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| - WHAT WAS CLAIMED
McDonald’s is now selling demonic Happy Meals with a "Baphomet burger"
OUR VERDICT
False. The image behind the claim was created using an AI image generator.
Social media users are sharing an image claiming McDonald's has released a devilish "Baphomet burger" as part of its range of Happy Meals, complete with a Satanic toy.
This is false. The image of the burger box with a McDonald's logo and goat-headed figurine was created for fun by a Facebook user using an artificial intelligence (AI) image generator.
The user, who posted it to a Facebook group which shares "cursed" AI images, told AAP FactCheck they removed the image after it went viral. McDonald's says the Baphomet burger does not exist.
The AI image resembles one of the global fast food giant's advertisements and shows a black McDonald's burger box beside a Happy Meal toy in the shape of a Baphomet, a Pagan deity associated with occult traditions.
While many users are sharing the post in jest, others are outraged, believing the "Demonic Happy Meal" is real, such as here, here, here, and here (archived here, here, here, and here).
One Facebook post (archived here) warned it showed a "cursed or death meal". Another post (archived here) said purchasing the meal would mean introducing your child to an occult God.
Another post (archived here) suggested children would become possessed by demons if they ate the meal.
The image has also been shared to Instagram (archived here) with an angry call to "let McDonald's Go Broke!".
But a search for news on the Satanic Happy Meal does not return any results suggesting McDonald's has released a Baphomet burger.
The meal does not appear on the McDonald's US Happy Meal menu, its burger menu, or chicken and fish sandwiches menu.
Representatives from McDonald's Australia and McDonald's New Zealand confirmed to AAP FactCheck in an email that the meal was not available at their restaurants.
The earliest existing version of the image AAP FactCheck could pinpoint was posted to Facebook on March 28 at 4:40am AEDT (archived here).
The post's caption credits a user called "LightHouse AI Studios" with creating the image.
A screenshot of the image (archived here) shows LightHouse AI Studios posted it to a Facebook group called "Cursed AI".
The original post has been removed, but Reuters preserved it for a recent fact check.
LightHouse AI Studios confirmed to AAP FactCheck in a Facebook message that they created the image using the Bing AI Image Generator with the prompt "Baphomet happy meal".
They said they removed their original post to prevent the spread of "fake news".
The "demonic" burger resembles other work by LightHouse AI Studios, such as here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The Verdict
The claim McDonald's is selling Happy Meals with a demonic "Baphomet burger" and Satanic toy is false.
The viral image the claim is based on was created using an artificial intelligence image generator.
McDonald's confirmed to AAP FactCheck there is no Baphomet burger or Happy Meal on its menu.
False — The claim is inaccurate.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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