A Wetherspoons pub has stopped selling condoms from a vending machine as part of a “Royal period of Mourning”.
This is not true. The pub company has confirmed that the sign is fake. Wetherspoons does not have condom vending machines.
Posts on Twitter and Facebook are sharing a photo that appears to show a sign in the toilet of a Wetherspoons pub saying that its vending machine will not dispense condoms during the period of mourning for the queen. This is not a real sign from Wetherspoons.
The sign says: “Notification. Royal period of Mourning. No sheaths will be dispensed from this condom vending machine until Wednesday September 21st. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding during this time. Thank you.”
A spokesperson for Wetherspoons confirmed to Full Fact that either this image or this sign is fake. They added that its pubs don’t even have condom machines.
A reporter for the i newspaper has said on Twitter that Wetherspoons also told her it was not real.
The photo may have been intended as a joke, but it appears that some people may have believed it.
The period of national mourning will end on the day of the Queen’s funeral on 19 September, but a period of royal mourning will last for seven days afterwards, which means it would finish on 26 September.
Image courtesy of Andy Mabbett
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because Wetherspoons has not stopped selling condoms from vending machines.
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