One Kroger shopper called the store’s Juneteenth cakes “unacceptable” after she saw the lack of care and attention that went into decorating them. TikToker @blaq.monalisa shared her disbelief at finding that the Juneteenth cakes in a Kroger’s bakery section were subpar compared to the other pastries.
‘Free @ last’
Juneteenth–which celebrates the emancipation of slaves–became a national holiday in the U.S. in 2021, though it was celebrated in Texas before then. While the country observes the holiday with store and office closures, some retail stores do offer Juneteenth-themed merchandise for purchase. Kroger is one such store. So when @blaq.monalisa visited the Atlanta, Georgia location, she became enraged at the careless way the Juneteenth cakes were made.
“This is some bull[expletive],” she begins, showing various cookie cakes on a shelf. “Now who the hell made these ugly a– [expletive]?”
She reveals several cookie cakes, some with printed designs and others with haphazard writing in icing that has phrases like “June 19 Free,” “Free,” and the comments section’s favorite: “Free @ Last.”
The TikToker then walks over to the other side of the bakery section that houses the regular cakes. They are all decorated normally and appear in better condition than the Juneteenth cakes.
“Y’all decorate everything else right here cute,” she says before stating she will come back “bright and early” the next day to speak to a manager.
‘Fire the whole bakery’
The TikToker’s comments section was littered with users flabbergasted at the writings, especially the “Free @ Last” one. The phrase “Free at Last” was used in Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Understandably, viewers are disappointed at seeing it being used in such a flippant way.
“Free @ last is just insane,” a user wrote. Another comment with 250,000 likes read, “It’s giving ‘here, damn.’”
Others accused the bakery of doing it on purpose. “[At that point] fire the whole bakery cuz that’s deliberate,” one said.
@blaq.monalisa, whose initial TikTok received 5.9 million views as of Thursday, uploaded a follow-up video. It appears her viral clip got enough traction that the supermarket did something about it. She visited the location the next morning and found all the cakes had been removed. This was confirmed in an email a Kroger spokesperson sent to the Mary Sue.
“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 spokesperson said. “The products have been removed, and we’ve addressed this directly with the store teams and the customer who took the initial video.”
@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
Juneteenth and the retail world
This isn’t the first time a store has received backlash for its Juneteenth merchandise. In 2022, Walmart landed in hot water with the public after it released Juneteenth-themed ice cream. The mega-chain was accused of profiting off Juneteenth. They missed the mark on promoting a Black-owned ice cream business, which folks said it should’ve done instead.
It wasn’t only retail. The Children’s Museum in Indianapolis also made headlines after it offered a “watermelon salad” for its Juneteenth Jamboree celebration.
A CNN article on the incidents read, “By failing to provide any historical context with these items, the companies don’t appear to have considered how they could promote stereotypes or offend Black people, experts say.”
The Mary Sue reached out to @blaq.monalisa via TikTok message.
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