Local Frozen Yogurt Shops Fall Victim to Economic Downturn

In a digital age where misinformation spreads faster than truth, a local frozen yogurt business recently found itself battling false claims about its future. The incident highlights the growing challenge of verifying online information and the real-world impact of social media hoaxes on small businesses.

Jacob England, franchise owner of Blue Springs Yogurtini, woke up Thursday to an unexpected crisis. “I woke up this morning in a social media frenzy,” England explained, describing his reaction to a viral Facebook post claiming all Yogurtini locations nationwide would close on February 11.

The announcement, which quickly circulated through local community groups, was completely fabricated. England immediately began damage control while simultaneously trying to verify the situation himself.

“I got on the phone with our corporate folks to find out what was going on,” he said. The franchise owner discovered the problem extended far beyond just his business. Multiple brands within the same corporate portfolio, including Cherry Berry and U-Swirl, experienced identical unauthorized posts overnight.

The Kansas City metro area is home to two Yogurtini locations – one in Blue Springs and another at Tanger Legend Outlets in Kansas City, Kansas. Both became unwitting victims in what turned out to be a coordinated hack of their parent company’s social media accounts.

The misinformation quickly evolved, with some posts and AI search results even falsely claiming Yogurtini would rebrand as “Fifth and Emery,” another local frozen yogurt brand. Fifth and Emery’s owner confirmed to reporters that this claim was entirely untrue.

England attempted to correct the misinformation by posting clarifications on his business page and responding directly to concerned customers. However, his efforts were often buried under the avalanche of comments continuing to spread the false information.

“Comments just get lost among tons of others, and new comments continue to come in. Trying to stay on top of those, replying directly to people – it’s challenging,” England said.

Steve Hubbard, President of Mesh Brands, which owns Yogurtini, issued a formal statement addressing the situation: “Our locations are not closing. We have recently lost access to our social media pages and these posts are untrue. We are actively working on getting our access to these pages restored immediately.”

The incident raises important questions about information verification in an era where AI-generated content and social media can instantly amplify false claims. Sam Sapp, a cybersecurity expert with Lockbaud, offered practical advice for consumers trying to separate fact from fiction online.

“What people sometimes miss with AI is that it’s just pulling in sources of data from across the internet,” Sapp explained. “You can go to the legitimate company website and double-check against that. Think of it as needing two verifiable sources of information.”

Indeed, visitors to any of Mesh’s brand websites would find alerts informing customers about the social media hack and reassuring them of continued operations.

For small business owners like England, such incidents can have real financial consequences if customers believe the false information and take their business elsewhere. However, he noted one positive outcome from the experience.

“The silver lining was seeing how many people cared about their frozen yogurt potentially closing,” he said. England wants current and potential customers to know: “We’re here. We’re not going nowhere.”

The timing of the incident is particularly notable as National Frozen Yogurt Day falls on Friday, February 6, offering consumers a perfect opportunity to support local frozen yogurt businesses. England encouraged customers to check their local Yogurtini social media pages for special deals related to the occasion.

The Yogurtini incident serves as a reminder of how vulnerable businesses can be to digital misinformation and how quickly false claims can spread. It also underscores the importance of information literacy and the need for consumers to verify information before sharing it on social platforms, especially when those posts could affect local businesses and their employees.