayo that define the distinct flavor and texture of the Whopper. I get a craving around once a year, get a BOGO deal or something, unwrap a mediocre-looking sandwich, experience that distinct sloppy flavor, and then am like, yep, that was certainly a Whopper.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 11:27 AM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

I hadn't eaten at Burger King in years and years, but got lunch there the other day and the whopper was much better than I was expecting. Either they've gotten better, or more likely, others have gotten worse and they stayed the same. It was noticeably better than the last time I ate at McDonalds.

But I agree that a lot of food photos are, if not entirely deceptive, certainly aren't accurate representations of the truth.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:34 AM on August 31, 2023

The whopper has (or had) a larger diameter than most other fast food burgers so more condiments and toppings could be put on it per weight of meat, which improves the flavour substantially. That's why Big Macs are so gross, because it's a huge wodge of meat and bread and not much else.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:39 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm in favor of anything that holds a megacorp accountable. Yeah everybody knows that the food in the ad is nothing like what you get from the restaurant. But I don't really see why they should be allowed to make things look gourmet when they are not gourmet. Either up your quality so that a photo of your *actual* food is more appealing or show us what we're gonna get. Either way, to paraphrase one of the greatest posters of all time, I'll keep eating that garbage.
posted by dis_integration at 11:43 AM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]

Credulous, I will go along with the Talking McNugget Law but only if amended to state that, when I eat one, it has to scream in high, squeaky horror.

🎼 pop a poppler in your mouth 🎶
posted by saturday_morning at 11:43 AM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]

I once ate a Burger King burger. Once. What impressed me was that they had managed to come up with something that was even worse than McDonalds.
posted by philip-random at 11:44 AM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

A bit more truth in advertising would be great. That taco bell comparison photo is almost like a meme showing expectations and reality. If taking pictures of the actual food you serve wouldn't bring people to your restaurant than maybe you should work on making your food look better.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:05 PM on August 31, 2023 [7 favorites]

Didn't we just have a thread about how this sort of thing is terrible and bad? Or something?
posted by sagc at 12:07 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I went to a restaurant a few weeks ago where I was delighted to discover, in their window, a selection of their entrees, very brightly colored, glistening and shiny and...plastic. ("Is that...is it real?" I asked, my finger moving ever closer to the display.) When the actual food arrived to our table, it was drab, but it was just about as flavorless as the plastic, so I guess it's half-truth in advertising?
posted by mittens at 12:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

For some reason, I find a Whopper Jr. with cheese reasonably edible, but can't stomach a Whopper at all.
posted by praemunire at 12:17 PM on August 31, 2023

And if any commercial features a talking McNugget, I expect them to talk, dammit.
posted by credulous

Eponysterical.
posted by bryon at 12:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

Years ago, a coworker told about the time he was in Los Angeles and a friend invited him to come watch a photo shoot at some studio. He got to the studio, walked in, and there was a HUGE table set with a great big bunch of dishes of really tempting food. He said it looked wonderful. As he stood there drooling, a guy and came in and immediately yelled - Don’t eat that stuff! Don’t touch it! It’s poison!!! The guy explained that they were doing a photo shoot for some mega menu chain restaurant and all the food had been doctored up with loads of chemicals, sprays, paint, colorings, etc. to make it all look that good and last all day for the photo shoot. Ever since hearing this story I’ve never looked at a photo of food on a menu or in an ad and thought Yum…. There are the food equivalents to makeup artists and hairstylists in the food business.
posted by njohnson23 at 12:19 PM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

I think the issue here is that advertising using optimized images, in this case, is designed to appeal to your gut without informing your brain. So they're showing you a picture of a chef created dinner to get you off the couch, but giving you shit in a bag on arrival. It is deceptive advertising and it is trying to motivate you to buy something you probably don't "intellectually" want or need by appealing directly to your baser instincts and that appeal is based on a false promise.
posted by doctor_negative at 12:29 PM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

I support anyone taking the time to bite at the ankles of a large corporation. Maybe if we bothered about even the little things we let them get away with, we take away a bit of their power. We all know it advertising is fake and therefore we should... allow it to go on unchecked? I disagree. Corporations deserve nuisances, they're are nuisance enough to the public, aren't they?
Enough barnacles on a boat are a problem. Be a barnacle on the side of a cooperate vessel today!
posted by wellifyouinsist at 12:39 PM on August 31, 2023 [14 favorites]

Honestly, the two whopper images in the article are much closer to each other than I expected. The “real” burger is fairly attractive by fast food standards, and has a decent resemblance to the menu photo. I mean, it’s not the same, but it actually exceeds my (low) expectations.

