Young baker sheepishly apologized as he delivered office b'day cake. When she opened it, she couldn't stop laughing

Birthday cakes often get the most calligraphic fonts, which not just make you appreciate the taste of the delicious pastry, but also the person behind the artwork. Oftentimes, the writing on cakes is so intricate that it makes you wonder if we could acquire such a skill. But have you ever come across a birthday cake with wobbly font before? Well, when TikToker @k_bug68 ordered a custom cake on August 12 for her co-worker, she did not expect a wobbly writing on the cake with a warning from the cake decorator! The video shared by the user has crossed over 14 million views on the platform with over 15,000 hilarious comments!

TikToker k_bug68 shared on her social media handle about ordering a birthday cake for her co-worker named Steve from a Giant Eagle supermarket in Ohio. The custom cake was meant to have the words “Happy Birthday, Steve” neatly written on top. Instead, the woman reveals that the cake is decorated in a scribbled font by the young bakery decorator, along with a note that reads, “I’m sorry, I did my best.” In the video, the woman shows the cake with a blank stare at the camera, showing the uneven lettering of “Happy Birthday, Steve.” Despite the mishap, the woman takes it in good humor.

An on-screen caption in the video read, “Luckily, this is for an office full of adult children.” Similarly, a study conducted by Michaël Flacandji, Julien Cusin, and Renaud Lunardo in 2023 outlines the importance of customer forgiveness and how signalling inexperience increases customer forgiveness after a service failure, and this leads to a higher likelihood of repeat business. Going further, the study posits how these qualities (forgiveness and establishing inexperience) work better than coming up with an excuse or offering compensation for the error. Researchers write, "Although retailers might hesitate to signal frontline employees' inexperience through fear of negative expectations, we demonstrate that signaling inexperience through a conversation, an in-training badge, or a corporate uniform is more positive than negative in terms of outcome because it prompts customers to forgive a potential service failure."

Fortunately, Giant Eagle responded to the video by thanking the customer for receiving the cake with a good gesture. A spokesperson for the supermarket chain told TODAY.com, “First and foremost, we appreciate our bakery Team Member who took initiative and made his best effort to create a memorable happy birthday message for Steve.” They added that the company strives for every cake from Giant Eagle’s bakery to both look and taste great, and said the incident is being used as an example to ensure all bakery staff receive the training needed to make every occasion special.

The video that went on to rake in millions of views attracted many users who went into a frenzy over the funny mishap. Users online appreciated the young worker for making an effort, with some users even calling it the 'best cake font' out there! A user named @BethLorene wrote, "If Steve doesn't like it, we don't like Steve." Feeling bad for the young kid who worked to make the cake, another user named @BluffyRitt wrote, "I bet that kid was left there by himself and got stuck with a job he had never done before :("

Another user named @username_unconfirmed gave '5 stars' to the cake decorator and commented, "I love this so much. Five stars, no notes. Interestingly, the woman's co-worker Steve found out about the video after it went viral, but as a 'shy guy', his face immediately turned red and he got really embarrassed.'

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