Lying clickbait: Crazy celebrity transformations, geography fails, porn fantasies

For a few weeks, it seemed like lying clickbait had crawled back under the rock from which it came. I didn’t see many examples of it in my web surfing. But then the use of deceptive pictures with clickbait articles came roaring back.
Here are some of the latest examples.

I’ve noted previously that dishonest clickbait creators will pair a photo of a celebrity with the mugshot of a hideous criminal or drug addict and imply the two are the same person or are related.
Revcontent recently ran a sponsored article titled “‘Cosby Show’ star looks hideous today” that paired a photo of child star Keshia Knight Pulliam with the mugshot of some unidentified suspect who is not Knight Pulliam.

Revcontent posted an article titled “Once a star, now totally broke” that paired an image of actress Jasmine Guy with a picture of a Bronx heroin addict named J Lo by Chris Arnade.

A Revcontent article titled “30 hot celebrities who married ugly spouses” paired a photo of actor Emilio Estevez with an unattractive mystery woman. Estevez was previously married to singer-choreographer Paula Abdul and had children with model Carey Salley.

Clickbait creators must be pretty stupid when it comes to geography.
A Taboola article titled “Untold history of the Korean War looks beyond what is known” used a photo of actress Raquel Welch visiting U.S. troops in Vietnam in 1968.

A Revcontent article titled “30 secrets North Korea doesn’t want anyone to know” used a still from the South Korean period movie “The Treacherous” (2015).

Clickbait creators also don’t know the difference between a dangerous animal and an endangered animal.
A Taboola article titled “30 most dangerous species found on the planet” used a photo of a hooded seal. The conservation status of the hooded seal is listed as “vulnerable.”

Clickbait creators love to pass off modern photos as historical. They’ll often convert color photos to black and white or sepia tone for this purpose.
A recent Taboola sponsored link titled “15 most beautiful historical photos ever captured” used a photo of model Billie Darling taken by photographer Mark Cafiero in 2006.

Clickbait purveyors also like to misrepresent what photos depict.
A Taboola article titled “23 unreal photos taken before tragic moments” used a photo of a woman who looks like she’s falling down. The photo’s subject, Australian pro surfer Ellie-Jean Coffey, is actually riding a skateboard and just leaning into a turn.

And finally a Yahoo-sponsored clickbait article titled “What you thought teachers do during class is true” used a provocative photo of a curvaceous woman with a low cut dress talking to a young man. The photo is actually from a porn movie by Naughty America, based on my reverse image search.
I almost never click on these articles, but did in this case to see if it had any references to teachers having sex with students. It did not.