The level of world-building packed into this made-up response about Japanese food advertising, is god-tier. Whoever wrote this needs to drop everything and start writing books.
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi(äžăłĺŻăł) centers on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.[2] It is often described as the appreciation of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".[3]It is prevalent in many forms of Japanese art
Yeah, ozymandias doesn't actually know if wabi-sabi has anything to do with the skewed buns, and neither do I, but the info is otherwise all accurate and seems like a decent guess to me. I'm big fan of the idea, and make a point to look for the beauty in the imperfections in everyday life.
Not a requirement, just an accepted norm. There's plenty of counter-examples on supermarket shelves, too (and why they all have ĺçăŻă¤ăĄăźă¸ă§ă (photo is an illustration only) on the box).
Even if that's all bullshit, there has to be some genuine reason this came to pass in Japan, and not in other places.
McDonalds are far from the only one. Native chain Mos Burger are doing it on their menu too, even leaving the top bun almost fully off with just the suggestion of being a sandwich.
The tradition of wax display food seems like it could honestly have traction, because the customer is looking 'down' on that in restaurant windows or display stands, and it's pretty useless just showing the undifferentiated top of a burger bun. You need to show off what's inside.
And if you're accustomed to that, then the side-shot we are used to in the west just doesn't seem to do the job very well in comparison.
The McDonald's menu feels like a compromise between the McDonalds global standard and the fully native Mos-style, as if they are putting as much flair on the menu as is allowed without going completely renegade.
My first thought was maybe Japan has strong consuner protection/advertising laws. For a standard side shot they tilt the buns back and push ingredients to the front, which one could argue is misleading, but by showing the bun obviously askew they can show more filling while shielding themselves from litigation. Anything they do will be the result of regional focus groups and lawyers.
I mean, I do find the American burger chain food aesthetic rather unappetizing. The food looks like it's made out of plastic and rubber.
With the offset bun, it's not massively better, because it's still the same food, but at least you get the impression that it didn't fall out of a 3D printer.
If they want a burger that looks like a human hastily assembled it, they should come to the US. The pictures on the menu show a perfectly crafted burger, but thatâs not what you get.
I assume it happens elsewhere too, but I wouldnât know. When traveling abroad as an American, fast food burger joints arenât exactly my first choice compared to whatever local foods the place Iâm visiting has to offer.
Somewhere in the world, SpongeBob has a csi type theory board on his wall and hes posed in the Always Sunny meme explaining this concept to a completely disinterested squidward.
Ah yes, offsetting buns to spare us all from the ubiquitously relatable annoyance of being unable to see all the sandwich layers because we're in a cramped storefront or train station depot. Also fuck you too.
Doesn't Japan have really strict food advertising laws, so the item you receive needs to VERY closely resemble the picture you saw on the packaging/advertising?
82 Comments
katja@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 328 pts · 107d
God dammit, I did not see that coming. đđđ
Dagnet@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 107d
I somehow knew it was coming but still read it all like a dumbass
Lemming6969@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 106d
Are you new to the internet? Very fun times ahead.
cactus_head@programming.dev · 2 pts · 101d
For once me being lazy actually saved me, right the last line after seeing the post length.
Xella@lemmy.world · 276 pts · 107d
This is where ChatGPT gets all its facts
filcuk@lemmy.zip · 96 pts · 107d
The 'haha fuck you' part is also still there at the end, just silent
some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 107d
Can confirm, the AIs all have a chuckle in the server room when they think we're not looking
Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 89 pts · 107d
I asked ChatGPT this question and it almost entirely repeats what's in the screenshot here.
JennaR8r@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 106d
At this rate, current & future generations are doomed.
Holytimes@sh.itjust.works · 42 pts · 107d
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 28 pts · 107d
I can definitely tell you that food pictures look more appetizing if they don't look like the food was exported straight from Blender into the ad.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 107d
Amusingly, smoothie shops don't have nearly as many pictures and it's the food that is "exported straight from blender."
xkbx@startrek.website · 242 pts · 107d
masterful. perfection. 5/7, a perfect score
ceenote@lemmy.world · 87 pts · 107d
7/7 is too "American showroom", which is why 5/7 is a perfect score.
harsh3466@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 107d
That you Brendan?
