What was claimed
Toby Carvery is giving away free meals for two to Facebook users.
Our verdict
False. Mitchells & Butlers, the parent company of Toby Carvery, has confirmed this isn’t a genuine offer.
More fake Toby Carvery offers circulate on Facebook
Posts on Facebook claiming that restaurant chain Toby Carvery is giving away free meals for two to celebrate its birthday are not advertising a real offer.
One such post says: “Breaking! I'm Steven Neal, Toby Carvery CEO and I'm thrilled to announce our 40th Birthday, we're giving everyone who says 'Toby' a free carvery for two to be used nationwide.”
Other posts reference a similar offer, but with a different named “president” or other senior staff member, and some say the restaurant chain is celebrating its 50th or 45th birthday, rather than its 40th.
We couldn’t find this offer shared on any of Toby Carvery’s official social media channels or on its website. The chain’s parent company Mitchells & Butlers has told Full Fact that unless an offer appears on the chain’s official channels, it’s not real.
We’ve fact checked similar posts falsely advertising supposed Toby Carvery offers in the past. Genuine deals will most likely be shared by a company’s official page, which will typically have lots of followers, a verified blue tick on platforms like Facebook or Instagram and a significant post history.
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 Mitchells & Butlers, the parent company of Toby Carvery, has confirmed this isn’t a genuine offer.