Conservatives were widely mocked after melting down over a picture of a rainbow-colored mayonnaise allegedly released to commemorate Pride Month.
There's just one problem: The picture has surfaced on social media before and is completely fake.
Earlier, X user @kirawontmiss shared the photograph in question, allegedly showing them holding the rainbow-colored product, which is called "Real Gayo." The bottle includes text describing the product as “Smooth & Sassy." It also encourages consumers to “Add Pride To Your Next BLT.” There's even a disclaimer stating the "Gayo" is made with “Bonus Trans Fat” as well as “Closet Free Eggs.”
They captioned it:
"What the hell is this?"
You can see the picture below of the "mayonnaise" in question.
@kirawontmiss/X
The image isn't real, however.
It was created in 2022 by an X user who uses the moniker @PhotographDr who published a tweet showing the original image of Kraft mayonnaise they edited to create the "Real Gayo."
You can see their post and the original photograph below.
@PhotographDr/X
In an interview with The Daily Dot, @PhotographDr said the altered image has been shared many times in the last couple of years but that a watermark showing their Instagram handle has been removed each time.
They also expressed concern that “some people are purposefully trying to stir up hateful comments at the LGBTQ+ community's expense by resharing it.”
And indeed, many reactionary conservatives predictably lashed out with anger and homophobia.
But others were quick to mock conservatives over the manufactured controversy.
Conservatives have received significant backlash for their manufactured "war on woke" that has yielded often embarrassing and hilarious results.
In November, conservatives once again criticized Target for its Christmas ornaments, igniting fresh criticism over the retailer's decorations during holiday season. Among the range of festive offerings were Santas depicting various ethnicities in wheelchairs and a toy soldier carrying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag while donning a rainbow hat.
Many conservatives, spurred by a post from the X account @endwokeness, called for another boycott of the retail chain, mirroring a similar action taken in the spring after the store featured Pride month merchandise and transgender-friendly swimwear.
The absurdity of this situation prompted the account @ChudsOfTikTok to highlight posts from two supposed conservative Christians who claimed Target's Santa figurines are "woke," "demonic," and do not meet "the physical requirements" for a Santa typically depicted as White and overweight in Western media—one even referred to the 1994 Christmas film The Santa Clause as an example of a more appropriate Santa depiction.