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A picture isn’t worth a thousand burgs.
While most fast-food chains plaster their menus with food pics, Five Guys keeps its munchies list free of food porn — and it’s not by accident.
In a viral TikTok clip with thousands of views, an employee at a branch in Ireland claimed that the barebones approach is because they can’t encapsulate the myriad choices in photo form.
“Do you know why we don’t show pictures of our food on the menu?” the burger monger asked. “Because everything is customizable, and there are over 250,000 options, so no one picture will do it justice.”
He then pointed to the Spartan, text-only food list, which stands in stark contrast to the culinary collages that adorn the menus at McDonald’s and other fast-food depots.
Indeed, customers can pile on as many free toppings as they want from the list, which features 15 options including lettuce, jalapeños, pickles, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and onions.
While many fast-food fans fawned over Five Guys’ minimalist menu, others argued that there was a greedier rationale behind the design choice.
“It’s also because it’s proven that you can charge a higher price without a picture,” declared one skeptic.
That wasn’t some tin foil hat rant, either.
Popular YouTuber Max Klymenko, who makes videos about marketing and psychology, claimed in a video with over 3 million views that “research conducted by Durham University shows that people are ready to pay more for the same meal if they don’t see photos of it in the menu.”
“Just the simple addition of photos in the menu actually cheapens the meal,” he added.
Five Guys has repeatedly come under fire for steep prices.
In March, a customer claimed they’d paid nearly $25 for a combo with a bacon cheeseburger, small fries and a soda at the Virginia-based burger merchant.
