In early December 2025, a video supposedly showing legitimate footage of a raccoon breaking into a liquor store, drinking alcohol and then passing out on the bathroom floor circulated widely online.
The clip spread on
While the story itself is true, the above video was generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
"Yes, that is an AI generated video and is not our store or raccoon," said Pat Kane, a spokesperson for Virginia Alcohol Beverage and Control Authority, which oversees the state-run liquor store in Ashland targeted by the real raccoon's drunken ransacking.
As such, we have rated this video fake.
Kane said via email that the real raccoon entered the store on Nov. 28 after business hours and "impacted the security system," resulting in a power outage alert from the security company. The next morning, the store manager found the intoxicated "Black Friday Bandit" passed out on the floor. It had damaged 14 bottles of spirits worth about $250, according to Kane.
Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter in Virginia, the local government's official animal control department, released real images of the raccoon post-rampage. (The county is even selling merchandise of the
Reputable news broadcasters also reported on legitimate surveillance videos of the raccoon running amok, which were first published by ABC 8 News, a television station in Virginia. Snopes independently verified these videos via Kane, who sent us the clips through email.
Spotting the AI behind the video
As evidenced, the real surveillance videos are much grainier than the AI-generated video (as surveillance videos usually are).
There are several inconsistencies in the fake video that clearly indicated the use of artificial intelligence. Zooming showed that labels for the liquor bottles blurred into one another and wobbled as the video played, a telltale sign of an AI-generated video. The labels were also gibberish.
Furthermore, within the AI video, the background of the first clip in the (fake) daylight — before the AI video jumps to the raccoon in the dark — shows liquor bottle shelves, which mysteriously disappear to be replaced with an exit sign in the second clip.
Examples that indicate the video is AI-generated, including gibberish labels and an inconsistent background. (Facebook user Animal Life)
For more on AI-generated animals, see our collection here. A Snopes explainer on AI slop — including how to spot it — can be found here.