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June 18, 2013

Guess what's so special about this McDonald's ad

by Bob Sassone, posted Jul 23rd 2009 1:35PM

Here's what to do with the video below: watch it for about 27 seconds and then hit pause. Can you guess what's special about the commercial? Answer after the jump.




The food is all 100% computer-generated. As Jason Kottke says, it might put food stylists out of business.

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Galley

What exactly was the point of the animation thing?

July 24 2009 at 10:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ed Venture

It must have been my food 'spidey sense' tingling, because when I paused it I thought, "That burger doesn't look appetizing at all."

July 23 2009 at 3:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ashley Boyd

I'm more amused by "salt kissed"...if thats kissing I'd hate to see "salt frenching".

July 23 2009 at 3:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jake

You won't see too many commercials using computer generated food. The only reason McDonalds can get away with this is because they show you that it is not really food. The ad is a gimmick that really makes you say "wow, that's neat technology" and not "damn, I want to eat that NOW!" But unless every commercial that features computer generated food images is going to turn around with a "gotcha! It's not real!", then the entire concept is dead in the water.

July 23 2009 at 2:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jake's comment
Eric

Is this the ad? or is this the production company's shot breakdown of an ad already on tv?

July 23 2009 at 6:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nacho

You know, there's been a lot of "articles" about commercials on tv squad lately.

I use my DVR and internet downloads specifically to avoid commercials. I really don't need websites that I frequent to shove them down my throat because I missed them the first time around.

Enough with the commercial related stories already.

July 23 2009 at 2:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
4 replies to Nacho's comment
nffcnnr

i thought it was illegal to use non-food in food advertisements.

July 23 2009 at 2:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to nffcnnr's comment
Aml

It is. My first reaction was the same as yours. It wouldn't surprise me, if McDonald's gets fined for this or at the very least a cease and desist order.

Also, this part is probably directed more at bc, the item they are selling has to be the actual product. So it is legal to use mashed potatoes for ice cream, if the product being sold is chocolate syrup, but it is not legal for Ben and Jerry's to use mashed potatoes to sell their ice cream.

July 23 2009 at 2:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eric

Before you jump to conclusions, read the description about how it was created. They used photographic texture maps to overlay onto models...the result? a photorealistic copy of the photos of real food, with an added quality of depth. If that much is "illegal" then any postprocessing would be "illegal" as well.

July 23 2009 at 6:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

Dr. Pepper??

July 23 2009 at 1:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Ryan's comment
Jimmy

Weird to see a non-Coke drink (Dr. Pepper) in a McDonald's commercial. Such a weird soda, since its not Coke or Pepsi, but may be produced by regional Coke and Pepsi bottlers around the country.

Same thing with how many Pepsi bottlers produced 7Up before Pepsi created Sierra Mist...

July 23 2009 at 8:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
c

There was lemon lime Slice before Sierra Mist.

July 24 2009 at 1:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
BC McKinney

What? No more mashed potatoes standing in for ice cream?

July 23 2009 at 1:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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