CLAIM: A photo of a Kroger receipt shows
the supermarket chain is charging customers to support Black Lives
Matter with a “BLM charge.”
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. This photo is
“absolutely photoshopped,” a Kroger spokesperson confirmed to The
Associated Press. The original version of the photo shows a fee for
the current nationwide change shortage, not a fee related to Black
Lives Matter.
THE FACTS: On Friday, July 24, Facebook
posts featuring a photo of a Kroger receipt were spreading quickly
online.
Along with a charge for 2% milk, the
receipt in the photo appeared to show a “BLM charge” of 59
cents, rounding the charge for the
milk up to the next dollar.
“Krogers charging you to support BLM,”
read one post.
“This is getting out of hand,” read
another, viewed more than 800,000 times in 24 hours.
But an internet search and a call to the
company headquarters quickly revealed this photo is
altered.
“It’s incorrect,” said Kristal Howard,
head of corporate communications and media relations at The Kroger
Company. “Absolutely photoshopped. It’s actually a dupe of another
receipt that was circulating online earlier this week.”
The original photo of the receipt shows
the 59-cent charge is a “change shortage” charge, not a “BLM
charge.”
The federal reserve is experiencing a
national coin shortage, a result of a decline in people
spending cash at stores during the pandemic.
Because of this, Kroger is short on coins
and asking its customers to pay with a card, donate rounded-up cash
payments to charity, or accept coin change on a loyalty card for
their next visit to the grocery store, Howard said.
“Customers can switch their payment type
(e.g., use debit or credit vs.
cash), and through our upgraded
technology, we can now load coin change to their loyalty card for
use during the next shopping trip, provide coin change at a lane
with coins available or round up their order to support The Kroger
Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, a public charity committed
to creating communities free of hunger and waste,” reads an
official Kroger statement on the policy.
Misinformation has swirled around grocery
stores and the national coin shortage in recent weeks, with some
social media users April o neil porn tmnt
the coin shortage was a government ruse
to usher the U.S. into a “cashless society.”
Though the “BLM charge” on the receipt is
bogus, Kroger issued a public statement in June including the
phrase “Black Lives Matter.”
“As a company, it’s our responsibility to
better support our Black associates, customers and allies,” the
company tweeted. “We know there is more work to do and will keep
you updated on our progress, this is only the beginning. Black
Lives Matter.”
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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.
Here’s more information on Facebook’s
fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536