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 106d
On rice?
Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world · 185 pts · 107d
Dude got me hook, line, and fucking sinker.
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 106d
Gimme back my sinker
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world · 150 pts · 107d
The level of world-building packed into this made-up response about Japanese food advertising, is god-tier. Whoever wrote this needs to drop everything and start writing books.
Auth@lemmy.world · 51 pts · 107d
By the end I was convinced. From now on I will be giving my burgers a "living tilt"
testaccount789@sh.itjust.works · 98 pts · 107d
Damn, my brain already commited that to its eFuse region.
rtxn@lemmy.world · 89 pts · 107d
That was as smooth as a shark.
ozymandias@sh.itjust.works · 62 pts · 107d
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi(äžăłĺŻăł) centers on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.[2] It is often described as the appreciation of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".[3]It is prevalent in many forms of Japanese art
atomicorange@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 107d
You ainât getting me twice today.
EpeeGnome@feddit.online · 11 pts · 107d
Yeah, ozymandias doesn't actually know if wabi-sabi has anything to do with the skewed buns, and neither do I, but the info is otherwise all accurate and seems like a decent guess to me. I'm big fan of the idea, and make a point to look for the beauty in the imperfections in everyday life.
VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 107d
Yeah, the BS answer is less off than it seems. Still pretty off, but touching on the likely reality.
ozymandias@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 107d
Mine's just a guess too, no idea what the reality is
Liketearsinrain@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 107d
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 107d
I read that as wassabi* and was thoroughly confused for a moment.
*Yes I know it's actually wasabi, that's just how I read wabi-sabi wrong. As wassabi. Not wasabi.
ozymandias@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 107d
https://youtu.be/JJmqCKtJnxM
I'm sorry but wassabi made me think of this
trebor8201@lemmy.world · 61 pts · 107d
JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works · 60 pts · 107d
Lmao I'm not even mad. Bravo.
Hadriscus@jlai.lu · 57 pts · 107d
Good fucking god there needs to be a rule against lying on the internet
yakko@feddit.uk · 30 pts · 107d
There already is!
Crackhappy@lemmy.world · 43 pts · 107d
Yeah. It's rule 34
Agent641@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 107d
It was actually pioneered by Thatcher in the 80s, if you don't believe me google Margaret Thatcher Rule 34
Grass@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 107d
straight to jail, don't pass go, don't collect $200
SethTaylor@lemmy.world · 49 pts · 107d
They got me in the first half
Then they got me in the second half
mlc894@lemmy.world · 47 pts · 107d
Gosh darn it, ya got me.
BlueLineBae@midwest.social · 39 pts · 107d
... back in nineteen ninety eight...
MoffKalast@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 107d
And plummeted 16 ft through an announcer's table!
BigDiction@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 107d
Running across those in the wild used to be so fun.
VAK@lemmy.world · 39 pts · 106d
Fuck you. Just fuck you.
fairyfuzz@lemmy.world · 38 pts · 106d
And here I was RIVETED
Aatube@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 36 pts · 107d
seriously though it's probably related to how Japan requires food packaging to look exactly like the food
SuperApples@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 107d
Not a requirement, just an accepted norm. There's plenty of counter-examples on supermarket shelves, too (and why they all have ĺçăŻă¤ăĄăźă¸ă§ă (photo is an illustration only) on the box).
tiramichu@sh.itjust.works · 36 pts · 107d
Even if that's all bullshit, there has to be some genuine reason this came to pass in Japan, and not in other places.
McDonalds are far from the only one. Native chain Mos Burger are doing it on their menu too, even leaving the top bun almost fully off with just the suggestion of being a sandwich.
The tradition of wax display food seems like it could honestly have traction, because the customer is looking 'down' on that in restaurant windows or display stands, and it's pretty useless just showing the undifferentiated top of a burger bun. You need to show off what's inside.
And if you're accustomed to that, then the side-shot we are used to in the west just doesn't seem to do the job very well in comparison.
The McDonald's menu feels like a compromise between the McDonalds global standard and the fully native Mos-style, as if they are putting as much flair on the menu as is allowed without going completely renegade.
Frostbeard@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 107d
This sentence on their flagship "burger"
"The chilled tomato slice goes perfectly with piping hot meat sauce and freshly grilled patty."
