Who knew a sprinkle-covered cake could be so controversial?
TikTok users can’t get enough of the drama involving a small bakery and a birthday cake a customer – and later a staggering large number of online viewers.
Was the cake worth the price? Awful? Just right? The internet had strong feelings, and intense battles in the comments commenced.
Those following #CakeGate are enthralled by the drama in part because humans are hardwired to be social and take sides depending on who they most identify with, experts say.
“People have always been engaged by gossip and conflict,” says Gayle Stever, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at Empire State University of New York . “In my mother’s day, it was about the neighbors, and it would have been the cake shop down the road. Today, because the boundaries of our social worlds have expanded, we learn about these things from a distance, but the human proclivity to weigh in on something that is essentially none of our business is irresistible for many – not all – people.”
But what responsibility do online users have to pause, consider if the punishment fits the crime and perhaps reconsider sending their harsh reactions to a person?
What happened with TikTok’s #CakeGate?
It started with a birthday cake order.
Ashleigh Freeman purchased a rainbow sprinkle cake with rainbow colored layers from West Virginia-based bakery Kylie Kakes Dessert Bar & Cafe. The order, which includes six layers of cake and serves 18 people, cost just over $80.
Upon receiving the cake, Freeman vocalized her unhappiness with the visual quality of the sprinkles and icing lettering, according to social media posts from both parties.
“Today I had one of the worst client experiences I’ve ever had since opening the storefront,” bakery owner Kylie Allen began a TikTok video in response.
It since has amassed more than 7 million views, plus countless video stitches and comments bashing her cake decorating skills, accusing her of passing off photos of other bakers’ work as her own (which Allen denied to Insider) and leaving one-star reviews online.
Allen tells USA TODAY she wasn’t expecting for the ordeal to go viral and doesn’t plan on posting about interactions with customers in the future.
“Getting so many comments has been overwhelming but I’m handling it well,” she adds, highlighting the importance of setting boundaries with customers. Over the weekend, Allen shared on TikTok that her bakery would be giving away a free rainbow sprinkle cupcake with every purchase in an attempt to “spread a little positivity” in the aftermath of the “craziness and chaos surrounding #CakeGate.”
Though the customer and baker quarreled over the cake, they have both since shared that they wish others on social media wouldn’t jump in on issues that don’t concern them.
“I would love for everyone to continue to buy and support Kylie’s Kakes, it was delicious,” Freeman later posted on Facebook. “The customer service is usually good, and we all have bad days.”
USA TODAY has reached out to Freeman for further comment.
Why the rainbow cake ignited a fury
There’s an aspect of schadenfreude to the #CakeGate drama: People on the internet find joy in watching a person fall from grace in real-time, even if the punishment (hate from thousands of people) doesn’t fit the crime (making a cake the public has deemed ugly).
“It gives people a temporary escape from their own lives, allowing them to indulge in the thrill of someone else’s conflict without actually being directly involved,” says crisis management and public relations expert Molly McPherson. “It taps into our innate desire for justice and our fascination with human conflict. It’s like watching real-life reality television play out in front of our eyes, and people can’t help but follow along in their feeds to see how it all unfolds.”
Internet culture has forever changed what it means to be famous: The average person with no connections to Hollywood can be thrust into the spotlight with millions of viewers overnight thanks to TikTok. Fans now have direct access to the people they idolize – or hate – and they have the power to drive what can become an unavoidable level of attention to a subject.
“Not only are people sharing their views but these views are supported and amplified by the masses,” Smriti Joshi, a licensed clinical psychologist and chief psychologist at mental health app Wysa, previously told USA TODAY. “Because of this, whether the view is positive or negative, the users feel justified in their voice as people continuously like, share and join in on these thoughts, almost turning it into a sort of campaign. Then it’s really about winning.”
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