Lately, multiple requests have been received on Factly’s WhatsApp tipline to verify the authenticity of a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding a framed certificate that reads ‘100% Quality Guaranteed.’ We also found similar posts on social media, which show PM Modi promoting the brand Vestige. Let’s fact-check this claim through this article.
Claim: Photo shows PM Modi promoting the products of a brand named ‘Vestige’
Fact: This is a morphed photo. The original version of this photo is available on the ‘pmindia.gov.in’ website, which shows PM Modi holding gold coins at the launch of ‘Sovereign Gold Bond’ scheme in November 2015. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
To check the veracity of the viral claim, we performed a reverse image search using the internet, leading us to the original version of this photo available on the official website of the Prime Minister of India.
This was posted on 5 November 2015, taken at an event where the PM participated in the launch of the ‘Sovereign Gold Bond’ scheme.
This photo also features the late Arun Jaitley and the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. You can see that the photo frame that PM Modi is holding does not contain what is seen in the viral image. This was not a promotional event for Vestige. In the original photo, the PM was holding a frame containing gold coins. The following collage shows the difference between the viral edited and original photos.
To sum up, a photo of PM Modi holding gold coins was morphed to look like he is promoting the products of a brand named ‘vestige.’
