David Cantwell Photography: Food Advertising ,The Sizzle or The Sausage?

When a client approaches you to photograph or film a food product for an advertising campaign, what do you do with it? If you are working for an advertising agency or design company you will have a brief to work to but even in that case you should always bring your own creativity to the table

What sells; the sizzle or the sausage? In 2008-2009 food advertising was the second highest spend in the USA after automotive, higher than cosmetics, entertainment and business /consumer services. Food manufacturers alone spent $12 billion on advertising

What is the best way to advertise food? What will sell more product? Is it the feel good factor from watching a funny tv ad? Is it watching mouth watering food , juicy steaks sizzling on a griddle pan or for all the vegetarians out there, fresh crisp lettuce washing under cold running water?

Television is the favourite medium used by food manufacturers. Over 75% of the $12 billion spent by food manufacturers for advertising in 2010 was allocated to television. Fast-food restaurants allocated over 95% of their budgets to television. You can bet this has changed with the explosion of social media and online advertising

Lets have a look at a few examples of Food advertising

Can you picture the look at the brand managers face when the creative agency Fallon pitched this campaign; "A Gorilla Playing the Drums"?. Their idea was to move away from pushing the product through traditional means and instead create an entertainment piece which would appeal to a broader range of consumers and spread through viral marketing and word of mouth. The advertisement which first appeared on British television on 31 August 2007 was very well received by the public. A version uploaded to YouTube received 500,000 page views in its first week. Polling company YouGov reported the public perception of the dramatically increased in the weeks and months after the launch reverting the decline experienced in the first half of 2007. I love the subtlety of the branding through the purple coloured background

Obviously going for the funny factor, effective?. When looking for a snack, will you remember this ad and choose a pack of Doritos over all the other brands on the shelf?

Here there is no sign of food, not a burger in site. Are McDonalds aiming at our core values? The importance of family? Creating a trust and feel good factor towards the brand? When you are out with your children and you want some food will the moral message of this ad make you feel good about eating in Mc Donalds and make you choose there to eat over any of the other fast food restaurants in the area?

Pot Noodles, not taking themselves too seriously. The content of this ad has nothing to do with Pot Noodles. In fact, you don't even see the product until the very end. There is more and more of this kind of advertising now because of social media and viral videos. The "can't wait until I show this to my friends" mentality is becoming more and more important to advertisers. The funnier or more controversial the ad is, the quicker they seem to go viral. In the past, you paid for a slot on a tv station to reach a few hundred thousand viewers. Now, you can reach millions if you get it right

This ad is a play on the name "Hard Rock". It's shot like a rock concert. Also, the celebrity chef thing is huge at the moment. Great food shots; the burger on the grill the fresh lettuce and a great Final burger image at the end

This ad ticks a lot of boxes. Beautiful food images (nuts, oats, sunlight on a breakfast table) coupled with funny content (it takes turn with the nose squeezing on the Microwave door and the slippers at the end). I like this one