The "Plastic" Turkey

About the decorative turkey * was photographed with...


Some people have described it as a "plastic turkey". Was it actually plastic (or resin or whatever, "replica" food like those in store displays), or was it just a regular turkey dressed up and put on display, but not actually carved up and served (and thus wasted?)?

Does anyone know?

that cartoon was just what I needed to start my day. :-)

but essentially a prop that was carefully prepared by someone in the military after they got word someone important was coming. It wasn't meant for the troops, only for decoration. Kind of cruel to have this beautiful turkey sitting there while the troops get processed turkey slices they serve at mess halls. Bush picked it up and photo op accomplished.

On edit: The military was responsible for the prop turkey in the same way they were responsible for Bush's 'triumphant landing on the aircraft carrier, and the 'Mission Accomplished' banner.

of the soldiers in that pic are props also.

the food is real but it may not be prepared so that it is edible. They treat the food to give it the right appearance, such as steam coming from it, even browness, etc.

Notice on teevee, commercial for local restaurants (the ones that produce their own teevee ads, not the big chains). The place could be your favorite restaurant, but the food in the ads always looks pale, greyish, nasty. That is because of the time it takes to get a shot set up, the inherently bad lighting is restaurants, and a host of other things. It really does take a professional to make food look good under the glare of harsh television lighting, and no small restaurant can afford to pay $1000-plus for a day of food styling.

I had a Big Boy chain in New England as a client for years, and did photo shoots for them. We'd hire "food stylists." They airbrush grill marks on the burgers. Coat food in resins to make them look juicy. Steam is always faked. Even coffee has soap added to it to make just the right amount of tiny bubbles on top. It is a tough job, because you look at all this "good" food all day, and it is completely inedible.

George's turkey was as fake as he is, even if it was real. And therefore, they had to know Bush was coming. No one would take that kind of time just to have a turkey look good for the grunts. Especially not Bush...he won't even offer them vet benefits.

that it was 6:00 AM when they took that picture. That's kind of early for a Thanksgiving dinner, I think. Anyone know if this is true?

Also, what on earth is that purple spot toward the front of the tray, amidst the grapes?

The 6:00 am dinnertime bit was seized on by Counterpunch, but apparently whatever Post article first introduced that information was wrong; at any rate it was later corrected.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

http://www.livejournal.com/users/plaidder

Links to the Washington Post piece about the fake turkey. I don't think that anyone has claimed in print that the turkey was plastic (resin, wax, whatever), but Allen does say that it was specially prepared as a decoration. He also quotes a whole bunch of "officials" who are very concerned to impress upon everyone that nobody *planned* on Bush getting hsi picture taken with the nice groomed turkey, it just *happened.*

Yeah...just like that "Mission Accomplished" banner.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

there's always someone pulling the strings or with their hand up the sock.

Toles is great...Did you notice the sign on the decorative turkey saying "National Guard Dropout"? Also he cleverly reminds readers of the aircraft carrier fiasco. This is kind of a silly story but it has a lot of ridicule potential and Bush seems to be accumulating these - it is hard to determine how much the the "ridicule factor" plays in presidential elections - Certainly it worked against Gore in 2000 with the internet invention slur that the Republicans successfully promoted. Also, remember Poppy Bush puking on the Japanese prime minister in 1992? Democrats have to play it carefully, however - let the cartoonists and late night comedians carry the ball. The WhiteHouse propaganda machine, after being so successful for 2 years, seems to be unable to do anything right now. First we had the aircraft carrier/"Mission Accomplished" fiasco, then the ever changing story on the "sighting" of AF1 by the British pilot, and now the decorative turkey. What is really great is all of the photops the Bushies hoped to use in campaign commercials are backfiring on them. Pass the popcorn.