Fake Starbucks coupons purporting to offer free coffee to African Americans are making the rounds on social media.
The voucher, believed to be a hate-filled prank crafted by the white-supremacy movement, features a QR code that, when scanned, reveals the N-word.
The bogus certificate surfaced Wednesday amid legitimate calls for a boycott over Starbucks' decision to phone 911 to have police arrest two black men at a downtown Philadelphia location because they hadn't bought anything last Thursday. They were denied use of a restroom even though they explained they were waiting for a friend. The furor arose over what is viewed as a double standard compared to how white customers are treated.
As for the phony coupons, "This is completely false and in no way associated with Starbucks," Jaime Riley, a spokeswoman for the coffee chain, said in an e-mail. "They cannot be redeemed in our stores."
Several different versions of the same coupon are circulating.
The so-called "Let's Talk Coupon" reads, "We're sorry. We know we can do better. 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 apology and the reference to having open conversations about racism are references to real actions Starbucks has taken. CEO Kevin Johnson has apologized for last week's incident. On Tuesday, the company announced plans to close all company-owned stores in the U.S. for the afternoon on May 29 for racial-bias training.
The voucher says the offer for a free beverage of any size and any variety is valid from April 18 until May 18. One version of the coupon adds that it's for "People of Color only", while another says, "Limited to persons of African American heritage and/or identity at time of exchange."
In addition to the faux legalese, the coupon features the Starbucks logo, the company's iconic shade of green and photos of the chain's drinks.
To use the coupon, baristas are told to use the discount code 1488, which is an allusion to two numbers white supremacists have embraced.
The so-called "14 Words" is a white-power slogan and 88 is a reference to "Heil Hitler," words that both begin with the eighth letter of the alphabet.
NAACP spokesman Malik Russell called the coupon "an unfortunate response" to steps civil rights organizations are taking to improve how the country deals with racism.
"Individuals are seeking to take advantage of these discussions to create more dissension," he said. "That’s not the direction we need to be going in."
