Kroger Juneteenth Cakes Result In Backlash: ‘Some Bulls**t’

Supermarket chain Kroger is facing backlash over its Juneteenth-themed cakes sold at one of their Georgia locations. A video posted on TikTok has garnered over 10 million views. The creator showed cakes with minimal decorations and featuring text such as “Free @ Last” and “FREE.”

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It refers to June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce that 250,000 enslaved people in the state were free by executive decree. Slavery was then officially abolished on December 18, 1865, when the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

The video, which was posted by @blaq.monalis on June 18, went viral after she showed the cakes that Kroger were selling in honor of Juneteenth.

“This is a mockery!” she captioned the video. “Why even bother if you’re going to lack creativity?”

“This is some bulls**t,” she said in the video. “Who the hell made these ugly a** s**t? I wish there was a manager here because ya’ll decorate everything else around here cute. Everything else around here cute, but for Juneteenth you want to just throw something on a freaking cookie cake and expect someone to buy it? That’s bulls**t.”

@blaq.monalisa

Kroger count your days. Why even bother if you’re going to lack creativity. This is Kroger on Howell mill rd, Atlanta Ga. This is a mockery! Am I tripping, someone let me know!

♬ original sound – blaq monalisa

In the comments, some users validated her outrage while others supported the idea that the cakes were disrespectful.

“as a ex cake decorator… they did that on purpose,” one person wrote.

“It’s giving “here damn” 💀,” another person commented.

“It’s the “ congratulations “ for me like … congrats on being FREE 🤣,” someone else chimed in.

“They were better off just not acknowledging Juneteenth fr,” a fourth person added.

Kroger responded to the backlash over its Juneteenth cakes

The supermarket chain has addressed the controversy in a statement sent to Newsweek.

“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,” a Kroger spokesperson wrote. “The products have been removed, and we’ve addressed this directly with the store teams and the customer who took the initial video.”

A day after posting the viral video, the creator said the cakes were no longer available in the store. It is unclear if they were removed or if they were sold.

“TikTok, y’all did it,” she said. “I still feel some type of way that they didn’t replace it with better Juneteenth cakes.”

@blaq.monalisa

Went back to Kroger, Howell mill rd, Atlanta Ga. They removed the cookie cakes, or I guess someone purchased them!

♬ original sound – blaq monalisa