AI-generated image is being shared as McDonald's new logo depicting cruelty to cows - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 21, 2023
A widely circulated social media post alleges that the well-known fast-food chain McDonald’s has unveiled a new logo depicting cruelty to cows. The post includes an image featuring a cow’s head emerging from the iconic arches of the company’s logo. In this article, we aim to verify the accuracy of the claim presented in the post.
Claim: McDonald’s has unveiled a new logo depicting cruelty to cows.
Fact: McDonald’s has not unveiled a new logo portraying cruelty to cows. The widely shared viral image is the creation of an independent artist utilizing AI tools and is unrelated to McDonald’s management or its official logo. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Initially, we checked the McDonald’s official portal to investigate any alterations to their logo. However, no such modifications were identified, and their website continues to showcase the enduring golden arches logo. In January 2023, there were speculations about a logo change when the fast-food giant unexpectedly altered its profile picture and shared a cryptic animation on its feed. Nevertheless, no modifications to the logo have occurred since that time.
Moreover, the current viral image is largely generated by artificial intelligence. Hive, an AI detection tool designed to identify images and text produced or altered using AI, has assessed the present viral image as being AI-generated.
Moreover, conducting a reverse image search on the current photograph led us to social media posts by PETA, which featured the identical image (here, here & here). In these posts, PETA attributed the image to an artist named ‘Itzhak Garbuz.’ Following this lead, a search on various social media platforms led us to the profile of this artist.
In one of the artist’s posts, he shared an identical image and text indicating that he crafted it using various AI tools. Moreover, in response to a query in the comment section, the artist explicitly stated that he generated the image using tools such as ‘stable diffusion’ and ‘control net.’ Consequently, these details affirm that the viral image is a product of artificial intelligence, confirming that McDonald’s did not adopt the current viral image as its new logo.
To sum it up, an AI-generated image is being shared as McDonald’s new logo depicting cruelty to cows.