These anniversary giveaway messages attributed to different companies are fake - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 9, 2023
A post is being shared on social media claiming that US multinational retail corporation Walmart is offering unique gift bags to people to celebrate its 51 anniversary. This post asks users to write ‘Done’ in the comment section to grab the unique gift bag from Walmart. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Walmart is offering unique gift bags to celebrate its 51 anniversary.
Fact: The first Walmart store was opened on 02 July 1962, in Arkansas state of the United States of America. So, it would be the 61st anniversary of Walmart in 2023. Walmart did not announce any such free gifts on the occasion of its anniversary. Walmart spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that the social media pages and posts announcing gift cards in the name of Walmart are fake. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
When we searched to check whether the US retail giant Walmart had announced any such offers ahead of its anniversary, we could not find any such announcements on the official website and social media handles of Walmart. Many other users have also published similar posts attributing to the Walmart. But none of these users including the one who shared the post, are affiliated in any way with Walmart.
The first Walmart store was opened on 02 July 1962, in Arkansas state of the United States of America. Walmart completed its 60th anniversary in 2022 itself. Walmart will complete its 61 anniversary in July 2023. So, the claims about Walmart now providing gifts for its 51 anniversary are completely baseless.
Walmart on their official website warned people about social media scams offering gift cards and other offers in the name of Walmart. In 2021, when similar anniversary giveaway posts were attributed to Walmart on social media, a Walmart spokesperson issued a clarification to Reuters stating that the pages and posts offering gift cards for its 60th anniversary are all false. Further, the Walmart spokesperson said, “Our digital team is working on getting this page and false information down as soon as possible”.
FACTLY had earlier debunked similar fake offers that were attributed to different companies.
To sum it up, these anniversary giveaway messages attributed to different companies are fake.