Anarchists, you might need a lot of caffeine to stoke your mayhem, but Starbucks is not going to give it to you as a reward for smashing their windows.
According to a hoax post that’s been making the rounds on Facebook and anarchist forums such as Nerdica.net, Starbucks is installing new shatterproof windows that scientists have been working on for the past three years.
Just try to break the windows with a brick or rock, the hoaxsters are urging people. If you succeed, Starbucks will reward you with a free year of coffee!!!!
…Or not. Snopes debunked the beverage fantasy after Starbucks confirmed via email that the meme is pushing fabricated news.
The image started circulating last week. As Snopes notes, Starbucks has in the past taken precautions against vandalism at its flagship roastery in Philadelphia, having boarded up its Capitol Hill store and closed multiple stores early in anticipation of annual May Day labor protests.
According to the Associated Press, in early May, vandals broke windows and spray-painted walls in nine Starbucks stores in the company’s home city of Seattle. This year marked the anniversary of riotous World Trade Organization protests in 2017.
At any rate, if you want an ample supply of arguably decent coffee, jail probably isn’t the place to get it. Starbucks most certainly isn’t the place to get it for free, either, so don’t expect them to give up the goods in exchange for smashing up their stores.
Don’t fall for the hoax. Leave the brick on the ground, leave the coffee company’s windows unmolested, and stay out of jail!
s31064
Hoax or no hoax, why would anyone want a year’s worth of that battery acid Starbucks calls coffee?
Kyle
Do people really fall for this stuff?
Paul Ducklin
One big problem with hoaxes is not whether they actually do what the hoax suggests (or avoid what it warns against) but that they get into the bad habit of forwarding hoaxes to their friends unselectively…
…which has the long term effect of softening everyone up to fake advice in the future.