Wigan ‘diaper give away’ seems not to be genuine

A post on Facebook claims that a “diaper give away event” is being held in Wigan on 10 August. It does not give a time or address for the event, but points people instead to a different website branded with the Pampers logo for more information. 

This website then asks them to “register” by entering their email address. It subsequently asks for more personal and financial information, and offers “deals”, such as buying tickets for a lottery.

The post has been shared dozens of times, and instructs people to click the link “if you want BOXES of diapers, wipes, and other Huggies and Pampers supplies at no charge.”

Full Fact found several other examples of these posts with similar wording, but purporting to advertise events in Stalybridge, Harwich and London, all with the comments turned off. 

We followed the link included in the Facebook post and were prompted to enter personal details including an email address, phone number and home address several times. We were then asked to complete a number of different surveys asking detailed information about things like insurance providers and energy companies, and to sign up for marketing communications from a number of charities and businesses. 

The web pages initially offered users the chance to “win a Pampers gift package worth £250”, which gradually changed into a “reward” of “£100 towards baby products” as the surveys progressed. We stopped following the pages when they prompted us to set up an account in order to “claim a deal” on unrelated products, such lottery tickets, before we could access the alleged voucher. 

The supposed event in Wigan was not mentioned at any point on these pages. 

Pampers told Full Fact that the web page, which does not have the same URL or layout as the official Pampers website, is not affiliated with the brand. It also confirmed that the alleged event in Wigan was not part of an official partnership. 

A spokesperson said: “The only authorised channels whereby parents would have access to free Pampers nappy promotions are via Pampers owned channels.” 

A spokesperson for Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of the Huggies brand, told Full Fact that the brand was not associated with the event. 

There are several warning signs in the post that indicate that the offer of free nappies and other products might not be as it seems. The post uses American English such as “diaper” and Full Fact could find no information about the alleged event elsewhere online. 

A very similar post was also shared earlier in the year claiming to advertise the same offer in Casper, Wyoming in the US. News broadcaster West Texas Fox featured a statement from local law enforcement saying that they had investigated the link included in another similar post about San Angelo and found that it “wasn’t legitimate”. 

Google reverse image searches show that the main photo in the Wigan post is from an event in Chicago in 2021, while another of the pictures is used in a blog post about a diaper bank in Texas. 

The claims made here are very similar to those we’ve seen in other Facebook posts in the past, such as a supposedly free Morrisons food box, a Dyson hairdryer for £1.78 and a competition to win a free holiday in Santorini.

Image courtesy of Nathan Dumlao