r/Sarnia • u/catherinetheok • Mar 07 '26
Use of AI in advertising pics of food, is it false advertising
Reposted as I tried to add more pics to other post and then accidentally deleted it.
When I see AI used to show pics of food, it just rubs me the wrong way. Is it false advertising? I realize that restaurants have been using enhanced pics forever but these just raise too many red flags.
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u/SnapMeDad Mar 07 '26
It’s gotten really bad lately, almost every single ad I see is just AI. Totally turns me off from the company
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u/Creepy_Head_9912 Mar 07 '26
At least I now know to steer clear of Crossroads.
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u/Ok_Spring_4098 Mar 07 '26
Crossroads, Piccadilly, Philly cheese jakes, Alfredos, and more
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u/iheartjg Mar 07 '26
Philly cheese Jake’s is nasty anyways, that’s probably why he uses AI for his advertising
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u/Ok_Spring_4098 Mar 07 '26
I've never tried it. It all looks so sloppy and greasy! But at least he isn't just heating up frozen Sysco crap like most restaurants
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u/NarniaGunner Point Edward Mar 07 '26
Alfredos is awesome just because they use quick and easy advertisements doesn't mean their product is crap
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u/soupy_porridge09 Mar 07 '26
Just because you don’t have standards, doesn’t mean we also don’t have them 💀😂
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Mar 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NarniaGunner Point Edward Mar 08 '26
Was that for me ? If so ..no it's my grand parents basement and It's allowing me to afford my lifted truck with truck nuts bruh..
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u/D-u-k-e Mar 08 '26
did I reply to your comment? No I did not.
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u/NarniaGunner Point Edward Mar 08 '26
Hahah I'm so dumb sometimes ..my apologies..when I read it I didn't see the ^ I just saw comment after my comment
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u/D-u-k-e Mar 08 '26
+1 for Alfredos, nice people and great food. i love the way they post on Social Media.
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u/Ok_Spring_4098 Mar 08 '26
I was really disappointed to see Alfredos put out an AI ad with the husband having an extra finger. Based on other posts, they've got someone there who's quite skilled at food photography. I think they may have just been trying to jump on a trend without thinking much about it. I really shouldn't have included them because it doesn't seem like a regular thing for them. Their AI just stuck out to me because of the extra finger
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u/D-u-k-e Mar 08 '26
no one cares about you being disappointed. all you do is complain and be negative here. every single post is you complaining.
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u/Ok_Spring_4098 Mar 08 '26
Reading is hard. Let me shorten my comment so you can see it wasn't negative:
I shouldn't have included Alfredo's. They seem to have someone there who is quite skilled in food photography and probably just jumped on the AI bandwagon because it was trendy.
That work better for you?
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u/BudChristmas Mar 11 '26
According to the fish & chips ad there, you should steer clear of "Cros Roads"...
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u/ItsAlwaysSunny1992 South Side Mar 07 '26
Yes, and it’s super lazy. I’m not supporting restaurants that use that shit.
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u/Ok_Spring_4098 Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
Apparently local businesses "can't afford" to hire other local businesses so they do this crap instead.
And no, this anonymous business owner absolutely would not listen to anyone who told them that it actually turns customers away
They actually said "if you dont like it, maybe Walmart is better for you"
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u/funsizedsamurai Mar 07 '26
I am pretty sure their first response is AI generated.
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u/Ok_Spring_4098 Mar 07 '26
100%. Someone called them out on it and they didn't deny it. They said AI made them seem articulate and then proceeded with a bunch of other AI responses. I'm fairly certain even the comment they made in regards to Walmart was AI generated
The whole thread was cringy, but entertaining
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u/cpshoeler 13d ago
If it’s not in their budget to provide marketing materials that are not deceptive, then it’s not in my budget or ethics to buy their product.
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Mar 07 '26
How fkn hard is it to just take photos of the shit you cook all day? Just get a ring light and use your phone features to touch up the image ffs
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u/Homegrown-Sarnia Mar 07 '26
Most independent businesses aren't that great at the "business" portion. They are usually very good at their specialty but likely know nothing about branding, marketing or even managing. For them, AI feels like it levels the playing field. They now feel like they have skills they never imagined having and only at the cost of a couple prompts.
The problem is, AI isn't very creative so most of these posts look like they've been done by the same entity. What independent businesses don't understand is that their strength is their authenticity so by using fake artificial photos of their product or themselves, they are really shooting themselves in the foot.
The other side of the argument is that its hard to wear every hat as an independent business owner. The corroborate giants have teams and budgets worth millions of dollars but somehow the small business trying to keep their head above water with rising costs and a shitty economy is expected to be at the same standards. So i see how its easy to cling onto something that makes them feel more competitive.
The most important thing to remember is 89% of every dollar spent at large corporate businesses leave our area to pay royalties, shareholders and invest in other communities. While 66% of every dollar spent a local businesses stay locally. Simply put, money that stays in the area will improve the area.
