Confirmed: Fakesy NOT Banksy

Its been confirmed that this giant rat stenciled onto a taco shop in Oceanside is not a Banksy. KPBS is reporting that Banksy's PR firm is stating that this is not a Banksy piece.

Its not really a surprise to us, we called it from the beginning. But what we did find remarkable is the way that major news outlets latched onto the idea and everyone from Hypebeast to the major news outlets were reporting it as a Banksy.

As we said before, this piece seemed like a caricature of a mish-mash of Banksy's most well known pieces, but it didn't have the feel of a Banksy piece. But the gusto with which this was swept up in the news indicates that perhaps that's what the general public wants. Icons, not art.

But even though this is not Banksy, someone is cashing in. The restaurant where the stencil was placed says business has been better than ever, and the t-shirt pictured are being sold for $20 a pop. It seems like street art is good business, and good for business.

Thanks to Ryan Cooper for the shots of the piece, and CarlsBadCrawl for the breakdown.