What was claimed
The CEO of Center Parcs is giving away a free holiday to someone who likes, shares and comments on a Facebook post.
Our verdict
Center Parcs has confirmed that it is not affiliated with the post in any way.
CEO of Center Parcs is not giving away a free holiday on Facebook
20 March 2023
A Facebook post is falsely claiming that the CEO of Center Parcs is giving away a free holiday. However, Center Parcs says it is not affiliated with either the supposed offer or the Facebook page it appears on.
The post, which has over 1,700 shares at the time of writing, says: “Hello everyone I'm Colin McKinlay, the CEO of Center Parcs. I know recent times have been tough and as we approach the warmer months i'll be sending someone who shares&likes then types 'Done' by March 27th on a 4 night holiday for 8 at a Center Parcs of their choice. [sic]”
It is accompanied by a photo of Mr McKinlay, who became the CEO of Center Parcs in April 2022, along with other images of Center Parcs facilities.
The post appears on a page titled “Center Parcs Longleat Forest.” which describes itself as a “Center Parcs UK Facebook fan page” and has around 400 followers, compared to the official Center Parcs UK page which has well over 400,000 followers.
The official Center Parcs Facebook page has warned that there are no official pages for specific Center Parcs locations, such as Longleat Forest, and urges people to report them.
A spokesperson from Center Parcs told Full Fact: “We are in no way affiliated with this page or any of the content—like the competitions—it is publishing.”
People who have liked, shared and commented on the post are told in a separate message to register their entry in the competition by following a link. This takes you to another website that is not connected to Center Parcs and says it offers rewards for completing surveys.
Full Fact has previously written about other Center Parcs giveaway posts, as well as posts making misleading claims about M&S golden tickets, Adidas shoes and pallets of Amazon parcels.
Image courtesy of Mike Peel
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 Center Parcs has confirmed that it is not affiliated with the page or post.