By John Stevens
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If you have ever ever queued for a McDonald’s burger drooling over the photos on the menu, you’ve probably wondered why your Big Mac never looks the same.
Well, the fast-food giant has taken a candid approach by revealing the secrets of how it makes its burgers look so much juicier, bigger and tastier in its adverts.
In a surprising move, McDonald’s has made public the laborious process called ‘food-styling’ in which its burgers are prepared for hours and put together with absolute precision so they look their best for photo shoots.
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Reality check: A photo showing half a store bought McDonald's burger and one created for advertising purposes
In a video posted on YouTube, the delicate process is shown as the ingredients are stacked, with the ketchup and mustard added using a syringe.
And, emphasising how different the beautifully presented burgers are to those bought in store, they are compared side-by-side with their less attractive counterparts.
In response to a customer’s question, a McDonald’s marketing director went behind the scenes of a video shoot for its quarter pounder with cheese burger.
Sad: Experts take a photo of Hope's pathetic looking burger
They add essential ingredients again so they are more visible from the outside
The video starts with Hope Bagozzi introducing the question from a customer named as Isabel M.
Miss Bagozzi said: ‘She asks, “Why does your food look different in the advertising than what’s in the store?†It’s a great question, Isabel. We get asked that a lot.’
The ‘food styling’ takes place in a photography studio where each ingredient is carefully prepared. Miss Bagozzi tells viewers: ‘That burger [made in a normal McDonald’s] was made in about a minute or so. The process we go through on the average shoot takes several hours.
‘I think that it’s important to note that all the ingredients are the exact same ingredients that we use in the restaurant. So it is the exact same patty, it’s the exact same ketchup, mustard and onions, and same buns.’
Tools: Cheese is made to look like it's melting with a hot iron
Syringe: Blobs of ketchup are syringed onto the patty so they can be seen from the outside
The video shows how each ingredient is carefully put into place, with the onions, pickles and sauces placed at the edge of the bun so they can seen.
A McDonald’s food stylist explains: ‘This way we can at least tell people you have ketchup, you have mustard, you have two pieces of cheese and you know what you’re getting.’
After the ingredients are in place, the cheese is gently melted using a heated palette knife. A computer is used to add the finishing touches. 
Unrecognisable: The finished burger looks completely different
Mmmm: Hope holds a floppy burger up to the camera and says 'it looks good'
Perfectionist: Noah uses all the same ingredients as the restaurant but with a little more due care and attention
When the photographs of the burger made in the restaurant and the one made in the studio are placed side-by-side, the differences are obvious.
‘Here you can definitely see that there is a size difference,’ says Miss Bagozzi.
‘The boxes that our burgers come in keep the sandwiches warm which creates a bit of a steam and it does make the bun contract.
‘And the main difference is that we took all the ingredients that are normally hidden under the bun and we pulled them to the foreground so that you can see them.'
Nearly finished: Hope meets an IT expert who will put the finishing touches on the burger
A little help from Photoshop: Any residual imperfections are ironed out by computer software
VIDEO: Behind the scenes at a McDonald's photo shootÂ
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Why do people from the U.S read this paper and then slate the English! - kimmie, Wolverhampton, 21/6/2012 01:05 It's just tit-for-tat, kimmie. As an Englishman, sometimes I am ashamed when I see the vitriolic, anti-American rhetoric throughout these comments.
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Why people eat such garbage - BIg smoke, gods country, 20/6/2012 16:51 I'm sure the stuff you eat others might consider it garbage.
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Just because every one does it, just because they want you to think they are proud of it ....DOESN'T make it right. Why do you think they go to so much effort? I worked at McDonald and LOVE the stuff, but that doesn't mean I like all this manipulation of peoples natural desire for yummy nothingness every day. Look at the state of Kids these days..they are HUGE.
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I only ordered from McDonald's one time only because I found out about the deception involved in preparing the meals they served. I was disappointed like I wanted to sue them but what's the point? A lot of people still want their happy meal no matter what it looks like. Why can't they just advertise what they REALLY intend to give to the customers?
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Eww why do I eat this stuff? actually looks kinda gross the more you look at it, wonder how bad it is for us, the processed cheese, the oil etc. Funny thing about fastfood, it always looks better than it actually tastes!
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You just read an article about how to dress a McDonald's burger. Come 2 think of it, so did i, duhhhh.......
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Why do people from the U.S read this paper and then slate the English!
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The most pointless story of the year so far....
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Oh come on! Surely everyone knows how Ã…LL food photography is done, for ads and cook books/mags. Varnish, paint and hair spray etc. There are photographers who specialize in it. This article is the pits, treating its readers like idiots.
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what's the difference? still tastes amaaaazing
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