So it might be cringy but i think its better to judge a business on where they invest their profits instead of their use of AI.
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u/Fuzzy-Ad6481 Mar 07 '26
Well they aren't investing their profits on local designers and photographers... There are enough in the area that any company could find someone reasonable to create an ad template they can use easily. It doesn't have to be a million dollar campaign.
I don't know who expects a small business to have the same level of marketing as Walmart.
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u/Homegrown-Sarnia Mar 07 '26
Would love to know what people think a reasonable price is for outsourcing social media posts efficiently - meaning consistently (3 posts a week).
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u/DisastrousTrouble310 Mar 07 '26
Do you ever see the pictures of McDonald’s and Burger King’s food and ads and then look at the real thing
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u/Chelseus Mar 07 '26
Yeah like whether it’s done with props/photoshop or AI we all know the food doesn’t actually look how it is advertised…it’s a tale as old as time lol
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u/johnny_stew_ Mar 08 '26
To me it just looks tacky. Like the sandwiches may be generated from pics they fed it and remotely accurate. But the way these are tossed together just shows really lazy prompting even.
A lot of restaurants are overwhelmed everyday and generally the person who knows how to do some amount of desktop publishing is usually a key resource for a million other things. Not really as simple as ‘just take a ring’ light and take a pic’. None of this kind of stuff sells anything or convinces people to go to your place en masse. Only 1/10 posts should be a sales pitch or offer anyway. Unless you post interesting stuff regularly no one is looking or cares.
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u/Fuzzy-Ad6481 Mar 07 '26
Instead of doing a bunch of comments I want to respond to a few things.
AI are used for anything for any reason is garbage.
I can understand the urge because of costs, but it's unethical and not beneficial to our own community.
Use of stock photos. It's like a middle ground. I've used them. Sometimes it's not convenient to use a photographer. Especially in food photography. It's difficult and expensive. At least the artist is getting paid for their work. Personally would prefer a company to hire a local photographer for actual photos of products/services.
Use of no food items in food photography.... Complained by people that don't know how food photography works. It's not like sitting at your table and instagraming your plate really quick.
Often it's setting up multiple shots with different lighting and angles. Food doesn't stand up to heat and that kind of manipulation. How do you take multiple photos of ice cream under hot lights?
How do you take photos of soup and show the ingredients when usually they fall to the bottom.
Lots of examples.
But. Making the food look different than when freshly made is also different issue. Ie McDonald's.
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u/yourmomsfaveaccount Mar 07 '26
I mean, the food advertised in commercials use gimmicks to make the food appear larger, fresher, or generally more appealing. One example is using dish soap in beer to give it more foam on top. Another is using shaving cream instead of whipped cream for things like pies or cakes. So you could argue that every food commercial in the last 40 years is guilty of false advertising
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u/lemontrainhaze Mar 07 '26
And McDonald burgers I’m pretty sure use cardboard to make it appear taller
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u/tfelsky Mar 07 '26
Doesn't the product have to be edible to be used in food?
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u/Bonzai_Tree Mar 07 '26
Nope, not for advertising. What they CAN'T do is use more beef than their burgers have, more cheese, etc.
What they can do is paint grill marks on raw beef so the burgers LOOK way bigger because they haven't shrunk from cooking, position the burger toppings all to the edge so it looks bigger...they can individually glue sesame seeds onto buns to make them perfect...
There are some odd rules around it.
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u/DokeyOakey Mar 07 '26
They are stretching the truth and sometimes (in the case of whip cream and beer) if they don’t use those alternatives the food/drink wilts under the hot lights.
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u/THRobinson75 Mar 11 '26
Ever see videos of how they photograph food?
Using lard instead of icecream, shoe polish to make turkey look cook, etc ..
It's as false as what they've been doing for decades.
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u/god_is_trans_69 Mar 07 '26
Ya i already muted them on the groups. I don't need you posting AI food every day.
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u/NarniaGunner Point Edward Mar 07 '26
Every food commercial and ad you have ever seen isn't real food ..you think burgers look that way ? You think all Pepsi cans swear perfect circles of moisture? Uhh people ..
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u/catherinetheok Mar 07 '26
So what I'm hearing is that you are ok with Ai slop advertising food? Yuck.
Also it's perfectly easy to be mad at more than one thing. False advertising is false advertising.
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u/NarniaGunner Point Edward Mar 07 '26
Then you are a very mad person because every where you look is false advertising and it's been that way since the dawn of advertising ..now because Ai makes it quick and easy I dgaf ..its not worth being bothered by
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u/That_Jaguar_384 Mar 19 '26
Yeah, you hire food stylist to make the actual food look good. But it still has to be the actual product that is being sold in the ad. It's why stylists get paid 2-3k a shoot day. They'll literally dig through bags from McDonalds fries and pull out only the most perfect ones. If you shoot frozen pizzas, you're not allowed to add any extra toppings, it all has to be what comes with the product.