The photos used in the Taco Bell and Wendy’s lawsuits are much more egregious (and yet, more in line with what I expect from fast food advertising versus reality).
posted by mbrubeck at 12:43 PM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

I think the even bigger deception in these stories is often the "real" picture. They have managed to cherry pick the absolute worst picture, taken in the worst lighting, of the worst food, put together by the most sociopathic teenager putting the least effort into the food possible.

I mean yeah the food rarely looks exactly like what's in the ad but it rarely looks that bad. The Burger King one is reasonable... but I've never been served something that looks in real life as bad as the Wendy's example.
posted by cirhosis at 12:46 PM on August 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

I support anyone taking the time to bite at the ankles of a large corporation.

The problem here is that "biting the ankles" of large corportations can clog our public courts and prevent more important lawsuits from occurring expediently.

sagc's comment: "Didn't we just have a thread about how this sort of thing is terrible and bad? Or something?" is the most important one in this thread. The linked article indicates that the lawyer behind this Burger King lawsuit has been filing literally hundreds of lawsuits in a similar structure against pretty much every quick-service food company. This article indicates that's it's over 550 suits.

As many have mentioned, the promotional photo of the Whopper looks more colorful and more appetizing than the filed photo of a Whopper, but it is not at all clear that the promised ingredients, in the promised quantity, are missing from the lawyer's photo. This lawyer seems to be banking on some sort of potato phone defense.

Mere attractiveness of photography is not the issue here. We don't have to feel sorry for the corporations, but we do need to worry that this is not the best use of the public legal system unless people are being legitimately deceived.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 12:54 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

OMG, I am literally in tears of laughter at the Wendy's and Taco Bell examples. Hilariously egregious.
posted by Kat Allison at 12:59 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

The thing about this suit is--who in this day and age doesn't know that of course advertising is deceptive and food stylists make food look better than it is?

Yea, to borrow a phrase from some random angry tiktoker: Puffery is embedded in the culture here. It is un-Amirican to want the food you were served to match what you saw in the advertising. If you want truth-in-advertising, move to Japan.
posted by pwnguin at 1:06 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

But have any of you folks been to a ghost Burger King? I was driving from LA back to Seattle and stopped in Coalinga, CA for gas and food. There was a BK handy, and it was open (I think it must have been about 3:30pm). Inside, there wasn't a soul. Not a customer, nor any staff. I hung about for five minutes, thinking staff was on break, maybe?, admiring the single burger awaiting gods know what (or who) in the "hot box", and then I went across the street to a Carls.

For all I know that BK is still there, empty but "open", with that single burger still in its wrapper awaiting...someone.
posted by maxwelton at 1:08 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

I’ve told this story before, but I had read a story (probably linked here) about one of those horrifying multi-ton sewer blockages made up of fast-food cooking grease and heaven knows what else, and I walked into work and ran into an older coworker (now sadly departed) and asked casually “have you heard about the fatberg?” And she asked, very poker faced, “is that the new Hardee’s sandwich?” I miss her.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:08 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]

The problem here is that "biting the ankles" of large corportations can clog our public courts and prevent more important lawsuits from occurring expediently.

I presume you are out every morning in front of the SDNY or Delaware Chancery protesting the obscene waste of judicial resources represented by many of the yearslong lawsuits between corporations, then?

When I hear things like this, I can't decide whether the speaker just fell off the back of the turnip truck or thinks the audience just fell off the back of the turnip truck.
posted by praemunire at 1:12 PM on August 31, 2023 [8 favorites]

I'm not surprised by people defending fast food burger advertisements. I predict half of the apologist comments will be people saying, "The burgers don't look much worse than the advertisement photos!" and the other half will be "Well of course the burgers look much worse than the advertisement photos, don't you know what an advertisement is?"
posted by AlSweigart at 1:13 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

I completely missed the Burger King and Taco Bell comparison photos in the article, and thought the Wendy’s one was the Burger King one, and thereby the only one in the article, and wondered what pictures y’all were talking about, because I thought they were just unrelated ads, and because I have gotten so used to ignoring ads in the middle of articles and scrolling past them.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 1:20 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

I get a kick out of the Coney Island "puffery" where an elaborate sculptured façade promises some kind of comically less than that experience. It's part of the fun, marveling at the nerve of it all in classic carny tradition. I get a laugh out of fast food depictions as well, it's entertaining, part of the fun.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:24 PM on August 31, 2023

Put me on team truth-in-advertising / "it's OK for them to lie because everyone expects it" is ad-culture Stockholm syndrome.

