At the end of May 2023, covers of the satirical magazines Eulenspiegel and Humor Times, dedicated to how Western countries allocate funds to Ukraine, went viral on the Internet. We decided to check if these are real caricatures.
German magazine Eulenspiegel
On May 30, 2023, a cover allegedly from the German edition of Eulenspiegel appeared on the Internet. The caricature on it parodies the drawing on the album Nevermind by Nirvana, showing a naked baby swimming underwater toward a dollar bill. On the cover being distributed, this bill is grabbed by a hand in military uniform with a Ukrainian flag on the sleeve. Under the picture is the inscription: “Ukraine is collecting money for its suicide.” This allegedly published cover was reported, in particular, by Telegram channels “Reports by Yuri Podolyaki"(90,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Yakov Kedmi" (79,000) and "Sexton"(61,000).
The satirical magazine Eulenspiegel is published once a month. The viral image states that the issue is June: 06/2023. But in gallery There are no such covers on the official website of the publication, nor on Eulenspiegel’s social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). The sixth issue for 2023 has a completely different cover: it is not a caricature, but a collage, and the issue is dedicated not to Ukraine, but scandal around the Vice-Chancellor of Germany and Minister of Economy Robert Habeck.
There is also a technical error on the fake cover. The number is listed as 06/2023. This designation appears only in the numbering on the site. And on the cover itself the number is always indicated without a leading zero, for example 6/2023.
This is not the first fake cover of a German satirical magazine to go viral on social media. At the end of January, a cartoon appeared on Telegram channels dedicated to the alleged influence of LGBT people and Ukraine on the 2024 Olympics in Paris. "Checked" then addressed to the editorial office of the magazine and to the artist, whose signature was under the drawing. A Eulenspiegel representative responded that it was fake. The artist did not acknowledge his authorship either.
The earliest publication of a fake cover with a floating baby that “Verified” was able to detect appeared in the Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation"(12,000 views). In recent months, it is from this Telegram channel that the spread of fake magazine covers most often begins. Since the fall of 2022, the channel has been the first to publish at least 13 fake magazine covers, including Charlie Hebdo, Courier International And El Jueves.
American magazine Humor Times
On May 22, the cover of the satirical magazine Humor Times appeared on social networks. It depicts a family that is recognizable as the Simpsons from the animated series of the same name. The characters look confused, and there are shadows from missing furniture on the floor and wall. There is a note on the wall: “For the needs of Ukraine.” This supposedly existing cover of the American edition was reported, in particular, by Telegram channels “Sheikh Tamir"(135,000 views), "Kot Kostyan - official channel" (101,000) and "Kristina Potupchik"(39,000).
On the official website there is cover archive since 1991, but the latest ones date back to 2022. However, numbers for 2023 can be found in section, where individual issues can be ordered.
The cover, distributed on social networks, indicates that this is a special issue for May 2023. However, there is no such issue on the Humor Times website, and former US President Donald Trump is depicted on the cover of the May issue.
There are also smaller technical details by which you can find differences between the viral cover and the real ones. Issues of Humor Times, in addition to indicating the month and year, retain continuous numbering. The current May issue came out as number 373.
In addition, there is a difference in the font used. The first things that stand out are the quotation marks and the use of a hyphen instead of a dash.
As with the fake Eulenspiegel cover, the earliest publication that “Verified” could find appeared on the Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation» May 22 at 12:45 Moscow time. It was this Telegram channel that was the first to post and previous a fake Humor Times cover that went viral on the Russian-language segment of the Internet, depicting Zelensky as a locust eating dollars.
Cover photo: collage “Verified” / social networks
Fake
- Is it true that foreign magazines published these covers dedicated to Zelensky and the Ukrainian church?
- Is it true that foreign magazines published these covers dedicated to Zelensky, Ukraine and Easter?
- Is it true that foreign magazines published these covers dedicated to Zelensky and Ukraine?
- Is it true that foreign magazines published these covers with cartoons dedicated to Zelensky, the Dalai Lama and Swiss banks?
- Is it true that a Spanish magazine published these covers with Zelensky and NATO leaders?
- Is it true that foreign satirical magazines published these covers dedicated to the words of the Pope about the Chechens and Buryats?
- Is it true that on three covers of Charlie Hebdo the President of Ukraine is depicted as a dog?
If you find a spelling or grammatical error, please let us know by highlighting the error text and clicking Ctrl+Enter.
