If you clicked this article expecting a different answer than, “no, of course Sportscene doesn’t sell fake sneakers,” then you are one of many social media folks who were tricked by the power of fake news.
Fact check: Sportscene doesn’t sell fake sneakers
The simple truth is Sportscene is a subsidiary retailer, part of one of South Africa’s biggest conglomerates in beauty and fashion, The Foschini Group (TFG).
With a wide supplier net cast all over the world, Sportscene, much like its sister store Totalsports and other urban outlets under the TFG umbrella, sells authentic clothing.
You can rest assured that the retailer’s sneakers are 100% legitimate. The fact that this false claim blew up on social media proves that all it takes is one controversial comment for fake news to spread faster than wildfire.
So, where did this claim come from?
The origins of the claim about Sportscene is unknown, but in our digging, we found that it may have come from reactions to a user who came on Twitter to brag about a pair of Nike Air Force 1 lows they had bought from an Instagram boutique.
Unfortunately, from what we can tell about the design of the sneaker, they were most certainly sold a fake version of the revered Nike shoe.
From the shoelaces, the iconic swoosh and other design identifiers, no further validation was needed to conclude that the user was, in all likelihood, swindled into buying a fake sneaker on Instagram.
Sportscene and TFG have not issued a statement in response to the claims on social media.