Swedesboro Brewing's AI spokesperson drew nearly 300 complaints

Swedesboro Brewing Company, a craft brewery in Gloucester County, New Jersey, introduced an artificial intelligence brand ambassador named Sarah on Instagram and Facebook on October 14, and the rollout drew complaints rather than customers. A majority of the nearly 300 comments across the two platforms criticized the creation, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Founder Marvin Bowe III said he created Sarah to catch up on social media, and that most small businesses cannot afford to hire advertising agencies or actors for promotional videos.

What Is Sarah?

Sarah is a virtual spokesperson, not an employee. Bowe told the Inquirer he built her with a creative director, a project manager and a copywriter who wrote her scripts and set her tone and look, and that he expected using the technology in a brewery setting to be harmless. He chose the name because it felt Americana. In her first video the character says she is AI and jokes that a computer-generated emu sells insurance, so she can talk beer. PhillyVoice reports that the brewery's caption compared her to a paid actress, asking how a virtual spokesperson differs from a hired one.

Swedesboro Brewing Company opened in Gloucester County in 2021 and now runs three locations, in Swedesboro, Collingswood and Burlington City, with 26 human employees and about 70 beverage brands. PhillyVoice notes that the brewery's mascot is a raccoon, which made a generic young woman an odd face for the brand.

Rather than retire the character, the brewery posted a second video of Sarah scrolling her phone and reading "mean comments," a 29-second clip in the style of the late-night mean-tweets bit, The Cool Down reports. Hundreds more people objected, including on a South Jersey Reddit thread.

Bowe is not backing down. "Are we worried about the backlash?" he told the Inquirer. "Not particularly." He said the AI videos drew about 175,000 views and raised engagement by 2,420 percent, against just under 8,000 views for the brewery's best previous post. A 2025 Pew Research survey, cited by the Inquirer, found that half of Americans were more concerned than excited about AI in daily life.

Bowe said the next time Sarah appears, he will be in the video beside her to explain where she came from.

Sarah's videos are on Swedesboro Brewing Company's Instagram and Facebook pages; the brewery's taprooms are in Swedesboro, Collingswood and Burlington City.