Fast food 'mouse video' an example of viral fakes

Rise of viral videos: How to spot a fake In light of a recent video allegedly shot at a Surrey McDonald's, Penny Daflos has advice on how to tell if viral videos are fake.

It's not nice to look at, but you'll probably watch it more than once. Cell phone video shows a mouse perched on the edge of a disposable McDonald's cup before it hops down and scurries under equipment visible through a drive-thru window. A social media post just starting to circulate in Metro Vancouver claims it's from a Surrey location, but that's not true.

In fact, dozens of posts over the past several months have claimed the video was taken in various cities across the U.S., the U.K. and beyond.

"This was in Westland, Michigan," reads a comment by entertainer Kraze, after he posted it to his 800,000 Facebook followers Jan. 3rd.

Texas realtor Cyrus Saffari posted it Jan. 1st claiming "…my friend said that he was traveling toward Galveston [Texas] on holiday weekend and got that clip."

It has been viewed nearly 300,000 times on his wall alone, with thousands of shares.

The earliest instance we could find was Nov. 18th from a Facebook posting claiming it was recorded in Lavonia, Ga. When CTV News contacted poster Allie Ison to ask whether she had personally taken the video, we didn't receive a response.

"We hot potato viral videos," explains social media educator and Mediated Reality founder Jesse Miller. "We see it, we think we have to show it to our group of individuals who may not have seen before."

Miller points out there's money to be made on postings that garner click and views when connected to advertising, though some people simply like the feeling of publishing a popular item.

For example, YouTube channel Yes Theory garners millions of views with videos intentionally engineered to gather attention. In October they revealed exactly how they pranked the internet by finding a Justin Bieber lookalike and carefully staging a photo where the stand-in eats a burrito sideways, like a cob of corn. The image triggered online outrage at the bizarre eating method, with network news programs picking up the photo as a chat item. Yes Theory delighted in fooling people and getting attention, with one employee exclaiming "Not a single person is questioning if that's Justin Bieber!"

The internet is full of catchy quotes attributed to historical figures, whether they said them or not. An image with Winston Churchill, for example, quotes him as saying "The fascists of the future will call themselves anti-fascists." The debunking website Snopes.com explains how it was attributed to the former British Prime Minister.

Miller says everything on the internet deserves a healthy dose of skepticism, including the mouse video.

"There are things in videos [and images] we have to take at face value and use a little bit of media literacy to break down and ask ourselves does this look like this is something that's originating in my community and is it factual?"

Miller says the first step is to look at background details to figure out if something is local, for example watching for bilingual signage to see if it's in Canada. Digitally manipulated videos often have blurring or glitches while photos composites are virtually impossible to decipher from originals. At the end of the day, Miller says it's up to each of us to do our part to prevent the spread of misinformation or questionable material.

"Before you're the one to like it or pass it on or comment on a video, ask the person where they got the video from. Where did they source it? Is this something you recorded yourself or something you found online?"