This story updates our earlier coverage of a viral photo that appeared to show Americans travelling to Halifax in matching "Lake America" sweatshirts.
The Americans in the viral "Lake America" photo made the image themselves.
And the sweatshirts never existed.
Before flying to Halifax, Jane Smith and her family took a real photo at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and used ChatGPT to make it appear that they were wearing matching "Lake America" sweatshirts.
Smith then posted the AI-generated image to Facebook with the caption: "Like our sweat shirts? Not sure Canada will. Lol lol."
What began as a joke about the Lake America name change eventually spread without the AI indicator Smith says appeared on her original post.
Thousands of people came to believe the family had actually travelled to Canada wearing the shirts.
ABC12 reporter Liam Clymer tracked down the original photograph and spoke with Smith about how the image was made and how it spread.
"We never had actual sweatshirts," Smith told ABC12. "We never wore sweatshirts."
The trip was real. The shirts weren't.
The family was at Detroit Metropolitan Airport preparing to fly to Halifax when the original photo was taken.
Smith says they used ChatGPT to generate another version showing the group in matching "Lake America" sweatshirts.
The joke was prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America" for U.S. federal use.
"We weren't trying to make a political statement," Smith told ABC12, saying the family was "kind of poking fun" at the name change.
But Smith's own caption anticipated how Canadians might react.
"Like our sweat shirts? Not sure Canada will. Lol lol."
The family then travelled to Halifax.
The sweatshirts didn't go with them.
Smith has apologized
Smith now says creating and sharing the image was a mistake.
In a written statement provided to ABC12, she described it as "insensitive, distasteful, and in poor judgment."
"It should never should have been created or shared," she said. "Though the image did not depict a real event, I understand that the image was hurtful and offensive."
"I made a mistake. I own that mistake, and I am committed to learning from it."
Smith also told the station that she understands why Canadians were angry when they believed the photograph was real.
How the AI label disappeared
According to Smith, her original Facebook post contained an indicator identifying the image as containing AI-generated content.
Then the image left her page.
Smith says her sister Lisa, who was also on the trip, took a screenshot and made a separate public post.
That screenshot no longer carried the AI indicator.
From there, the image travelled much farther than the original. It was picked up by Breaking News Canada, which presented it as a group of Americans who had "apparently travelled to Halifax" wearing the matching sweatshirts.
It then spread across Instagram, Bluesky, Reddit and Canadian Facebook groups.
Most people encountering those versions weren't seeing Smith's original Facebook post. They were seeing copies of copies, often accompanied by someone else's description of what the photograph supposedly showed.
The underlying image hadn't changed.
The information surrounding it had.
People were no longer looking at an AI joke presented with an AI indicator. They were looking at what appeared to be photographic evidence of Americans travelling to Canada wearing matching shirts referencing a controversial U.S. renaming of a lake shared by the two countries.
One screenshot was enough to strip away a crucial piece of context.
Her credit union has disavowed the post
The controversy eventually reached Smith's workplace.
Smith is CEO of Family First Credit Union in Saginaw, Michigan.
The credit union's board told ABC12 that it "unequivocally disapproves and rejects" the content of Smith's social media post.
The board said Smith made the post in her personal capacity while on a family vacation, and without the credit union's authorization or knowledge.
It also said her conduct did not reflect the organization's values, mission or culture, and that the credit union supports and respects its Canadian neighbours.
The board said it is now determining the appropriate next steps involving Smith.
That distinction matters. The board has condemned Smith's post, but it has not publicly announced what action, if any, it will take against her.
Credit Union Daily, which separately reported on the controversy Friday, identifies Family First as a roughly $96.7-million credit union.
The family says it came home early after death threats
The online reaction didn't stop at criticism of the joke.
Smith told ABC12 that she began receiving death threats after the image went viral.
The family returned to Michigan on Tuesday, cutting short what had been planned as a 10-day trip to Halifax.
Smith said she understands why Canadians who thought the photograph was real were angry.
"I understand if I was someone in Halifax and I thought a poor group of people walked in wearing those sweatshirts, it is highly offensive, and I would understand why they would be so angry," she said.
The experience has also changed her view of AI.
"I think the AI can be dangerous in the fact that it can make people think something's real that's not," Smith told ABC12.
Another story about why she was in Halifax wasn't true either
As people tried to identify the family, another claim began circulating.
Smith's trip happened around the same time as a credit union leadership program at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.
Because Smith is a credit union CEO, some people online connected the two and speculated that she was there for the program.
ABC12 checked.
Program manager Erin Hancock told the station Smith was not part of the program and wasn't known to organizers.
"This is an internet urban legend," Hancock said.
So while the trip to Halifax itself was real, that explanation for why Smith was there wasn't.
Some people questioned whether the image was real from the beginning
Not everyone who saw the photograph initially believed it was genuine.
Some people questioned whether the matching "Lake America" sweatshirts had been created using AI.
They were right.
But that uncertainty didn't stop the image from spreading.
By the time the fuller explanation emerged, screenshots had moved between platforms, thousands of people had reacted, people in the photograph had been identified, personal social media accounts had been found, and Smith's employer had been pulled into the controversy.
What started with a real airport photograph and AI-generated clothing had come to be treated by many people as evidence of an event that never happened as depicted.
Why the photo was believable
The controversy behind the joke is real.
Trump signed an executive order on August 27, 2026, directing the U.S. government to adopt "Lake America" in place of Lake Ontario in federal geographic records and references. The order directs the Interior secretary and Board on Geographic Names to update the Geographic Names Information System and federal maps, documents and communications.
That decision generated reaction on both sides of the border, and that context mattered.
A photograph of Americans preparing to travel to Canada in matching "Lake America" clothing didn't look completely implausible. The photograph was also based on a real image of the actual travellers standing at their airport gate.
What people couldn't see simply by looking at the version circulating online was that the clothing had been generated.
That made the image believable enough to spread before its origins were established.
Smith now acknowledges creating and posting the altered image and has apologized. Family First Credit Union's board has disavowed the post and says it is determining its next steps.
Smith also says the family returned to Michigan early after the backlash escalated to death threats.
The trip was real. The photo was real. The controversy was real. The sweatshirts were not.
Sources
Saginaw CEO in viral 'Lake America' post voices AI concerns — Liam Clymer, ABC12 WJRT, September 17, 2026
Saginaw CEO gets push-back for 'Lake America' Facebook post — Liam Clymer, ABC12 WJRT
Smith's apology and the Family First Credit Union board response as also reported by Credit Union Daily, September 18, 2026.
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