Wetherspoon not allowing staff to wear poppies? Fake News

ByCraig Haley

A fake J.D. Wetherspoon Twitter account has created a stir on social media by claiming the pub chain will not be allowing their staff to wear poppies.

The Twitter account WETHERSP00N_UK has nothing to do with the pub company J.D. Wetherspoon. After all, the account uses the digit 0 in its name to replace the letter O, and it also states it’s a parody page right there in its About section.

However a recent tweet (below) published from the fake parody account angered many social media users who didn’t appear to be aware that the account is fake.

Due to the ever expanding multiculturalism of our clientele and employees this year our staff will not be wearing the poppy while working.

The claim that a particular business isn’t supporting the annual Poppy Appeal is a common modus operandi used by fraudsters and hoaxers at this time of the year looking to cause some damage to a business’s reputation or stir racial hatred, and on most occasions those claims prove to be entirely unfounded.


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And that’s the case here. The fake Wetherspoon tweet has – obviously – got nothing to do with the real Wetherspoon business, who have been inundated on their own social media pages from angry users apparently under the belief that the tweet was genuine.

Every year the Internet is plagued with rumours like this, including rumours that the Royal British Legion has been banned from selling poppies in certain areas. Every year an outdated and inaccurate rumour claims Poundland has banned staff from its stores from wearing poppies spreads across social media.

The real J D Wetherspoon account soon clarified that the pub company does indeed support the Poppy Appeal cause, with the following tweet.

As such, any reports that J D Wetherspoon has banned the wearing of the poppy this year are entirely fake and should not be circulated as true.

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