Franchising, retail, business
07/08/2017 - Starbucks has shot down rumors that the coffee giant was planning to offer discounts to undocumented American immigrants.
"All undocumented Americans will receive any item on the Starbucks menu 40% off," reads a fake coupon that claimed to promote "Starbucks DREAMer Day" that has been being shared online over the last week.
Starbucks debunked rumors about a #BorderFreeCoffee promotion on Twitter over the weekend.
"We're sorry but you've been misinformed," the company tweeted in response to a tweet accusing the chain of "pandering" to immigrants. "Starbucks is not sponsoring any such event."
The image promoting the fake promotion seems to have spread from a post on 4chan's Politically Incorrect message board.
The message board gained a degree of notoriety during the 2016 presidential election for spreading pro-Trump memes and fake news, such as encouraging Clinton supporters to vote via text message.
Starbucks is known its progressive politics, including support of DACA, a program that allows undocumented students to entered the US as minors to avoid deportation.
In January, Starbucks pledged to hire 10,000 refugees after Trump issued an executive order barring refugees from entering the US, sparking conservative boycott threats. Last year, long-time CEO and the current chairman of Starbucks' board, Howard Schultz, endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president.
-Kate Taylor