Coffee shop owner's ChatGPT menu poster sparks Instagram backlash and angry DMs
juliey4 · x · 2026-09-15
Business Insider profiles Megi Endeladze of Buffalo's Penny's Coffee Shop, who faced fierce Instagram backlash after making a fall menu poster with ChatGPT, including DM threats from a locally prominent account demanding she hire an artist.
The reality was messier: the shop never outsourced menu design — she had always made posters herself with photos and Canva, and chalkboard signs were hand-drawn by artistically gifted baristas. The AI poster was simply her way of saving time after the last chalk-artist barista moved away and with a newborn at home.
The story highlights how sensitive ordinary consumers have become to AI displacing creative work, even when no professional was ever hired in the first place.
Related event: Coffee Shop Owner Mobbed Online for Using ChatGPT to Design Menu(2 posts)→
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