Claim: A picture of blue-jumpsuit-wearing human billboards is from Ghana
Source: Social media
Verdict: FALSE
Researched by Julius Kofi Satsi
Is it true that a viral picture of a group of people dressed in a blue jumpsuit, and serving as human billboards, was taken in Ghana?
The picture showing the walking billboards standing along a street is being portrayed on Facebook and Twitter/X as captured at Kwame Nkrumah Circle, a popular lorry station located in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
“I saw them at Circle yesterday and I approached one of them and he told me: “Sir, I don’t even know what we’re doing, it’s ¢100 daily pay, from 7am to 5pm…. It’s to just stand and be turning up and down, you can join tomorrow(‘s) own. This our country errh,” a Facebook user said in a post.
Using a Reverse Image Search, GhanaFact found that the image first appeared on the internet in September 2022.
The picture was shared by Sanlam Life Insurance Nigeria Limited on its Twitter/X page on September 19, 2022, during an insurance promotional campaign.
The post shared by Sanlam Nigeria comes with the following caption: “Did you see the Men in Blue in your area today? Watch out for them again tomorrow and stand a chance to win airtime when you take a picture with them. Check our previous post for more details.”
Meanwhile, on Instagram, GhanaFact noticed that the same image has been shared with the caption; “So, I saw them on Lagos road yesterday, I approached one of them to ask and he told me: “sir, I don’t even know what we’re doing, na 10k daily pay, from 7am to 5pm…. Na to just stand and be turning up and down, you can join tomorrow own if you are interested.”
A screengrab of an Instagram post
The Instagram post is very similar to the one being widely circulated in Ghana and might have inspired the copycat trend by netizens in Ghana.
