Is In-N-Out Burger coming to Chicago in 2020? No, that's not true: a prankster fooled thousands of people by uploading a fake news headline with that claim to a prank website that uses a domain name similar to CBS News in order to confuse people but the story is not real.
The story originated from an article published on cbsnews.us (not cbsnews.com) on September 17, 2018 titled "In-N-Out Coming To Chicago 2020" (archived here) which opened:
The Califonia favorite restaurant is making its way over to the Midwest. Chicago will be the first location outside CA, TX, AZ & NV..
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail so they may have believed it was from a legitimate news source:
In-N-Out Coming To Chicago 2020
The Califonia favorite restaurant is making its way over to the Midwest. Chicago will be the first location outside CA, TX, AZ & NV..
However In-N-Out Burger's corporate website has a location finder that includes an "Opening Soon" section, and none of the restaurants listed there were in or even near Chicago. If you live in the Windy City it would seem the nearest In-N-Out is in Allen, TX, a trip of about 900 miles. Still, if you crave a delicious burger...
Restaurant Locations - In-N-Out Burger
Find your closest In-N-Out Burger restaurant where you'll get the highest quality burgers, fries and drinks prepared the same way since 1948
The site that published the hoax is part of a network of prank websites centered around thefakenewsgenerator.com that allow anyone to create a realistic looking fake news article. The network offers a selection of misleading domain names that can be used to make it look like an article came from real news websites such as CBS News, Associated Press or The New York Times. Each hoax article comes with following disclaimer at the top of the page:
You clicked this fake news story. Now make your own!
We wrote about cbsnews.us before, here are our most recent articles that mention the site:
- Fake News: Famous Wing Spot Buffalo Wild Wings NOT Closing All Locations In 2019.
- Fake News: Post Malone Did NOT Die From Ligma
- Fake News: Raising Cane's NOT Closing All Restaurants By End Of 2019
- Fake News: Chris Brown NOT Found Unconscious In His Los Angeles Home
- Fake News: San Antonio NOT To Become First City In Texas To Legalize Marijuana
