Saturday, February 21, 2009

Truth In Advertising...

You know what burns me up? How fast food is advertised to look like a work of art, and the actual product is a bit less spectacular. For example, the Burger King Whopper. The photo to the right was taken straight from the Burger King website. It looks like the most appetizing burger ever made! Don't get me wrong. I love the whopper. I just don't understand how a company can advertise a product, and when you get to the location, you receive (technically) a completely different product. What if General Motors advertised the 2010 Camaro with a photo of the car in immaculate condition, made you pay for it before you saw it, then delivered to you a slightly less desirable looking car? And what gets me is this practice by fast food restaurants is accepted by almost everyone. When I bring it up, people say "well you just can't expect it to look like the picture." I don't accept that. The photo to the left is of an actual Whopper received by a customer. I would still eat it and enjoy it. I just resent the fact that the company can insult my intellect, and do it with a smile.

The same is true at McDonald's. And yes, I love McDonald's, but the Big Mac has the same attributes that can not be delivered as promised. The photo to the right is straight from the McDonald's website. I think years ago, when I was a kid, the Big Mac actually looked like the photo. Or maybe it is just a glitch in my memory. Most kids at that time held McDonald's in high regard. Get an "A" on your report card, and you got a free cheeseburger! I think my brother Jerry and I walked nearly 3 miles to redeem our report cards for 1 cheeseburger each. Once again, the actual product received by a McDonald's customer is shown below. I still eat them, but I am disappointed.

Not to be outdone, Long John Silver's seafood restaurants piss me off too. Not because of the quality of the end product, but the deceptive practice of making look like the meals will feed (and satisfy) a hungry adult. I ordered some type of combo meal a while ago, I received my food and stood there waiting for the employee to serve up the rest of the meal. When the server pointed out that that was the entire meal, I pointed out that I was a grown man and $5 should at least put a dent in my appetite. He didn't get it, he just looked at me like I was minutes from being on CNN.
Oh well, I am sure nothing can be done and I will continue to eat at all of the above fine food establishments. I just wanted to air my beef...