Photo wRap: Fake disaster photos go viral

MANILA, Philippines – Superstorm Sandy, the Halloween, and the final stretch of the United States presidential elections made the week of October 28 to November 3 a good one for viral photos. 

We collated photos that stood out among the many shared on social media in the list below. Did we leave something out? Let us know in the comments below.

Fake and viral

Sandy was dubbed the Frankenstorm for hitting the Carribean and the north America’s east coast before Halloween. As it ripped through New York, photos of disaster-struck areas hit the web.

Some who wanted to hitch on the bandwagon resorted to faking images that went viral on Twitter and Facebook.

While most would have something better to during a disaster than sit around and photoshop images they then fed into various social media outlets, the images themselves looked pretty awesome. Except that, well, these events, didn’t really happen.

This one’s a wallpaper from the movie A Day After Tomorrow. Nice try, folks.

 

Then again, why photoshop a fake photo when the real ones, like this one of Ground Zero, are just as dramatic? That’s a photo of seawater rushing onto the Ground Zero construction site in New York. (Photo source)

With hurricane Sandy over, the first thing on people’s minds would usually involve rehabilitation, checking up on loved ones or lending a helping hand to those in need. Not for Brazilian model Nana Gouvêa who thought “Photoshoot!” was a good idea.

She received a lot of flak online for the photos while the rest of New York was still reeling from the damage. (Photo Source) 

 

Cue the memes! It wasn’t long before the rest of the online community took matters into their own hands and crafted clever disaster-themed “photoshoots” for Gouvêa. This one of here with the Titanic would be a favorite. 

Celebrity costumes 

Photographs of celebrities are often viral by themselves. Photographs of celebrities in costume, more so. But photographs of celebrities in questionable costumes? We’ve got ourselves a winner.

Sticking to this week’s “You did not think this through” theme, we’ve got photos of Lady Gaga and Rihanna dressed up as cannabis, which caused quite a stir… (Photo Source)

…but not as much as Chris Brown’s terrorist-inspired costume.

There are no words for this one. The singer received criticism online for his choice of costume with his followers calling it disrespectful and insensitive. (Photo Source)

 

A different photo booth

Say cheese! When we asked for photos of how Filipinos observe Undas, we did not expect this one. 

This photo of a coffin photo booth, sent to us via #Rappler Assignments, got a lot of attention online because, well, it’s a pink coffin used as a photobooth. We don’t know about you guys but we’ll probably sit this one out.

The owners of Chapel Bar and Bistro would probably never get to set up shop in the Philippines and this ad shows us why. Boasting “7 years of almighty nights,” their Jesus-and-Mary-in-bed stunt would do more than just raise eyebrows. (Photo Source)

US elections 

With the US elections fast looming, Obama took a break from the campaign trail to survey the damage Sandy caused. “We will not quit until this is done,” says Obama who offered his condolences for those who lost loved ones and homes during the disaster.

Both candidates are back on the campaign trail in a rush to win over key states. You might ask, “Why should Filipinos care about the US elections?” Watch this report by Rappler’s Carmela Fonbuena.

 

That’s it for this week’s photo wRap! What made your week? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below. – Rappler.com