This video is a Nigerian artist’s animation of a drone delivering instant noodles

The video was published on August 28, 2020, here on Facebook. It has been viewed more than 1.2 million times.

It purports to show a drone delivering a box of Indomie instant noodles before collecting a card payment. 

Its caption, written in traditional Chinese characters, translates to English as: “The era of unmanned aerial vehicle transportation and card swiping is approaching.”

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Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post taken on September 24, 2020

The video was also shared in Indonesian on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter; and in a Malaysian post with a similar claim.

Facebook posts, such as this one and this one, also shared the video along with a claim in English that it was taken in Nigeria. 

The claim, however, is false; the video is actually a 3D visual effects animation.

A reverse image search using keyframes generated by the InVID-WeVerify verification tool found the same video posted on Twitter here on August 26, 2020. 

The Twitter user, Uche Anisiuba, describes himself as a co-founder of a Nigerian content production company, Quadron Studios. 

The Twitter post’s caption reads: “So I ran out of Indomie yesterday, needed to make a quick restock, never knew we had a drone delivery service in Lagos,” followed by a laughing emoji. 

So I ran out of Indomie yesterday, needed to make a quick restock, never knew we had a drone delivery service in Lagos ?.#visualeffects #redshift3d #nollywood #africarising #africatech #nigerian #3Danimation #motiondesign @IndomieNigeria @myaccessbank @AccelerateTV @burnaboy pic.twitter.com/TyYGBOXnf8

— Anisiuba uche (@Anisiuba_Uche) August 26, 2020

Below is a screenshot of the video in the misleading Facebook post (L) and Anisiuba’s tweet (R):

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Screenshot of the video from the misleading Facebook post (L) and Anisiuba’s tweet (R)

In response to a question about the clip on Twitter, Anisiuba said that the video was a “3d visual effects. Like the type they use in Avengers.” 

He later tweeted this footage, which compares the video before and after the special effects.

I hear some people have been energetically arguing if this is real or not. Let me help you out. Here is a before and after ?. Sorry, not sorry ? pic.twitter.com/sUapRMTftl

— Anisiuba uche (@Anisiuba_Uche) August 28, 2020

Anisiuba explained in detail how he created the animation in this video on the YouTube channel of Artfrocentric.com, an online platform that showcases African digital arts.