Is a video that shows a man who is unhappy when his french fries are spilled in a McDonald's during an earthquake in Toronto authentic? No, that's not true: The short clip was created by an artificial intelligence tool, according to an AI-generated content detector. Implausible details in the scene also indicate it is AI-generated.
The claim originated in a January 29, 2026, video posted on X.com account @Marin_0x article (archived here). It opened:
Man isn't happy after minor earthquake in Toronto yesterday spills his fries at McDonald's! 😂😂😂
This is what the post looked like on X.com at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com/marin_0x.)
Lead Stories uploaded the video to the Hive Moderation AI-generated content detection tool, which returned a decisive verdict. It scored that it was 95.6% likely to be AI-generated content, as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of Hive Moderation website.)
There are several telltale signs of AI generation in the video. The timestamp is garbled, with a "2x" appearing in the date, as this screenshot shows (Red circle added by Lead Stories):
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of X.com/marin_0x.)
When the meal spills off the table, the top does not come off and no liquid spills out. The burger in the man's hand changes shape and no longer looks like a burger. The woman's face behind him never moves during the video.
The video was originally posted on the Instagram account @bouncebackprotocol (archived here), which describes itself as a "digital creator."
The video is timely, as there was a 4.1 earthquake in Toronto on January 27, 2026, as news station WKBW reported (archived here).
