Is Five Guys closing down all its locations in the US in 2024? Viral claim debunked

May 09, 2024

Five Guys is onе of thе most popular fast food chains, currеntly opеrating in morе than 1,000 placеs around thе world. Howеvеr, thе company has bееn trеnding for somе timе aftеr rumors rеgarding thе shutdown of all thе locations wеnt viral on several social mеdia platforms.

According to Snopes, multiple advertisements with the aforementioned rumors have been appearing on YouTube this month, and one of them is titled "They're Closing Doors in 2024." The ads also include photos of the Five Guys logo, leading to rumors that the restaurant's locations are closing down permanently.

Snopes stated that the reason behind the closure was that Five Guys had gone bankrupt and was suffering from other kinds of losses.

However, it has been confirmed that the rumors are completely false and the advertisements were clickbait. Meanwhile, the company is yet to issue an official statement on the same from their side.

YouTube ads mentioned Five Guys locations were closing down around the world

The reports of Five Guys shutting down have been trending on the internet and it has led to concerns among those who have been visiting the place for a long time.

As mentioned earlier, a lot of advertisements began appearing on YouTube this month, claiming that the company was planning to close all its locations.

There was a separate article posted by Reference.com about Five Guys' closure and the headline reads, "These 53 Restaurant Chains Are on the Brink of Disappearing Entirely."

However, the article is not authentic since the source code proved that it was allegedly published sometime in 2020 or 2021. The article stated that around 68 other companies were supposed to be closed down and the reason for closing each company was mentioned separately.

Snopes explained the entire thing as advertising arbitrage where an advertiser aims to earn profits through featuring advertisements in an article, aiming to pull more readers.

According to the official website of Five Guys, the first location was launched in 1986 and they initially served burgers made with hand. They focused on franchising from 2003 and their name was soon featured on multiple publications.

The journey continued by launching more locations and they are currently the most well-known fast food chain.

Similar incidents of clickbait advertisements have happened in the past

In November 2023, two more restaurant companies became the victim of clickbait advertisements, including Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Olive Garden. In both cases, there were claims that their locations were closing down after suffering from losses.

A representative for Olive Garden addressed the entire thing by saying that he had no idea how and from where the rumors were spread in the first place. In the other case, a representative for Cracker Barrel spoke to Jordan Liles of Yahoo! Finance, saying that they are "committed" to serving all "guests and communities" in all the stores.

The existence of clickbait ads has led to similar rumors and so it is advised to check the source of any information when it goes viral on social media platforms.

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