Lady Gaga fans apparently aren’t satisfied with her just winning an Oscar for “Shallow” from A Star is Born, and it shows.
A hoax hashtag, #Shallowbucks, has gone viral, asking users to tweet out a screenshot of them listening to “Shallow” for a free drink at Starbucks. There are tweets, and craftily doctored messages that appear to be from Starbucks with messages such as, “Thank you for streaming ‘Shallow’ by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper! Here is the link to the voucher for your free drink.”
Starbucks confirmed with the Daily Dot that the company has no association with this hashtag.
https://twitter.com/JuzdanProd/status/1101337597597622272
The person who claims to have initiated the initiated the trend is reportedly a fan BuzzFeed identified only as Nico. He said he started the trend to make sure “Shallow” climbs the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it’s currently in the 21st spot.
“Well since rumors of ‘Shallow’ possibly going number one on Billboard started I knew I had to do something to help her out with sales and streams but I didn’t know just what to do at first,” he told BuzzFeed.
“Then one day when I was going home from school I passed by a Starbucks and got the idea last minute lol.”
Some apparently took the offer seriously and gave it a shot:
dis better work. #SHALLOWBUCKS pic.twitter.com/w2JGyWMK1y
— delusion over decaf (@ihyvaldez) March 1, 2019
Im trying to get free.#SHALLOWBUCKS @ladygaga pic.twitter.com/4ZxX8q6fKD
— Kim pieee (@MynionsSoqix) March 1, 2019
Others boosted the fake offer online.
omfg got my free drink #ShallowBucks pic.twitter.com/RD5AFdasVK
— ben (@benloveslorde) March 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/AllyLewinksy/status/1101523726410137601
Just got my free drink! Thanks Starbucks! #SHALLOWBUCKS pic.twitter.com/bTCnKHOL3T
— ِ (@judashookerr) March 1, 2019
But it soon spiraled into lots of confusion for Starbucks. The coffee company eventually responded to some of the tweets to confirm that the offer is not real.
This is a fake offer and not valid at Starbucks. We are investigating to determine how this fake post was created and circulated. Thank you.
— Starbucks (@Starbucks) March 2, 2019
Hi. This is a fake offer and not valid at Starbucks. We are investigating to determine how this fake post was created and circulated. Thank you. -Mariah
— Starbucks Care (@StarbucksCare) March 3, 2019
Sorry for any confusion, but this is not a valid Starbucks offer. This post is completely false.
— Starbucks (@Starbucks) March 2, 2019
Nico’s dedication is apparently real, though. He shared a screenshot with BuzzFeed that shows different stages of a Starbucks offer poster being doctored, and by Saturday, was sharing tweets and GIFs about potentially going to prison for the scam.
Nico did not immediately responded to the Daily Dot’s request for comment.
This post has been updated.
H/T BuzzFeed
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