What was claimed
M&S are giving away 500 ‘golden tickets’ worth £100 each on Facebook.
Our verdict
M&S have confirmed that this is not a genuine deal.
Facebook ‘M&S golden ticket giveaway’ is fake
22 February 2023
Posts on Facebook claim that Marks & Spencer is giving away 500 vouchers worth £100 to use at M&S Food. But a spokesperson for M&S has confirmed that this is not a genuine deal.
The first post, with over 750 shares, says: “At M&S we want to show you we care so we're doing something special to help out during these tough times.” It claims that people who share and comment on the post within 7 days can win a “golden ticket”.
However, in the second post, it directs readers to follow a link and fill in “quick simple details” for the chance to win. This follow-through website does not have an official M&S URL address.
The posts appeared on a page called M&S Fans on 16 February. The page is unverified with only 561 followers, compared to the 5 million followers on the official M&S Facebook page.
Both posts include images of people holding golden tickets. However, multiple photos come from the openings of new M&S stores where several outlets gave golden tickets to their first 200 customers, rather than the deal promoted in the post.
One photo originates from a 2019 blog written about a newly opened M&S food hall in Northern Ireland. The photo was also used in a similar fake promotion that was fact checked by Full Fact in November 2022.
Another photo is taken from an M&S store opening in Chesterfield, while one photo appeared first in the Islington Tribune following the opening of a store in Archway, London.
A spokesperson for M&S told Full Fact: “We’ve investigated this and can confirm this is not a genuine deal.
“The images appear to have been taken without permission from local media articles of customers that have won real Golden Tickets that are given out on store opening days.”
You can read more about how to spot misleading images and how to find the original version of pictures you see online in our guide.
This is one of many fake posts we’ve seen claiming to be retailers giving out vouchers, prizes or low cost deals.
Image courtesy of Suzy Hazelwood
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because M&S has confirmed that the deal is not genuine.