After posting about food advertising versus food reality, I got curious about exactly how food stylists make stuff look so tasty for the cameras. Alanna's written about this before too - she notes that adding a tablespoon of soapy water to your coffee will make it appear extra hot and bubbly. Here are a few other tips I learned - hope you've got a spray gun and some motor oil!

- Half-cook barbecued ribs are painted with wood stain for a glossy, extra juicy look.

- Dyed, whipped shortening often subs for milkshakes because it looks so dense and creamy. Mmmm, Crisco.

- Motor oil makes great pancake syrup - super thick and glossy.

- "Roast" turkey and chicken sometimes comes by its caramel-colored skin via a blowtorch and several layers of food coloring.

- Sesame seeds are hand-glued on hamburger buns using tweezers for even spacing.

- Got milk? More like 'Got Elmer's Glue?'

Do remember those Burger King commercials with the group of moms who try to run over the Burger King? They wanted to commit vehicular homicide because their kids liked Burger King food better than their home cookin'.

Not that I can blame the moms for how they feel, but I always thought that their methods were a little extreme. Yes, I know it's just a set of commercials, but still.

Well, the Costa Rican government apparently feels the same. They banned those commercials in Costa Rica. They feel the advertising "trivialized violence" on national television.

What do you think about the Costa Rican government stepping in like that?

[Via Between Editions]

Aside from an occasional Egg McMuffin hangover cure from McDonald's, or perhaps a very rare moment of utter stress-peration (stressed-out desperation) that drives me to Jack in the Box for two tacos for ninety-nine cents, I don't pay much attention to fast food chains.

Yikes! Take a look at Wendy's Baconator - the name alone "Bacon Terminator?" - is meant to strike fear into the hearts of every cardiologist, and from the picture, why wouldn't it? It has two burgers, two slices of cheese, and six, yes six, slices of bacon.

The scariest part of the Baconator, however, is not the burger itself. It's the commercial. It's just so wrong.

Yet, it's so right.

Did you know that the first print ad for Johnnie Walker, which appeared in 1883, featured a Scotsman bawling over a broken bottle at his feet? Me neither, until I read Modern Drunkard's Ten Greatest Alcohol Icons of All Time. The jaunty chap with the top hat, tails and walking stick didn't appear until 1909. Originally known as the "Regency Buck," the iconic figure underwent a name change to become "The Striding Man." I also learned that Johnnie Walker is Superman's libation of choice.

It comes as no surprise that the whimsical Guinness Toucan appears on MD's list. The bird was introduced in the 1930s and had a 50-year run until its retirement in 1982. While many a tippler is familiar with this brightly colored fellow sporting a pint of the black stuff balanced on his beak, few know the little poem that accompanied the original advertisement: "If he can say as you can/'Guinness is good for you'/How grand to be a Toucan!/Just think what Toucan do."

Most of the other icons on the list, including Mr. Boston, the Bacardi Bat and The Wild Turkey were familiar to me with the exception of The Hamm's Bear. Heck, I've never even heard of Hamm's Beer much less the wacky cartoon bear that represented the brand in a series of commercials that involved all sorts of high jinks ranging from pie fights and such to more serious capers such as robbery and arson. Rather than list all of the icons here I thought I'd let folks read through the MD piece.

No matter how irritating it is to have your favorite TV show interrupted with commercial breaks, the fact of the matter is that companies usually put a lot of effort into their advertisements and that some of them turn out quite well. Unlike ads with the King, or any of the other creepy fast food mascots, there will always be a handful that are actually enjoyable. Neatorama has a list of their top ten picks for the best cereal commercials of all time that list a couple of these types of commercials. Most of them seem to be from the early 1990s or before (which could be taken as a sign that breakfast cereal commercials are going downhill) and two of the top ten use the word "indubitably" somewhere in their descriptions of the food.

Number one is the Star Wars-themed C3PO cereal shown in the video above. Two more of the top ten (including the "indubitably delicious" Crispy Critters cereal clip) are after the jump.

Last year, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) was involved with the promotion of several measures to restrict the content of food advertisements that were targeted at, or easily viewable by, children. Broadcasting regulator Ofcom instituted a ban on junk food ads that were targeted at 16-and-under TV viewers during non-primetime hours, which was a major victory for those supporting restrictions.

The FSA also supported a ban on online junk food advertising that was targeted at this demographic, a step which many believed was a step too far at the time. Clearly, times and opinions have changed, however, because further regulations have just been drawn up by the Department of Health's Committee on Advertising Practice that will ban "junk food companies" from advertising in magazines, on the internet, on billboards and at movie screenings that are targeted at under-16s.

Fortunately for the companies in question and the media outlets that rely on their advertising dollars, there is no official oversight of all these forms of advertising, which means that following the regulations is voluntary - for the moment, anyway.

