Fact Check

No Dough?

Published Sept. 14, 2015

Claim:

FACT CHECK:   Are all Dunkin Donuts locations closing after the company filed for bankruptcy?

Claim:   All Dunkin Donuts locations are closing after the company filed for bankruptcy.

  FALSE

Example:   [Collected via Facebook, September 2015]

dd bankruptcy

Origins:   In September 2015, a news-like link reporting that all Dunkin Donut restaurants in the U.S. would be closing after the company filed for bankruptcy began circulating on social media. Although the link appeared to point to a real news story it was generated by the prank web site Punkshare.com.

The primary goal of PunkShare.com is to troll people on social media. The web site helps users to create links that appear as if they point to real news stories. When an unsuspecting Facebook user clicks on the link, however, they are greeted with a "you got punked" meme:

you got punked

After someone has been "pranked" by a fake news link, PunkShare.com encourages them to share the joke with their own Facebook friends and Twitter followers. This ensures that the joke reaches as many people as possible.

Similar "pranks" have been created about Taco Bell closing, Channing Tatum's sexuality, and the cancellation of The Walking Dead.

Last updated:   14 September 2015

Originally published:   14 September 2015

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.