by By: Evelyn Murray
Panera Bread is an American chain of fast-casual restaurants. Panera brand represents bakery and café style offerings including fresh baked goods, along with soups salads, and sandwiches. Panera has been recognized for its quality of food, offering healthier options compared to the commonly known fast food restaurants. As of April 2023, Panera Bread operates over 2,000 locations around the United States and Canada.
Recently, Panera Bread has introduced a new beverage called Charged Lemonade. According to Panera, the lemonade caffeine comes from plant-based and clean caffeine. The caffeine content in these varies from 259 mg in the 20-oz size and goes up to 390 mg in the 30-oz size. According to the FDA, the recommended amount of caffeine that is safe to consume in a day is 400 mg. Panera is currently facing multiple lawsuits due to health incidents related to the consumption of this charged lemonade. In response to these incidents, I wanted to create a hypothetical response plan for Panera Bread which includes 3 AI-generated photos with copy for Panera Bread. The purpose of this campaign is to promote Panera’s healthy menu options to remind consumers of their brand purpose and move forward from this crisis.
Post 1:
- “Elevate Your Meals with Our Healthy Lifestyle Menu – Fresh, Nutritious, Delicious.” This image showcases a variety of vibrant salads, grain bowls, and low-calorie soups set in a modern café ambiance, inviting customers to explore Panera Bread’s healthiest options.
Post 2:
“Power Your Day with Clean, Wholesome Choices – Only at Panera.” Focused on fueling a healthy body and mind, this image features clean eating options like avocado egg white sandwiches and turkey chili, set against a backdrop suggesting a balanced, active lifestyle.
Post 3:
“Gather Around Healthy, Flavorful Favorites – Share the Joy at Panera.” Emphasizing the joy of sharing healthy meals, this image depicts a communal dining experience with vegetable hummus bowls, whole grain wraps, and green smoothies, in a warm and inviting setting.
The images match Panera Bread’s brand identity well. The first thing that stands out to me are the spelling errors. If I went back and generated more images, I would ask to edit the spelling errors. The color scheme is on point without me having to ask for specific colors. AI is a great tool for companies like Panera to use. This was a quick way to create something that could potentially be very beneficial to getting Panera’s image back on track after dealing with these crises.
Hi Evelyn, cool blog post! The photos included in this entry are great examples that emphasize the advantages and disadvantages of using AI for a brand-related post. Like you, I first noticed the many spelling errors in the images. There was at least one mistake in each photo, so it was quite noticeable. Despite this, the food is very similar to those in their advertisements today. It gives the feeling of Panera as a restaurant that focuses on organic ingredients, which is similar to their brand image today. Overall, I think the AI-generated photos are great and can serve as inspiration for a campaign. Once AI can get past minor issues like spelling errors, it will be beneficial for corporations to use it as a resource. However, it will be dangerous for those working in the field as they are at a higher risk of losing their jobs.
I think that this article and its content are quite interesting and relevant to current public relations topics. Many practitioners in the field are worried about the capabilities of AI when making content. The Panera Bread graphics you made showcase how accurate and creative AI can be. At first glance, they look like solid graphics made by a paid artist. But after taking a closer look, you can see the clear errors and shortcomings the AI made. This is a very clear example of how we should feel about AI. It can be a great source of creativity and inspiration, but at the end of the day, it is just a tool. There will always be a level of human interference or manipulation needed.
Alex Michaels
this is very interesting article especially with the use of AI generated photos that they used for their campaign. you would think that they would have used a better site for AI because its a known and valued company that has the resources to have the best. just taking one glance at all the photos you can see misspelled words and that panera on a drink cup is misspelled. on the other hand it might just be that AI will not or ever be 100% perfect. from what we have seen in our own use of AI and now this it shows that we can’t expect AI to fix everything or help with everything that a human can do.
Hi Evelyn! I liked how you created your own response campaign for Panera. It really shows how quickly a company can use AI to generate photos especially when using the right platform. Aside from the words being misspelled, I think these photos are great quality and look human-generated. I am curious to see more companies use AI more consistently.
Hi Evelyn, I really enjoyed your post. I think it was really insightful of you to focus on refreshing the Panera brand after the charged lemonade situation. Your use of AI is great and I think the quality of your images shows your comprehension of how to use AI platforms. I think the spelling errors come with the territory but I would be interested to see if they can be easily fixed. Great work!
Hey Evelyn! This is such a fun post! I think you did a really nice job with the images that you created and the prompts that you chose. I think that these could actually be pulled off and used for a real campaign. Great work overall!