An image shared on X purports to show a satanic Happy Meal sold by the fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s.
New McDonald’s Happy Meal
Your kids will LoVe It pic.twitter.com/Vl9Kfmzdrr— 🅰🅼🅴🆁🅸🅲🅰 🆁🅴🅰🅻 (@AmericaReal3) March 27, 2024
Verdict: False
A content detection scan using the website, “Hive Moderation” reveals the image has been generated with artificial intelligence (AI). The social media user who shared the image on X also admitted it was AI-generated in a subsequent post. Additionally, a media forensics and AI expert denied the image’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
Nathan Wickstrum, a 32-year-old from Ventura, California, recently discovered a sticky label bearing the words “CHEESE TABLE Barra de Queso en Mesa. Use by 8:12pm 3/25/24” on the inside of a cheeseburger he ordered from McDonald’s, according to Newsweek. Wickstrum noticed the label after taking a bite of the cheeseburger, the outlet reported.
“New McDonald’s Happy Meal,” the post’s caption reads, adding, “Your kids will LoVe [sic] It.” The post, viewed over 6,000 times, features an image of a satanic Happy Meal that includes a figurine of Baphomet.
The claim is false, however. A content detection scan using the website, “Hive Moderation” reveals the image has been generated with AI. Results of the same scan show the image is 99% likely AI-generated and there is a possibility the image was created with the Open AI program, DALL-E.
Screenshot captured via Hive Moderation
Likewise, the social media user who shared the image on X admitted it was AI-generated in a subsequent post.
“It’s just an AI joke,” the user wrote in response to comments from other social media users who thought the image was real.
Additionally, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports to support the claim that McDonald’s is purportedly selling satanic Happy Meals. In fact, the opposite is true. Snopes also reported that the image is AI-generated via an April 1 article. (RELATED: Did Bud Light Hire Whoopi Goldberg As Their New Brand Ambassador?)
Furthermore, McDonald’s has neither issued a press release nor a statement shared to its verified social media accounts publicly commenting on the image.
Dr. Walter Scheirer, a media forensics and AI expert at the University of Notre Dame, denied the image’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.
“This image was likely generated using AI. There are visible artifacts in the rendering of the text on the box, including a malformed ‘m’ character in the name ‘Baphomet’ and a malformed McDonald’s logo ‘M’ on the side of the box. Poor text rendering is a common problem with AI generated imagery,” Scheirer said.
Check Your Fact has also contacted McDonald’s for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.
