Are Starbucks or KFC coupons offering free food products to customers in the Black Lives Matter movement real? No, that's not true: Coupons being shared on social platforms are fake. Starbucks, for one, has apologized and denied the claim.
An example of the fake coupons is included a post (archived here) on Facebook from June 3, 2020: The fake Starbucks coupon read:
We're all in this together.BLACK LIVES MATTER!Come to any of our stores shoutingthese words for a free Frappucino ofyour choice. The louder you shout, thelarger the size you'll get!
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Sun Jun 7 12:39:34 2020 UTC)
Here is a screenshot of the Starbucks post, which has been debunked by The Associated Press:
And here is a screenshot of a scam KFC promotion, with a QR code that actually reads "This is a robbery, put the money in the bag."
And another faked KFC promotion:
Starbucks denied the claim in an email to the AP, and it also posted on Twitter:
Hello, I'm sorry for the confusion. We are aware of this and are investigating to determine how this fake post was created and circulated. You can confirm any promotion by checking the Starbucks website, your Starbucks app, or by asking your barista. Thank you.
-- Starbucks Care (@StarbucksCare) June 4, 2020
KFC provided Lead Stories with a statement:
KFC is not promoting a survey/sweepstakes for coupons online. From time to time, survey scams circulate on social media using prominent brands as bait to capture personal information. While we attempt to locate the source of these scams, due to their viral nature that is often difficult. We encourage you to report these scams to the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org "
On June 3, the company did post to Twitter to stand with people of color and do more as a company to help those protesting systemic racism and oppression:
We support our Black team members, partners, and customers. We are committed to using our voice to speak up but more importantly, using this time to listen, learn, and act to create positive social change. We have to do more. We will do more. pic.twitter.com/hUKzKTfN0p
-- KFC (@kfc) June 4, 2020
The posts apparently originated on 4chan, an image-based board where people can post just about anything anonymously. The 4chan thread showing coupons supposedly supporting Black Lives Matter and offering free food or drinks, among other things, has been deleted but is archived here.
The clearly faked coupons may look real but carry digitally designed QR codes.