I'd be OK with a law that requires that all menu photos be photos of actual items purchased from actual restaurant locations.
posted by tclark at 1:24 PM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]

Legally speaking, I don't think American cheese is actually cheese

That and Spam won WWII for the allies, so don't underestimate the power of calcium alginate or whatever the magic ingredient is, without it you'd be speaking German.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:28 PM on August 31, 2023

Spencer Sheehan has done far more to directly challenge the worst excesses of corporations serving us unhealthy swill they call "food" much more than anyone in this mefi thread. He's a god damn hero as far as I'm concerned.
posted by AlSweigart at 1:35 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'd be OK with a law that requires that all menu photos be photos of actual items purchased from actual restaurant locations.

I hope they go after television ads next. The Dior model can be somebody rich and nice looking, but Old Navy should be tired moms and dads from a generic suburb. I permit Macys a dice roll.
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:39 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Can anybody tell me what's wrong with this picture?
posted by pwnguin at 1:41 PM on August 31, 2023

In the city where I live, they tore down two perfectly good, functioning businesses about half a mile apart on a busy street and replaced them both with fucking Chik-Fil-A, which, not only do they full-throttle support Christian Fascism, but the food is fucking terrible. Fried chicken should not be sweet, and the potatoes are awful, too. The biscuits are okay, I guess. Yet a certain class made up entirely of white people just gobble it down and see nothing wrong with it. Every time my daughter has a swim meet, the parents' group, which my wife is like you deal with them, they're whatever Karens mutate into Pokemon style, will bring snacks, and there's always Chick-Fil-A, and my daughter is gay, and every time, I patiently walk the Metakaren through why they're supporting right-wing garbage, and the Karens are like but the chicken is so gooood, and I'm like that's not the damn point and you know it, and I know this has nothing to do with food photography, but thanks for letting me vent.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 1:43 PM on August 31, 2023 [16 favorites]

I've never had one, but that Crunchwrap is just pathetic next to it's marketing photo!
posted by hydra77 at 1:46 PM on August 31, 2023

I've had several Wendy's burgers that looked so much like the photo that I've actually taken photos of them, but I agree, that should be the norm, not the exception.
posted by furtive at 2:08 PM on August 31, 2023

I think the even bigger deception in these stories is often the "real" picture. They have managed to cherry pick the absolute worst picture, taken in the worst lighting, of the worst food, put together by the most sociopathic teenager putting the least effort into the food possible.

This. I had a quick look for photos I've taken of hamburgers over the years (thanks Apple photo search! I have 895 burger pix!*) and it seems you have to really try to make them look that terrible.

----
*Aside: one year I made a new year's resolution to eat 50 hamburgers so I took snapshots of my progress as I went. Included delicious homemade patties, some upscale burgers, and some fast-food ones. All looked better than the mugshots featured in the article.
posted by mazola at 2:19 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

*Aside: one year I made a new year's resolution to eat 50 hamburgers so I took snapshots of my progress as I went. .

Your January sounds amazing. What did you do for the next 11 months?
posted by Dip Flash at 2:24 PM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

I've taken pictures for money at various points in my life and I think a large majority of people really don't realize how hard it is to take pictures of food and make it look good... even if the food itself does look good in person. Think about your annoying friend who takes photos of every meal they eat... how often does that look good?

There is a reason that the ad people go to the absurd lengths they go to. Do they sometimes go way too far... definitely. But should there be a law that some advertising photos just be taken by some smuck with a phone, in the restaurant, right before that food is served to someone? Have you been to a certain class of Chinese restaurant where the photos look just like that?

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. I feel like if they are lying about what's in the food... Nail them to the f'ing wall. But otherwise yes all advertising is deceptive and shitty... I'm really at a loss as to what the fix for that is... I really don't think it's largely dumb ass lawsuits.
posted by cirhosis at 2:25 PM on August 31, 2023

Sam Kinison screaming!!!!!!!!1
posted by wmo at 2:28 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've taken pictures for money at various points in my life and I think a large majority of people really don't realize how hard it is to take pictures of food and make it look good... even if the food itself does look good in person. Think about your annoying friend who takes photos of every meal they eat... how often does that look good?

Food photography ideally has good lighting but colour correction is almost always required (and most people never do it!).
posted by mazola at 2:55 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

Heh... now I kinda want to walk back a bit... it feels to me like I'm attacking for no reason.

I probably more agree with mazola then my last comment. You can take photos of food that look ok and hell some people take phone photos of (often admittedly food that was made "for the gram" ) that actually look pretty tasty. It's taking photos of meh food and actually having someone really want to eat it that are often difficult and take lots of dumb ass tricks to pull off.

