A FACEBOOK game that sees players send total strangers drinks at Wetherspoons is being targeted by killjoy moderators over fears of excessive boozing.
Wetherspoons the Game has over 400,000 members and involves people posting pictures of the pub they are in and their table number before generous participants send them drink and food via the Wetherspoons App.
Chris Illman, 42, set up the group following a chat with friends after being diagnosed with testicular cancer and going through a divorce.
Players often share their plight along with pictures of where they are, with tales including painful break-ups, student poverty and family bereavement among those being posted in a bid to elicit donations.
And some of the responses have been staggering.
Illman himself used it to raise food donations for the homeless, with well-wishers sending £3,000 worth of grub including 200 portions of bangers and mash on top of crisps and peanuts, which was then shared out with needy, the Daily Mail reports.
But moderators stepped in when pals Nicole Scott, 21, and Ellie Murphy, 18, played the game in the Colley Rowe Inn in Romford, Essex, to celebrate Ellie’s birthday.
They were sent an estimated 45 drinks after posting their details on the social media game.
They said it took them around six hours to polish off the generous gifts, and shared their booze with fellow revellers so the whole pub was joining in.
Estate agent Nicole said: “The manager was threatening to kick us out because of how many drinks we were receiving.
“We couldn’t manage to drink all the drinks so we gave many out to other people in the pub. Everyone was confused but grateful.
However, admin from Mark Zuckerberg’s all-seeing and we suppose well-meaning team stepped in to close that group down, fearing the girls could do themselves some damage.
Others to benefit include the grandparents of Mark Hamlet after he took them down the George Inn in Sandbach, Cheshire.
He posted his table, along with the message: “Brought nana and grandad out for their early night cap. Explained about the game… I know it works as I’ve given a few in past.
“Nana thinks she is about to be cloned and pension account emptied. Let’s show her we mean business. She [is] partial to a glass of red. Grandad likes a pint!!! Nothing crazy guys I’ve gotta put them to bed.”
Moments later the smiling pair were inundated with pints and glasses of Malbec, proving perhaps more starkly than ever that social media isn’t just for kids.
Illman, from Portsmouth, oversees the game in his spare time and puts its success down to people’s generosity.
He said, via The Times: “Wetherspoons is known for their cheap drinks, sending someone a £2 pint might not be much but it can mean so much to the sender and the receiver.”
Health campaigners have raised concerns about the game, particularly that it may encourage people who shouldn’t be drinking to consume more.
Wetherspoons says people sending each other drinks shows their generosity.
Spokesman Eddie Gershon told The Times that they were aware of the game, although that was never the plan of the company – which has more than 800 pubs nationwide – when it came to the app.
He added: “From the start, parents were sending a meal or a drink to their children at university or friends were simply sending a birthday drink to a friend once they knew they were in a Wetherspoon pub and had the location.”
As for Swift Half, any booze donations will be gratefully received at usual address.
Cheers…