This Doesn't Look Like the Picture!

[Misty]

My frozen yogurt store just got a new flavor, Blood Orange. There is a picture of it on the menu board. In the picture the yogurt is a really bright, almost florescent orange; in reality the yogurt is actually several shades lighter, but still very orange.

Lots of people have asked to try the Blood Orange, and upon receiving a sample about half of them wrinkle their noses in disgust and/or confusion and say, "this is Blood Orange? It doesn't look like the picture!" Look, I get that you might be a bit disappointed to learn that the yogurt won't glow in the dark as implied in the picture, but come on! You wanted orange yogurt, you got orange yogurt. Suck it up!

[gremcint]

a type of yogurt with blood in the name?

Michael Weston approves.

[Merriweather]

My frozen yogurt store just got a new flavor, Blood Orange. There is a picture of it on the menu board. In the picture the yogurt is a really bright, almost florescent orange; in reality the yogurt is actually several shades lighter, but still very orange.

Lots of people have asked to try the Blood Orange, and upon receiving a sample about half of them wrinkle their noses in disgust and/or confusion and say, "this is Blood Orange? It doesn't look like the picture!" Look, I get that you might be a bit disappointed to learn that the yogurt won't glow in the dark as implied in the picture, but come on! You wanted orange yogurt, you got orange yogurt. Suck it up!

Tell 'em it only looks like the picture under black light, and your shops black lights are broken

[AccountingDrone]

I love blood oranges, they are tarter than most regular oranges but without the bitter. The cara cara orange is a cross between a blood orange and some other orange, and they are quite nice as well.

Darn it, now I want some fresh juicy oranges

[hinakiba777]

You just KNOW that if the colour matched the photo there would be people complaining "That's TOO orange" and "It thought it only looked like THAT in the picture."

[PepperElf]

a type of yogurt with blood in the name?

Michael Weston approves.

When my BF got me into watching that, sometimes I referred to Mike as "Yogurt Boy"

And the local store now carries a brand of yogurt with Blood Orange as well.


As for the color... I can explain that one pretty easily. It's possible they injected more fruit filling to make it look prettier. But it's also VERY possible that the flash itself, and the post-production editing just made it look like a deeper color.

I mean hell I've seen a white lightning flash adjusted (both wattage and attachments & camera shutter speed) into looking like perfect indirect sunlight glowing on skin. so i have no doubt that a good photographer can really make the color pop in the food. Even before post-production.

[Kheldarson]

More likely, it's not real yogurt in the pic anyway and was dyed that color because it would pop. Which makes their complaints even sillier

[PepperElf]

IIRC the food they're trying to sell has to be real food. However any add ons can be fake. Like a bowl of cereal in perfect milk - the cereal itself is real but the milk is glue.

There are certain tricks - such as going through a lot of samples until you find the perfect one (like burgers or something like that). And other tricks (tho some of these sound more like good planning rather than tricks) such as getting all the setup done first - like planning out the angles, lighting, focus etc... before the food ever gets there. That way you don't risk having the food look less fresh while you're still trying to set up.

I read one article where the company actually called the photographer to ask where he got the food from, because they couldn't believe he'd made their actual product look *that* good.

[firecat88]

You're kidding. Food that looks different IRL than it does on the picture? What a shock. */sarcasm* Seriously, I've never seen it happen where the food looks exactly the same when it's given to you as it does in the pictures and commercials.

[rose_metal_nz]

You're kidding. Food that looks different IRL than it does on the picture? What a shock. */sarcasm* Seriously, I've never seen it happen where the food looks exactly the same when it's given to you as it does in the pictures and commercials.

Yeah I was thinking this too; bet they don't make the same complaint at their local Mickey D's or BK!

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Now I want Blood Oranges... 'kay thanks. Might try making a sangria with blood oranges, that would be awesome.

My response to color-picky people; "Who cares as long as it tastes good?"

[dalesys]

Food that looks different IRL than it does on the picture?

Yeah I was thinking this too; bet they don't make the same complaint at their local Mickey D's or BK!

MD & BK have indentured saints adding presarvatives to their food-like substances. (Shades of Famine in 'Good Omens'...)

[Andara Bledin]

a type of yogurt with blood in the name?

Michael Weston approves.

Sorry. Mike's a blueberry man.

Me, on the other hand... the Greek yogurt brand I like has a blood orange flavor that is to die for.

^-.-^

[EricKei]

Yeeeaahhh... Food used in advertisements is usually plastic; it's pretty much a guarantee if it's anything meltable or otherwise perishable ^_^ They gotta sit under hot studio lights for hours on end, flashes be damned.

Those things are disgustinly expensive, too, they'd damn well BETTER look really appetizing!

[MoonCat]

There's a brand of ice cream here with a flavor called Angry Orange. Haven't tried that one yet.

I remember reading a story in a magazine about the way they do food photography. They mentioned using mashed potatoes to sub for vanilla ice cream because it holds up better under the lights.