When Philadelphia Police Department officers received a cake to celebrate a work anniversary, they were shocked and offended to discover the baker had written an “offensive” phrase across the top. A colleague of the person celebrating his or her 25th year at the job ordered a bespoke cake from The Bakery House and requested that they include a bright message across the top.
It was not the case, however, that the slogan on the card had a different significance than “happy work anniversary.” When Tina Jones arrived at The Bakery House to collect her cake, she was shocked and disgusted to discover what the baker had chosen to put on top of it instead of the uplifting message of togetherness and friendship that was requested.
The bakery was asked to include a photo of the PPD badge, which she supplied as an example, and it did so. The words “Honor,Integrity,Service” appear on the badge.
The error was only recognized when the birthday cake was handed over to the individual who had worked for twenty-five years with the force. The baker instead wrote, “Coffee, Corruption, Donuts,” rather than the usual three words that go with the Philadelphia Police Department badge.
Jones stated, “I wanted to cry because I’m like, ‘I can’t believe they did this.’ That’s so humiliating to put on someone’s cake which is serving 25 years and in a not-so-easy job.”
The owner of the bakery, Sandy Stauffer (below), claims it was all a honest mistake. The badge image provided by Tina Jones was not high resolution, as it turned out. The decorator went online to look for the badge because the cake baker wanted to do an accurate rendering of the PPD badge, where they inadvertently stumbled upon an image of the PPD badge with the words “Coffee, Corruption, Donuts” printed on it instead.
The decorator was in a rush and missed the “offensive” words included in the satirical PPD badge.
Stauffer posted on Facebook: “It was a mistake. One of my decorators did not see the fine print and placed a disrespectful image on the cake. She believed she was choosing a crisper/clearer image. In her haste, it was an image that had been manipulated. No one caught the mistake.”
Cookie Stauffer apologized profusely for the “offensive” mistake, and she or any member of her bakery would never intend to offend police officers, especially the hardworking ones from Philadelphia.
“From the bottom of my heart, my entire staff and I deeply apologize. We are truly embarrassed and are sorry for the hurt and upsetness this unfortunate mistake has caused. I have been part of this community for 32+ years, and there is nothing I would do to hurt anyone. I have the utmost respect for all law enforcement, and so does my staff. We hope you can find it in your hearts for understanding and forgiveness,” said the bakery owner.