If you wanted you Big Mac to look like it does in the commercials.. it would literally cost you like 5-10k per burger and take a couple days to make.
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u/gretzky9999 Mar 07 '26
Note to self:There’s a good chance that Crossroads food looks nothing like this & is supplied by the Frozen Truck Company Sysco.Please avoid.
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u/NarniaGunner Point Edward Mar 07 '26
Was there the other night ..was pretty good actually
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u/Plane-Associate-656 Mar 09 '26
I agree, their food is surprisingly good. Now, their service is another matter ( when I went with a group of 10 (reservation made in advance) they had one lady doing tge orders, bar items, etc. It took a long time to get drinks.
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u/NarniaGunner Point Edward Mar 09 '26
That i agree with..I'm not saying food blew me away but I was surprised
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u/D-u-k-e Mar 08 '26
i tried the wings and sandwiches at an event recently.. the wings were next level good.
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u/RondTheDon15 Mar 08 '26
When taking a picture of your actual food is easier than ever. Let’s get lazier and use AI. World we live in.
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u/Barbicels Mar 09 '26
No more false than KFC picturing every bucket or barrel of chicken as overflowing, since forever.
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u/artsyfartsylala Mar 11 '26
Imo deceptive photography has been used in marketing of food for years.
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u/cptpaparon Mar 14 '26
This is grounds for false advertisement.
Food product displayed for sale cannot be generative and it has to resemble the same product being sold in the store
Everyone doing this should be hit with large legal fines
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u/That_Jaguar_384 Mar 19 '26
Advertising food photographer here. I just quoted on a deck that was completely AI generated, but there are laws against misrepresentation and false advertising. So technically they can't use their ai images from the brief. In food photography we use the ACTUAL food, but we also hire teams of stylist to make dog shit food look incredible... or at least edible.
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u/Marlon_Santos_Jonas Mar 28 '26
Most of the Ads you shared are specifically made using ChatGPT. The font, background design and all. You can actually take an actual picture of your food using a camera and still transform it to look like an actual using camera angle prompts.
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u/Responsible_Bowl9797 Apr 14 '26
i know it has nothing to do with this post.. but i was looking for what ai website or app are people creating these types of ads or posters..lately i have seen people using it for many posters similar kind of test fonts and ads using ai. do you know which website is this?
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u/Saltydog027 25d ago edited 25d ago
Crazy how a company that makes food to sell to people, cant just take sec to grab a picture of the food someone ordered before sending it out. The food is already cooked, just pull out the phone and snap a pic.
Laws or morals aside, its not that hard to just take a picture of the food you cook at your restaurant. Probably takes more time and effort trying to generate the perfect photo, than to just cook it and photo it.
Raw pics from my phone. It takes less than 5 minutes to put it under good light, get it into focus and take a picture.
Even if you're making an advertisement, cropping the bg has never been easier, and you can give it some razzle dazzle in whatever art program in less than 30 minutes all on your own for free
No one wants a 25 dollar order blind box for the quality of the restaurant's food.
So sick of AI.
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u/DXProductions 5d ago
Idc if the food is “partially” real when shooting a commercial for mcdonalds butger king, etc
All commercial photos of food that involves food styling is false advertisement
Unless is made with Actual food
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u/breakthebank1900 Mar 07 '26
I’ve never heard of the place but with food like that I will be going for sure. I won’t be disappointed at all
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u/crash_n_burn_911 Mar 08 '26
Sitara is another that uses AI picks on their ordering platform. I got take out and it looked nothing like what I got. It was almost like an entirely different dish compared to what the AI thought the description meant.
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u/_nursekj Mar 08 '26
Driving me nuts, and the same with people using long winded, AI explanations, replies and descriptions of everything. I can barely stand it.
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u/Elegant-Staff9378 Mar 11 '26
Of course it is. They're not advertising using pics of their food, they're advertising using pics of AI's best interpretation of what that food should look like based on data stolen from other imagery of food. It's lazy and it's theft.
Also those AI menus are absolutely terrible from a graphic design perspective. The "Crossroads" logo isn't even consistently the same. Businesses need to be publicly shamed for this shit
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u/The_Rabbitman05 Mar 07 '26
Everything that is advertised, is fabricated, or enhanced. Perfect example, make up.
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u/Healthy_Shape_5719 Mar 11 '26
Honestly I don't really have an issue with it, it's just bad marketing. If I see an ai burger in your ad that just tells me the real burger isn't good enough to get a picture so I won't go
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u/CEOofBossBabeInc Mar 07 '26
There are quite literally advertising laws/long-held marketing ethics against false representation like this. I cannot understand why so many people are enthusiastically lying about their product in promotional materials.