Kroger is facing backlash over one store’s less-than-celebratory Juneteenth cakes.
This week, a woman on TikTok shared a video inside her local Kroger store in Atlanta, Georgia, showing the bakery’s offering for the federal holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery.
“This is some bulls***,” the shopper said in the clip. “Who the hell made this ugly a** s***. I wish there was a manager around here because y’all decorate everything else around here cute.”
The woman showed off a selection of cookie cakes with crude writing in icing of phrases such as “Free @ Last” and “June 19 Free.” A third cookie cake that only had white frosting on the edges read merely: “Free.”
“For Juneteenth you want to just throw something on a freaking cookie cake and expect someone to buy it?” the TikToker added. “That’s bulls***.”
She also said she’d be returning to Kroger the next day to talk to an employee about the cakes for Juneteenth.
“Kroger, count your days. Why even bother if you’re going to lack creativity,” she wrote in the caption. “ This is a mockery!”
In response to the video, a representative for Kroger told The Independent: “The cakes and cookies that were featured in the video were inconsistent with our provided guidance and not of the quality we would expect to see from our stores. The products have been removed, and we’ve addressed this directly with the store teams and the customer who took the initial video.”
The comments section of @blaq.monalisa’s video, which has more than 10.4 million views, were flooded with people criticizing the grocery store chain.
“‘Free @ last’ is diabolical,” one wrote, while another added: “They were better off just not acknowledging Juneteenth.”
“This is funny but NOT funny,” a third wrote. “I’m highly disappointed in Kroger.”
A fourth quipped: “If you didn’t bring up Juneteenth, I would’ve thought it was a welcome home from jail cake.”
Many people also compared the incident to Walmart’s viral ice cream for Juneteenth in 2022, which was pulled from stores after some critics labelled it as “the epitome of white supremacy in action.” At the time, Walmart was accused of using Juneteenth to make money without taking action to support Black employees and communities.
The supermarket said in a statement toThe Independent: “Juneteenth holiday marks a commemoration and celebration of freedom and independence. However, we received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers and we sincerely apologize. We are reviewing our assortment and will remove items as appropriate.”
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