Myer's Bagels used AI to fake its Instagram, and loyal customers struck back

Myer's Bagels, a 22-person Montreal-style bagel shop in Burlington, Vermont, handed its social media to an AI small-business tool that could build a month of Instagram posts and 'tweak' the shop's own photos. Owner Adam Jones, 53, admitted social media wasn't his strength and the tool seemed like a third opinion alongside his accountant and bookkeeper.

It generated graduation posts, imported real photos, and then improved on them: it put the shop's retail bags in front of a wood fire that wasn't theirs, superimposed a real baker onto a wooden cutting board with a kettle, and turned a genuine Google review from a customer named Sam into a fake handwritten note.

The audience caught it quickly. The two posts drew roughly 25-30 comments each, and passionate customers carried the protest to Google reviews — one-star ratings that said nothing about the food, only about the fakery. Jones noted no one called the shop directly; the response came through the platforms, and while some defended the small business, 'the negative responses were much more'.

Jones pulled the posts and apologized — 'We will do better. We've heard.' He stressed he is not anti-AI and will keep using it across the business to keep up with growth, but said he needs to tread much more carefully with social media.

One-star Google reviews from its own fans, roughly 25-30 critical comments on each faked post, and a public apology with the posts pulled.

The tool didn't invent a product — it fabricated intimacy: a customer's real quote was turned into a fake handwritten note, which is what made regulars feel cheated.

It documents 2026's small-business AI backlash in concrete numbers: one-star review bombs, dozens of comments per post, and an apology inside days.

The owner's own accounting of what was and wasn't true ('Was it untruthful? Yes.') gives the case an unusually honest admission.

It shows where the line sits for artisanal brands: studio-style staging may pass, but faking the craft process — a fire the shop doesn't have — cannot.

Customers forgive studio food photography because they know the game; they can't forgive AI faking a real customer's words — authenticity is the only thing a small shop sells online.

After pulling the AI posts and apologizing on Instagram, Myer's Bagels said it would keep using AI elsewhere in the business but be far more careful with social media content.