I can’t tell you all how excited I am to finally be able to talk about this- my first time professionally styling food for a TV commercial! It was many months ago that I prepped the food and made it look pretty for the camera, but our lips were sealed until IFANCA, the Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America, was ready to unveil a 30-second public service announcement for their halal-certification organization.
It took a lot of time to develop a menu that was camera-friendly, shop for ingredients with vibrant color, and of course, to put it all together in an absolutely perfect way.
I worked closely with Maria Omar, Director of Media Relations for IFANCA, who was the primary organizer for the commercial. She was easy to work with, a perfectionist about the details and pulled it through with grace and class. And she didn’t mind me snatching these photos of the food in between my meticulous prepping and plating. The halal turkey breast sandwich was the most fun to shoot.
Below is a YouTube video of the ad where you can get a sneak peek of it before it actually airs on various television channels. Insha’allah, not only will it serve to promote IFANCA as a leader in the halal-certification industry, but also offer more awareness about halal as a mainstream term that can be more readily understood, or at least, familiar to everyone.
What do you think of the video? Add your comments, suggestions and feedback here. I’ll gladly share them with IFANCA.