REVEALED: The York Teenager Behind "Woolsworths" Fake News
"Gen Z aren't as stupid as you think."
Last updated 31st Oct 2020
It's been revealed the person behind a fake Woolworths Twitter account, which resulted in newspaper stories claiming the retailer was returning, was a 17-year-old from York.
Luke Castle set up a Twitter Account as an experiment, investigating a "brand loyal nation" and how many of us would believe a popular brand was returning.
The answer was... quite a few. National newspapers published stories online, claiming "Woolworths set to return to the High Street Next Year" and "Is Woolies back? Woolworths will open three trial stores in Britain late next year."
The Twitter account gained 5,783 followers in one hour, and in two hours, there were 8,651 likes on the post.
Luke says he revealed his identity after The Very Group - who own the Woolworths brand - "confirmed they didn't hate the experiment."
"Woolsworths"
Throughout the account's posts, there were deliberate typos, to see if anyone would get suspicious.
On a** website explaining how he carried out the experiment, Luke explains the brand name was misspelt three times.**
The Twitter account also linked to a website that didn't exist, with a member of the public even buying the domain and trying to sell it back.
Once the news had broken that the account was - in fact - a fake, Luke deleted it, saying on social media he "gained nothing but the ability to teach a lesson."
He concludes: "Check your sources, and Gen Z aren't as stupid as you think."