It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. A harmless suggestion from an advisor that would help people appreciate the man behind the red briefcase.

But George Osborne's tweeting of a picture of him eating a burger the evening before the comprehensive spending review prompted almost as many headlines as the financial or political details.

Hundreds replied, saying it was a publicity stunt, an attempt to project a populist image. But it was the forensic reporting of the Sun which revealed that Osborne's burger was not any old burger but a "poshburger", bought from upmarket chain, Byron. The paper contrasted the cheapest Byron burger, at £6.75, with the lowest priced MacDonald's at 99p and said Osborne was "ridiculed".

Osborne's attempt to sidestep the issue by claiming that MacDonald's did not deliver only made it worse – Byron does not deliver either and it later emerged that Treasury staff were sent to pick up the burger from Waterloo station.

During his budget speech on Wednesday, Osborne made a joke at the expense of Eric Pickles, the minister for communities and local government, which he described as "the model of lean government".

Pickles exacted his revenge on Osborne as he joined the mockery of the chancellor's burger picture. In a photo staged to mimic Osborne's, he replaced the burger and fries on the chancellor's desk with a bowl of salad at his own – and tweeted that he too was pictured "putting finishing touches" to a big speech.

Osborne said that he was new to Twitter. "There I am working late on my speech, and I've got a takeaway hamburger, but it puts you on the front page of the Sun. It's an occupational hazard," he said.

One of Gordon Brown's former advisors, Damian McBride, revealed that Brown had simpler tastes. "Gordon's standard 'finishing touches' evening meal was a Tesco's microwave lasagne. And a Kit Kat."