Krispy Kreme giving away free doughnuts to vaccinated people isn't a joke - it's genius

• Krispy Kreme is offering free doughnuts to customers who can provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
• Critics are saying the initiative promotes poor health and is a violation of HIPAA.
• But it's actually a smart idea, from both a business and a public health perspective.

As COVID-19 vaccines continue to roll out across the country, some businesses are offering incentives to encourage people to get vaccinated.

Yesterday, Krispy Kreme announced that it's offering free doughnuts to customers who provide proof of vaccination with their record cards. The company's offer will run through the end of 2021 and has no limits on the free doughnuts, so a vaccinated person could potentially go every day.

Though Krispy Kreme won't require its employees to get the vaccine, it is offering them up to four hours of paid time off to get both doses. Chief Marketing Officer Dave Skena previously told Insider's Mary Meisenzahl that the company wants "to encourage [employees] and make sure nothing is standing in the way" of them getting a vaccine if they want one.

Free doughnuts sound like a wonderful incentive for eligible folks to go get their vaccine (just like they're a wonderful incentive to get people to show up to an office meeting), but not everyone thinks so.

Critics took to Twitter expressing their views on Krispy Kreme's offer

Some naysayers are wrongfully drawing connections between free doughnuts, obesity, and related diseases.

While it's true that consuming an excess of processed sugar on a regular basis can lead to health complications, an occasional doughnut (or even an entire box of doughnuts, for that matter) won't instantly wreck your health.

Others are claiming that Krispy Kreme requiring proof of vaccination is in violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which is also false.

The CDC describes HIPAA as "a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge." Since Krispy Kreme is giving customers the option of sharing their vaccination record, not secretly getting ahold of those records or viewing them without customers' consent, this offer in no way constitutes a HIPAA violation.

If a customer isn't comfortable sharing whether they've received a COVID vaccination, they can either pay for their doughnut, or just show up every Monday between March 29 and May 24 for the free doughnut and coffee that Krispy Kreme is offering to every customer, regardless of vaccination status.

But some people are defending Krispy Kreme's sweet deal

Those who are in support of the donut chain's offer replied to critics with information on HIPAA laws and linked out to the Krispy Kreme website where the company states it will still offer free doughnuts for a limited time to people who "made the personal decision to not receive the COVID vaccine."

Twitter debate aside, from both a business and a public health perspective, this is actually a smart idea

Whether you're personally going to collect a free doughnut or not, this is clearly a genius marketing move.

Krispy Kreme was able to simultaneously promote its own business while aligning itself with the public-health initiative to reach herd immunity against COVID-19 in the US.

"Whatever little things brands can do to help make it past the pandemic are good things," Skena told Insider's Meisenzahl.

In doing so, the company began trending on Twitter and appeared in conversations across morning television news shows like NBC's "Today" and ABC's "The View."

On Tuesday, "Today" co-host Al Roker brought in a box of original glazed doughnuts from the chain to talk about the promotion and the women of "The View" had an entire discussion segment dedicated to it. Cohost Joy Behar compared it to offering her dog a treat for doing something good, and Meghan McCain pointed out how "we all like free stuff."

"There's been so much darkness," McCain said, referring to the past year and recent events. She thought it was such a good idea that she believes her preferred doughnut chain, Dunkin', should get in on it too.

Krispy Kreme isn't the first company to offer a vaccine incentive

In January, Forbes reported that the group DC Marijuana Justice made a push to give away bags of marijuana to people who got COVID vaccines.

At the end of January, a marijuana dispensary in Michigan similarly gave away free joints to anyone who showed up through the month of February with proof of vaccination.

The doughnut giant isn't alone when it comes to encouraging employees to get vaccinated, either.

Insider's Irene Jiang reported that Target and Dollar General are offering employees vacation time for vaccine appointments, and Kroger, Petco, and Publix are offering cash or gift cards to employees with proof of vaccination.