Makes me think of this
FosterMolasses@leminal.space · 1 pts · 106d
Dutch jumpscare
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 106d
Oh Lego Robot
PartyAt15thAndSummit@lemmy.zip · 15 pts · 107d
Mos burgers look terrific and somehow very Japanese at the same time.
I wouldn't call the top buns "askew", though. They're off.
tiramichu@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 107d
Mos burger genuinely is the best fast food burger I've ever had, they are delicious
FellowEnt@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 107d
My first thought was maybe Japan has strong consuner protection/advertising laws. For a standard side shot they tilt the buns back and push ingredients to the front, which one could argue is misleading, but by showing the bun obviously askew they can show more filling while shielding themselves from litigation. Anything they do will be the result of regional focus groups and lawyers.
Ephera@lemmy.ml · 29 pts · 107d
I mean, I do find the American burger chain food aesthetic rather unappetizing. The food looks like it's made out of plastic and rubber.
With the offset bun, it's not massively better, because it's still the same food, but at least you get the impression that it didn't fall out of a 3D printer.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 107d
Plastic and rubber probably slightly healthier.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 106d
And more appetizing.
Fortatech@gregtech.eu · 26 pts · 107d
I feel fucked :(
mycodesucks@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 107d
It sounds good if you don't know most Japanese burger ads look like this
emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 107d
What is even on that? Is that all some sort of sauce under the tomato, because that's all gonna squish everywhere on the first bite..
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 107d
That's from MOS Burger. They add a red meat sauce (like you'd put on pasta) to some of their burgers
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 106d
Why does Mos burger make their Hokkaido beef patties ovals wider than the buns? It makes it really difficult to eat for no reason.
Furbag@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 107d
Looks like it could be chicken parm burger? Maybe a chicken patty with patmesan cheese and the sauce...
Routhinator@startrek.website · 1 pts · 107d
Possible some sort of breaded chicken patty dipped in sauce... ?
melfie@lemmy.zip · 26 pts · 107d
If they want a burger that looks like a human hastily assembled it, they should come to the US. The pictures on the menu show a perfectly crafted burger, but thatâs not what you get.
moakley@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 106d
Do you think that's a US thing?
melfie@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 106d
I assume it happens elsewhere too, but I wouldnât know. When traveling abroad as an American, fast food burger joints arenât exactly my first choice compared to whatever local foods the place Iâm visiting has to offer.
Jankatarch@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 107d
This is what my thoughts used to look like as a child. Just speculating until corrected.
ThunderQueen@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 107d
tanisnikana@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 107d
I was shenaniganed!
fosho@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 106d
This comment has mad nineteen ninety eight mankind undertaker hell in a cell vibes.
b34k@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 107d
Some real shittymorph material there
Psychodelic@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 107d
Anyone else just skip to the end to see if it was a troll?
I just kept thinking, yeah right đ
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 107d
No. I'm a sucker and I already started telling people about this to sound smart before I even got to the end.
BlackPenguins@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 107d
Yup, I know the Internet too well.
BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 107d
What a delightful little journey that was. A+
10thGlyphix@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 106d
Somewhere in the world, SpongeBob has a csi type theory board on his wall and hes posed in the Always Sunny meme explaining this concept to a completely disinterested squidward.
JennaR8r@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 106d
Ah yes, offsetting buns to spare us all from the ubiquitously relatable annoyance of being unable to see all the sandwich layers because we're in a cramped storefront or train station depot. Also fuck you too.
grrgyle@slrpnk.net · 7 pts · 107d
I believed
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 107d
This is what bad people do. Madness awaits them.
grrgyle@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 107d
Is this a post about not believing convincing-sounding LLM output?
SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 107d
derry@midwest.social · 4 pts · 107d
It's called style, look it up
ordnance_qf_17_pounder@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 107d
Made it all up, and yet, it sounds plausible. heh
jivandabeast@lemmy.browntown.dev · 3 pts · 106d
Doesn't Japan have really strict food advertising laws, so the item you receive needs to VERY closely resemble the picture you saw on the packaging/advertising?
desiccated_event@piefed.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 107d
Just curious, where does the double beef-n-cheddar from arby's weigh on this...answer needed soon.