By Marissa Dunn
“Wait, why are we trending?” It’s every CMO’s worst nightmare – their phone lighting up because their brand is going viral for all the wrong reasons.
Artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) are now shaping how people search for information.
Cracker Barrel recently had a viral moment, facing backlash for overhauling its restaurants and logo – but executives quickly realized – don’t mess with tradition, with social media igniting in protest. Try searching Cracker Barrel in ChatGPT, CoPilot or Gemini and the brand backlash will dominate any response to a prompt.
Another example of a brand facing online outrage in the age of AI algorithms is the recent AWS outage impacting everything from gaming, shopping, air travel and financial services. The event spurred frustration on Reddit as users questioned why there wasn’t a better backup system.
In an age of LLMs, earned media can serve as a reputation lifeline during crises.
How Algorithms Affect Brand Reputation
Cracker Barrel’s brand refresh provided endless content including memes, screenshot threads and comparisons of the old logo to the new redesign. Algorithms then picked up on the outrage, critique and nostalgia. And there’s a financial impact too. In its latest earnings call, Cracker Barrel forecasts an 8% traffic drop in its stores stemming from the logo backlash.
In the case of AWS, the technical breakdown became a widespread global conversation online given the scale, level of disruption and rapid sharing of information.
Algorithms don’t just reflect how the public feels, they amplify it. Whether it’s pure outrage, frustration or nostalgia – algorithms and LLMs decide the fate of the narrative.
Using LLMs to Stress Test Your Crisis Playbook
Before making major changes, brands should use LLM simulations and sentiment modeling to test potential reactions from the public by asking AI tools the same questions their audience might.
Cracker Barrel CEO, Julie Felss Masino, admitted during a recent earnings call that the company underestimated its guests’ emotional connection to the brand and its style.
The company could have asked LLMs, “How would someone who has been a loyal customer for 20 years view the logo refresh?”
Leveraging Earned Media as a Reputation Lifeline
Though there was a lot of criticism in how Cracker Barrel mishandled the brand update, there is one thing working in their favor: earned media. The backlash offered an opportunity to acknowledge there were missteps and reframe the story. Cracker Barrel was still present during the outrage – being part of the conversation. The CEO even joined ABC’s Good Morning America to help better explain the ideas behind the refresh.
Algorithms can amplify the outrage, but earned media can counterbalance the negativity.
Navigating The Road Ahead
While Cracker Barrel faced cultural backlash, AWS’s challenge was technical — but both show how quickly algorithms amplify perception.
With the rapidly evolving environment, it’s critical for brands to utilize LLMs not just for efficiency or idea generation, but also to stress test brand refreshes, crisis plans and overall brand sentiment.
Those that chose to ignore algorithms and dismiss LLMs, are putting themselves, their company and financial health in a risky situation – especially if a trending moment unexpectedly emerges.
