By: Umme Kulsum
March 22 2024
Satirical poster on bus stop in U.K. shared as real government advertisement
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Screenshot of post showing an ad by the UK government (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
A satirical account that calls itself a "misinformation machine" first shared the poster. The U.K. government has not issued such an advertisement.
Claim ID 1c84d681
What's the claim?
Users on social media have shared an image of a satirical poster on a bus stop, incorrectly claiming that the poster is an advertisement issued by the U.K. government. The poster reads, "Eat. Your. Children. Save up to £30 per year on roast dinners. Visit GOV.UK/SaveCash. It all adds up," as well as the text, "Help for Households," a government campaign set up in response to the rising cost of living to raise awareness of the available government support.
A Facebook user shared the image with a caption, "What an UTTERLY DISGUSTING, DISGRACEFUL, BYLINE. UK GOVERNMENT - YOU SHOULD BE UTTERLY ASHAMED. AND SACK YOUR PR COMPANY TOO." Archived versions of such posts can be found here, here, and here.
The image has also gained wide traction on X (formerly Twitter). An archived version of the post can be found here.
Screenshot of posts showing the image. (Source: Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
What we found
The U.K. government has not run any advertising campaign, as seen on the poster, asking people to "eat their children" to save money. Logically Facts geolocated the poster to a bus stop at 85 Hagley Road, Birmingham, England.
A reverse image search led us to an X user named Foka Wolf, who shared the image with three other posters seen at the same bus stop. The photos were shared with the caption, "These advertisements offering money-saving tips are quite beneficial."
The account bio states that the user is a "professional gobshite" and a "misinformation machine." A post shared by the same user on March 13, 2024, featuring a smaller print of the poster with identical text.
We also checked this user's website through the Linktree address in the bio. We found that the red poster seen at the bus stop was available for sale on the user's website, along with other art posters with similar satirical content.
Logically, Facts contacted Foka Wolf to ask whether he made the poster, and he told us, "Yes, I did. I designed the poster and installed it in a bus stop."
The verdict
The poster is not part of a government campaign. It is a satirical poster, and its creator has confirmed to Logically Facts that they installed it at the bus stop in Birmingham. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.