Food Advertising

From small local restaurants to famous chains, businesses rely on their advertising to reach customers and bring in revenue. When it comes to food advertising, there are several techniques that are used to highlight food and make it look mouthwatering and delicious. This type of advertising is an art form that requires a combination of skill, technique, and understanding of how food translates into a photograph.

Setting Up a Dish

From baked goods to soups, food has various properties that can make it difficult to photograph effectively. One way to create impeccable food advertising is to “fake” some of the components of a dish. A good example is to separate sections of a slice of cake with cardboard to hold it in place. Glucose syrup can make Chinese noodles look impeccably shiny while adding liquid dish soap to beverages like beer creates beautiful, perfect suds.

Making a Switch

It might surprise you to learn that some food advertising isn’t exactly as it seems. Cold dishes like ice cream can easily melt under hot studio lights, so a talented advertising pro will replace it with something like mashed potatoes completed with food coloring. These little swap-outs are obvious to people in the studio, but the person viewing the ad will never know that the actual food has been swapped out. It’s a masterful trick that keeps dishes looking fresh, even when they’re made with different ingredients.

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