While it’s true the incident involving the arrest of two two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks is prompting the company to close its stores next month for racial-bias education, the coupons circulating around social media are a different story.
Coupons supposedly from Starbucks offer an apology and free coffee to African Americans.
They state: “Starbucks values all people of color and we are working on employee sensitivity training. The best dialogue starts over a cup of coffee and we’d like to buy you one.”
The coupons state they are “limited to persons of African American heritage and/or identity” and are for “People of Color only.”
In an email to our Verify team, Alli with Starbucks Media Relations said, “This is completely false and in no way associated with Starbucks.”
So we can Verify these coupons are fake, but the story doesn't end there.
The coupons have hidden racial slurs and white-supremacist messages.
Some of the coupons have a QR code that when scanned reveals the an offensive word.
Baristas are told to use a discount code, a combination of numbers that the Anti-Defamation League says is a symbol of white supremacy.
It turns out, users of an internet imageboard spread and likely created the hate-filled prank.
Although it looks like something from Starbucks, it didn’t come from Starbucks.
This case serves as an important reminder, before you believe things you see pop up on your feed, check the source.
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