Also if we want to talk about laws around making food actually relatively healthy as the norm I'm willing to get on board. I know I've eaten lots of fast food that looked ok to good but tased either like nothing or actively unlike food.
posted by cirhosis at 3:00 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Also if we want to talk about laws around making food actually relatively healthy as the norm I'm willing to get on board. I know I've eaten lots of fast food that looked ok to good but tased either like nothing or actively unlike food.

These are two unrelated things though? Coriander tastes actively unlike food to me, for example, and spinach very much unlike food. Neither is unhealthy (not that nutritional content and diet stuff can be reduced down to a one-dimensional or even binary measure like that, but let's roll with it).

Conversely, mucky fat tastes extremely like good, proper food to me, but it's generally not the best thing to consume in quantity.

Healthy and delicious are two different things that don't really correlate with each other in any way!
posted by Dysk at 3:14 PM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

(Also, lots of food that is both incredibly delicious and healthy looks incredibly meh, like porridge, and lots of fancy Instagram food is neither healthy nor delicious. Appearance, deliciousness, and healthy are three different things that don't really correlate in any way!)
posted by Dysk at 3:17 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I just want anyone else who's also had a lifelong fast food crush on Burger King's Italian chicken sandwich to know that this delicious, salty long boi is *currently back on the menu.

*May not be available in your area at the time of this writing, but the BKs in my general vicinity are still serving them. I almost can't bear eating the combo meal now, it's so bad for me -- but this is definitely my favorite fast food item of all time.

ALL. TIME.

I swear to god, it tastes like the least problematic memories of my childhood.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 3:18 PM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'm not sure they are as entirely unrelated as you are saying. But yeah i definitely worded it poorly.
Rather it's the fact that we're largely fed a diet of sugar and fat that I object to... cause that stuff is cheap and easy to make. I'm not exactly envisioning a nanny state where people can't choose to eat that, its just more the (actually good for you + tastes good + is affordable) formula really feels like something that should be possible but capitalizm really isn't going to deliver on without some kinda ass kicking.

Also 100% agree that cilantro is not food.
posted by cirhosis at 3:24 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

For all I know that BK is still there, empty but "open", with that single burger still in its wrapper awaiting...someone.

That sounds like you wandered into an SCP containment breach. You’re lucky you made it out.
posted by mhoye at 3:29 PM on August 31, 2023 [8 favorites]

Maybe next they should go after sites like Wish and Temu that feature photos of better products and then ship you an inferior knock-off.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 3:40 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

I have always thought that the veggie whopper, which I remember from my youth being a whopper minus the meat patty, was proof that we are in someone's Truman Show.

That is like saying that I can do a veggie standing backflip.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 3:41 PM on August 31, 2023

Above, someone says, surely everyone knows advertising is misleading. I have a few things to say about that.

1. Nothing is obvious to everyone. Kids. The naive. People from less ad-filled cultures. People whose guards are just down. You perspective isn't everyone's. There's many unexpected cases, out there. Simplicy in communication is good.
2. Dealing with misleading ads is more wearing than dealing with accurate ones, each ad becomes a judgement of how misleading it is.
3. An unstated purpose of truth-in-advertising laws is, they make advertising more effective, certainly more useful, because it increases its information content.
4. It'd be really nice if we weren't being constantly lied to all the time.
posted by JHarris at 3:46 PM on August 31, 2023 [12 favorites]

The thing about the fast food franchise model is the same chain can be so completely different from one location to the next. I've had good Burger King and bad Burger King. I've had good Wendy's and bad Wendy's. It's not consistent. The whole point of a chain like them is the idea is you can go to one and know exactly what you're getting. But it's a crapshoot.
posted by downtohisturtles at 3:49 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

For all I know that BK is still there, empty but "open", with that single burger still in its wrapper awaiting...someone.

It's me

The burger is waiting for me

I love Burger King

About once a month I get a double whopper plain with one slice of cheese

I might have a protein deficiency or something
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:06 PM on August 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Emphasis on ‘crap.’
posted by box at 5:20 PM on August 31, 2023

Have it your way! You Rule!

Not sure I have ever had a Whopper. I must have gone there at some point, but, I certainly don't remember that experience.
posted by Windopaene at 5:41 PM on August 31, 2023

Falling Down.
posted by dsword at 6:54 PM on August 31, 2023

...replaced them both with fucking Chik-Fil-A

Here, there's a fucking Chik-Fil-A opposite a Carl's Jr., across the way from a Hobby Lobby, which is the essence of convenience for customers finishing up a harassment shift at the Planned Parenthood in the office park.

