NOT REAL NEWS: Starbucks coupon for people of color are fake

NEW YORK - (AP) -- Starbucks is not giving out free drinks to people of color.

The phony coupons are being spread on social media through accounts that identify as white nationalists.

It's likely an attempt to stir more bad sentiments about the coffee chain as it deals with the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia store. A worker called the police on the men saying they didn't make a purchase and refused to leave. The men were sitting and waiting for someone to join them for a business meeting.

Starbucks, which said it will close more than 8,000 stores on the afternoon of May 29 to give workers racial bias-training, said that the coupons are "completely false and in no way associated with Starbucks."

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This is part of The Associated Press' ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.

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