Advertizing tricks for food are used for one reason – to sell. Sure, they are also there to make the food look good, but at the end of the day, the picture on the packet, tin or box, or on the front of a cookbook, is saying come buy me. Advertizing tricks for food are used because many hours under hot lights as well as natural color reduction in cooking processes, can make meals look positively unappetizing. I thought you might find these 9 Tricks Advertisers Use to Make Food Look Good interesting:
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1. Heat Enhancers
Something that comes baking or boiling hot from the oven or stove doesn’t show steam for very long, yet this is the indicator we look for to see food is hot. To artificially create a prolonged show of steam, one of the tricks used by advertisers is to soak cotton balls, pads (or even tampons) in water and microwave them. They are then strategically hidden in the food and allowed to let off steam.
2. Structural Engineering
Have you ever wondered how those 6 inch high burgers stuffed with patties, cheese, lettuce and oodles of toppings stay together? The answer – cardboard and toothpicks.
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3. Defying Gravity
An ice cream sundae where all the yummy syrup has run off the top and congealed in the bowl is still going to taste good, but it isn’t going to make for a great photo. To stop runny syrup from doing its natural thing, one of the tricks advertisers use, is to stick strategic pieces of paper towel to the ice cream before adding the syrup.
4. Get Bizzy with the Fizzy
Bubbles in soda don’t keep fizzing too long after the drink has been poured. To generate an overabundance of fizz, an antacid tablet is added.
5. Ooohhh, Shiny
Glycerin is one of the favorite ways to make food look good. For any food or dish that needs to have a shiny or glossy look to ensure appetite appeal, glycerin is the stock answer.
Glycerin is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting liquid derived from animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is widely used in food production, particularly in the baking and confectionery industries. As a food additive, it is used to add a glossy shine to foods and to increase their shelf life. It is also used as a preservative and a thickening agent, and can be used to give a smooth texture to foods.
Glycerin is a popular choice for making food look good, as it gives food a glossy, attractive appearance. It can be added to hot or cold foods, and can be used to glaze fruits, vegetables, and meats. It can also be used to create a glossy finish on cakes, pastries, and other baked goods.
Glycerin can also be used to make food look more appealing by adding a glossy sheen to sauces, syrups, and dressings. It can also be used to make food look more appetizing by adding a shiny glaze to doughnuts, cookies, and other fried foods.
6. Don’t Cook It!
Does a picture of a juicy piece of steak, so obviously cooked on the grill, make your mouth water? It might surprise you to find out that it has never been anywhere near a grill thanks to some of the tricks advertisers use to make food look good. Meat products like steaks, burgers and kebabs are ‘cooked’ with a blow torch, and those all –important grill marks are added with a branded iron. Sometimes they even touch up the scorch marks with shoe polish or varnish the meat to make it look even juicier.
7. Not so Soggy
Fancy some glue on your cornflakes instead of milk? As we all know, it doesn’t take very long for milk to turn our cereals soggy. One of the tricks advertisers use to prevent a sloppy mess id to replace the milk with white PVA glue. Yoghurt or shampoo are other alternatives.
8. Looks Good, Smells Good
No food stylist would be without a can each of hairspray and deodorant. They can be used to make things stay in place when they’ve been artfully arranged, add a soft sheen and stop things like lettuce leaves and herbs from looking limp.
9. The Not so Humble Potato
Mashed potato is the ace in the box of tricks advertisers use to make food look good. It is injected into foods like chicken, turkey, and roasts to make them look plumper, it’s used as lining in pies and tarts to prevent them falling apart and it’s even dyed every color of the rainbow to substitute as ice cream.
I found these advertising tricks for food fascinating. I hope you do too. Please don’t use them before serving your culinary creations though!
Top Image Source: pinterest.com
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