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On 3 August 2017, the BlueLivesMatter.blue blog published a post largely lifted from a New York Post article, both reporting that two New York City Police Department officers had been refused service at a Dunkin' Donuts in Brooklyn: Details offered near the end of the original article which were missed by many casual readers — and omitted from the BlueLivesMatter.blue post entirely — included a quote from the manager at the store, who said that the plainclothes officers were standing in the pickup area of the store and did not place an order: In a second New York Post piece hours later, the paper repeated the report, then added that a representative for the chain had apologized to one of the involved officers. No one appears to have confirmed which version of events was accurate one, although the Post implies that the claim was verified by questioning whether the worker involved had been disciplined: The provided statement gave no indication that Dunkin' Donuts had apologized for anything other than the officers' interpretation of events, and the absence of mention of employee discipline seemed to suggest that the company did not observe any such behavior on the tape. Both versions closely follow the ever-popular shunned serviceman and shunned policeman template of urban legends and rumors, which date back decades but have spiked in popularity with the advent of social media. Nearly all viral shunned policeman tales turns out to be misinterpretations or exaggerations that nevertheless can cause lasting harm to businesses targeted by the sticky slurs. We contacted the media relations department of Dunkin' Donuts to request further information and on 9 August 2017 a representative for the chain responded:
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