FACT CHECK: No, This Image Does Not Show A Kansas City, Missouri, Tourism Ad With A Typo

An image shared on Facebook over 180 times allegedly shows a Visit KC sign about annual visitors to Kansas City, Missouri, that contains a significant typo.

Verdict: False

Photos and videos show the real sign using the word “annually.” Visit KC confirmed the image has been doctored.

Fact Check:

The sign visible in the Facebook post includes the logos of Visit KC and the U.S. Travel Association’s 2018 National Travel and Tourism Week, which was held May 6 to 12 that year. Visit KC describes itself on its website as a “economic development organization dedicated to tourism” and an organization “contracted by the City of Kansas City, Missouri.”

In the image, the sign appears to state Kansas City “welcomes 25 million visitors anally” instead of “annually.” The Facebook post’s caption remarks, “You can’t make this stuff up.” (RELATED: Did Kansas City Chiefs Owner Clark Hunt Say He Would ‘Immediately Fire’ Players And Staff Who Don’t Stand For The National Anthem?)

While instances of the image have been circulating since at least May 7, 2018, the photo is digitally altered. Visit KC shared the original photo and another picture showing the same sign from a different angle on Twitter on May 8 of that year, both of which showed the sign containing the word “annually.”

Here’s the original image, which has also been circulating on social media, as well as a photo of the sign from another angle. pic.twitter.com/bf0pBk3uHd

— Visit KC (@VisitKC) May 8, 2018

Visit KC had previously tweeted May 7, 2018, that the image showing the sign saying “anally” was “fake” and that the “advertisement it features has been doctored to show a misspelling where there is none.”

The typo-free sign can also be seen in footage live-streamed on Facebook by Fox 4 Kansas City after the doctored image initially went viral in 2018. The video showed it was displayed at a streetcar stop in downtown Kansas City. The edited photo and Visit KC’s response to it received some media attention as far away as Australia.

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