15 June,2011 07:18 AM IST | | Agencies
Fake picture asking all African-Americans for an additional charge causes uproar; company reiterates its social diversity
A hoax picture, posted on the internet and passed on by e-mail and Twitter, is causing Big Mac-size problems for the fast food giant McDonald's.
Some people found it funny and passed it on with comments others found it racist and passed it on with abuse aimed at the fast food giant.
People tweeted and retweeted the photo, using the words 'Seriously McDonalds' to express their disappointment with the fast-food chain
McDonald's is not charging its African-American customers an extra $1.50 (Rs 68) 'as an insurance measure due in part to a recent string of robberies", but the company is having a hard time suppressing the libel.
Twitter users continued to send out the picture, with that same message of condemnation: "Seriously McDonald's."
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Indeed, so many people sent "Seriously McDonald's" tweets that the phrase became a leading entry on Twitter's trend list.
However, it was later revealed that the prank picture is old, first posted three years ago on 4chan.org, a web-site where anyone can post comments and share images depending on their interests.
Different boards are dedicated to different topics, from Japanese anime, manga, and culture to videogames, music, and photography.
Spot the fake
However, some were quickly wise to the fake. One Twitter user commented, "We called that 800 number you see at the bottom of the sign, and it connected to the KFC Customer Satisfaction Hotline."
McDonald's stated in a tweet of its own, 'That pic is a senseless and a ignorant hoax. McD's values ALL our customers. Diversity runs deep in our culture on both sides of the counter."
And, in an official statement, Rick Wion, McDonald's director of social media reiterated, "The sign is obviously a hoax.
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As a company and a brand we have a long and proud history of diversity inclusion across our system on both sides of the counter. From our management crew, franchisees across the board, we're very proud of our record of diversity.
This is unfortunately an example of how rumours can outspeed the truth. Over the last 48 hours we've been tweeting and striving to clarify that this is a hoax."
The picture has now been removed from Twitpic.
Recent hoaxes
Earlier this month, a woman from Netherlands had had pictures of all of her Facebook friends tattooed onto her arm. All 152 of them.
However, it later turned out that it was merely a publicity stunt and the tattoo was a try-out tattoo.
Another hoax was that author J K Rowling had bought a home in Tasmania.