All year long, there has been discussion about whether the TV advertising regulator, Ofcom, would institute a ban on junk food ads on programs that were targeted to kids. Recently, Ofcom said that they would be instituting guidelines for advertising, but that they would not restrict the commercials shown during prime time, a statement which prompted some to believe that the restrictions might not be too severe. Ofcom, however, has just published its guidelines and they call for a "total ban on junk food advertising around all children's programming, on all children's channels" and on any show that would specifically appeal, for any reason, to under 16-year-olds. Due to their decision to include kids up to the age of 16, some awards shows and music channels will be affected.

Ofcom has given marketing companies until March 2007 to comply with the new regulations and to change their ad campaigns, but TV channels that are kids-only networks have until the end of 2008 to comply, so as not to cause such a significant loss of revenue.

Apparently as one of the country's largest County Fairs, the Los Angeles County Fair has enough budget to advertise on television. I've seen a few of the commercials that make fun of LA's reputation, e.g. a mother and daughter shopping and asking whether cashmere comes from a boy cow or a girl cow, and one where several girls ask about cotton candy and Atkins. However, it wasn't until today that I saw this commercial that takes the cake.

The teacher asks, "Can anybody tell me what comes from a cow?"

The kids raise their hands and answer one by one: "Lattes?" "Nu-unh. My mom says non-fat half caff cappuccinos." "Iced Caramel Macchiatos?"

Oh, I fear for the future of our country.

Even though we already looked at some great commercials made in the 1980s, a post on TV Squad about a ketchup commercial starring a young, hip, ketchup-loving Matt LeBlanc is a good reminder that there were a fair number of entertaining commercials made then. Many were from Heinz, which ran a number of commercials touting how thick and rich its ketchup was - before people started to complain that it was so thick that they couldn't actually get it out of the bottle.

Who misses the McDLT? Ah, for those long lost days of oversized styrofoam packaging. Fortunately, I can relieve the glory days with this fantastic Jason Alexander commercial.

Cruising YouTube is a good way to pass a few minutes (or hours) when you have nothing better to do or simply can't be bothered to get on with your work. You can discover all kinds of interesting video clips - such as commercials from the 1980s. Granted, the commercials were irritating when they first aired, but they have a certain amount of appeal now. It's hard to say whether it's the fact that most of them have jingles/music or that they're simply hilarious. Here are a few more favorites, all worth reliving:

According to a study conducted at Black Entertainment Television during the summer of 2005, there were far more more commercials for fast food and snacks on black-oriented TV than on channels aimed at the more general population. The results of this study, which will likely prove to be provocative, indicated a cause for the rising trend in obesity among African-American children. The study monitored commercials during the afternoon hours, the time slot most attractive to children who watch cartoons and 'tween shows; the the WB network and Disney Channel were also involved in the study. During the time slot, over 1,000 ads were shown on all three channels. On BET 66 percent of the ads were for fast food commercials, as opposed to 34 percent on the WB and none on the Disney channel. BET scored an 82 percent for soda ads, with WB at 11 percent and the Disney channel was again last at 6 percent. As for high calorie, low fiber snacks, the BET commercial time came in at 60 percent, nothing for the WB and the Disney channel scored 60 percent.

According to consumer groups, the beer industry's standards for advertising are not high enough. And they're not talking about their propensity to appeal to the lowest common denominator by showing belching contests and bikini-clad women. The New York Times reports that critics are upset because they do not feel the industry is abiding by their own standards and is still producing ads which are seen by children.

The industry self regulates via the Beer Institute, which creates guidelines and monitors advertising content. Their standard is to only air beer ads when no more than 30 percent of the audience is under the legal drinking age. Steven Rowe, attorney general of Maine and vocal critic, stands firm in his believe that the standard should be lowered to 15 percent. Critics also feel that the Beer Institute's advertising code, which state ads "should not portray beer drinking before or during activities, which for safety reasons, require a high degree of alertness or coordination," is being violated in ads. To support their "unsafe activities" claim, fingers are pointed at the ad aired during the Olympics that showed men drinking beer while pretending to be fixing their roofs, though beer companies stated that commercials obviously meant as parody were exceptions to the "unsafe activities" code, not violating any standards.

When the Dunkin' Donuts on my corner closed, I mourned for months. Now, Michael Vale, the actor who played the sleepy doughnut baker in so many commercials, has died. Dunkin' Donuts will forever be tinged with a sense of deep loss for me. Chocolate creme-filled doughnut, I hardly knew ye!

Michael Vale was 83 and was born in Brooklyn. Dunkin' Donuts campaign that featured him ran for 15 years, until its end in 1997. And in my opinion, nothing they've done since is half so compelling. It's a sad day for doughnut lovers everywhere.