Iceland’s CEO is not offering free food to people who like a Facebook page

A Facebook post from a page called ‘Iceland Foods’ claims that anyone who shares or comments on the post will receive a box of essential goods worth £40. It has been shared over 24,000 times.

The post features an image of a man smiling outside an Iceland supermarket, with the caption: “Hello everyone I’m Jack Andrews. I am very happy to announce I’m the new CEO of Iceland Supermarket. 

“I’d like to start my new job off with a good deed for everyone as I know recent times have been tough which is why I’m going to be rewarding everyone who shares&comments by 22nd Feb with a box of essential goods worth £40 (sent next day delivery), I’ll also be putting a £500 voucher in 20 random boxes (1 per person).”

Iceland told Full Fact: “We are aware of the Facebook post and our teams are working to have this removed as soon as possible. We would like to clarify that the post has no connection to Iceland and would advise people to ignore it.”

In response to people who have commented, the page itself encourages people to “click the blue Sign Up button on our page”. Clicking this button appears to take you to a survey, which asks for your email address, where you live, phone number and other contact details.

The man pictured is not “Jack Andrews”, but Tarsem Dhaliwal, the CEO of Iceland Foods. Iceland’s founder and executive chairman is Sir Malcolm Walker.

Another clue this prize draw isn’t genuine is that it isn’t being shared by the official Iceland supermarket Facebook page (though confusingly this is also called Iceland Foods). Some signs that it isn’t the official page are the lack of a blue tick after the name, the relatively low number of likes the page has, and the fact that it was only created on 19 February 2022, which you can see under ‘Page transparency’. 

Image courtesy of Ian Kirk.