Spencer Sheehan has carved out one hell of a professional niche. Remember, take a look around your kitchen for tomorrow's brainstorming session, time's a-wastin'.
posted by Iris Gambol at 8:22 PM on August 31, 2023

the food rarely looks exactly like what's in the ad but it rarely looks that bad. The Burger King one is reasonable... but I've never been served something that looks in real life as bad as the Wendy's example.

Here's why these lawsuits matter, this one in particular.

First, I've eaten at a lot of places where they do, in fact, look like that. Shocker of shockers, you can (often) get a better burger in higher income areas, and a worse one in lower income areas, because companies are aware of what you can get away with and who is going to complain about the quality of the food.

Secondly, it's not just the photos: those are actually different nutritional food qualities being displayed. In the picture of the whopper, for example, you have two thick slices of tomato, and a full size piece of romaine lettuce prominently displayed, along with, what appears from the stacking to be three actual slices of onion. That is real vegetable. When you look at the burger you receive, however, there's a few strands of probably shredded lettuce, a barely visible and probably ultrathin slice of tomato, and what are clearly individual rings of onion. Similarly in the crunchwrap, that's a hefty amount of fresh lettuce and tomatoes that are promised, and a meager amount of wilted lettuce with paltry tomatoes provided. In the Wendy's burger, visually it appears to be at least two but more likely three full pieces of full sized bacon. The bacon is invisible in the photo but having actually ordered that item from Wendy's I can assure you that what you receive is less than one slice of full size bacon, leaving crispness and width aside.

Thirdly, this may actually be an interesting *franchising* issue - depending on *why* the burgers are that bad compared to the photos, and I really hope this lawsuit makes it to discovery so that we can find out why. If the photos are in fact mandated or provided by the parent company, but the individual items are created by each franchisee, that seems like absolutely false advertising to me - promising a uniform quality through enforced standards that is not achieved. If in fact the uniform standards are to make the burgers shitty, then that also needs to be known and a change needs to happen.
posted by corb at 3:39 AM on September 1, 2023 [6 favorites]

I'm reminded of the scene in Brazil where the waiter serves some non-descript blobs of food along with a picture of a steak, and everyone just regards it as normal.
posted by swr at 9:01 PM on September 1, 2023 [4 favorites]

I'm reminded of the scene in Brazil where

the future began at some point in 1985. no question.
posted by philip-random at 10:46 PM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

there was also the FOOD in Repo Man.
posted by philip-random at 10:47 PM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

In the picture of the whopper, for example, you have two thick slices of tomato, and a full size piece of romaine lettuce prominently displayed, along with, what appears from the stacking to be three actual slices of onion. That is real vegetable. When you look at the burger you receive, however, there's a few strands of probably shredded lettuce, a barely visible and probably ultrathin slice of tomato, and what are clearly individual rings of onion.

I dunno, there's a lot of assumptions going in here. We can't see the tomato in the actual burger photo, so we don't know how thin it may be sliced. That the lettuce is cut, rather than served as a single unmolested leaf is a difference, sure, but I'm not sure how significant it is, particularly nutritionally. I'd also point out that the onion in the promo photo is single rings not solid slices as well, which can be seen in the rightmost one (the other two have only the edge visible, so it is not possible to make that determination - ETA: but the way they overlap suggests one is sinking into the other, suggesting hollow rings). To me, it looks like the major difference is everything in the burger is visible in the promo shot, whereas it isn't all piled on one edge in the actual burger (notwithstanding the tomato, which we cannot judge from just that photo).

I think it would be much easier to make the point, if the actual contents were meaningfully different rather than just the appearance, by having a photo of the actual burger with the top bun off, so as to be able to see and judge the contents of it.
posted by Dysk at 3:10 AM on September 2, 2023

FWIW I've never been served a Whopper that had whole onion slices. In fact because my teeth have gaps my usual experience with onions in Whoppers was taking a bite and then having a long bit of onion ring unreel out from the sandwich as as I moved it away from my mouth. This got messy.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:57 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

I bet that lawyer's intern got asked to drive around to fast food franchises, order the items from the ads, then take them all back to the office and photograph the crappiest looking specimen for each category of item. I'm not saying the items depicted weren't actually served as seen, just that they're probably examples of the worst, not the average. It's what I would have done.
posted by axiom at 10:17 AM on September 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

It was shortly after that when I discovered they'd served me a bun with dressings but no burger and no cheese. Just bread and ketchup and mustard.

I tried to eat a Carl's Jr cheeseburger once. You got the better end of the deal.
posted by Devoidoid at 1:11 PM on September 12, 2023