A graphic image depicting a cow's head and its meat, resembling the logo of the American fast food chain McDonald's, is being shared with a false claim that it shows the newly revealed logo for McDonald's in the United States.
The accompanying caption with the photo further mentions that McDonald's has offended Hindus by presenting the image as their new logo, citing the cow's sacred status in Hinduism.
However, BOOM found that McDonald's has not officially introduced the viral image as their new logo in the United States. Additionally, we noticed that the image was generated using artificial image generation software by a user named Itzhak Garbuz.
The Hindi caption with the image translates to, "*New logo of McDonald's in America.* The government has a compulsion not to close it. Because politicians take bribes. What is the compulsion of Hindus to eat the goods of this company which slaughters cows?"
(Original Text in Hindi: *अमेरिका में मैकडोनाल्ड का नया logo.* सरकार की तो मजबूरी है इसको ना बंद करने की, क्योंकि नेता लोग तो रिश्वत खाते हैं । हिंदुओं की क्या मजबूरी है इस गाय का कत्ल करने वाली कंपनी का सामान खाने की।)
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Fact Check
BOOM checked verified official McDonald's profiles on social media platforms and found that the multinational fast-food giant has not posted the photo, thus showing that it is not their newly revealed logo for the United States.
We also couldn't find a reliable news report supporting the claims made in the viral posts regarding the picture.
Furthermore, we noticed that the image had been shared by the official X (previously Twitter) account of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on December 11, 2023.
PETA attributed the photo to a person named Itzhak Garbuz and posted it saying, "If McDonald's marketing was accurate".
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Taking a cue, we found that a Facebook user named Itzhak Garbuz posted the photo on September 19, 2023. The Hebrew caption with the photo translates to, "One of the most powerful tools currently in the worlds of artificial intelligence allows you to influence the creation of the image not only through text but also through a simple image such as a logo. This requires the model to create the image I requested but taking into account the contours of the logo. Many choose to take different brands and glorify them while combining optimistic and inspiring images. I'm less..."
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When a user inquired about the software used to create the image in the comment section, Garbuz also shared specifics about the tools he used.
Hence, it is evident that the photo was generated through artificial intelligence and holds no association with the fast-food chain McDonald's. Additionally, it can be confirmed that McDonald's has not introduced the viral image as their new logo for the United States.