Key Takeaways:
- A viral TikTok post exposed Kroger’s Juneteenth cakes as tone-deaf and poorly executed.
- Social media users criticized the “Free @ Last” design as culturally insensitive and offensive.
- Kroger responded by removing the desserts and blaming a rogue employee for the misstep.
Kroger is under fire after a viral TikTok video exposed Juneteenth-themed desserts at one of its Atlanta stores that many customers found disrespectful and poorly executed. The now-removed cookie cakes, which featured what appeared to be hastily written phrases, drew widespread backlash across social media for what many called a lack of creativity, effort and cultural awareness.
The incident first came to light just before the holiday, when TikTok creator blaq monalisa uploaded a video criticizing the bakery section of her local Kroger for what she described as “ugly-a**” Juneteenth desserts. “This is some bulls**t... Y’all decorate everything else around here cute,” she said in the clip. “But for Juneteenth, you want to just throw something on a freaking cookie cake and expect someone to buy it.”
The video, which has since racked up over 12 million views, showed the store’s bakery display filled with cookie cakes decorated with minimal effort and off-center lettering. One cake simply read “FREE,” while another bore a "Congratulations" sticker, raising questions about whether the designs were even intended for Juneteenth at all. The most discussed of the bunch was the “Free @ Last” cake — a play on the famous line from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech — which some users deemed “diabolical.”
“Free @ Last” Juneteenth cake sparks outrage across social media
Social media users didn’t hold back in their reactions. One commenter wrote, “They were better off just not acknowledging Juneteenth,” while another compared the designs to “welcome home” cakes for inmates. Several noted that while the holiday marks a hard-fought moment of freedom for enslaved Black Americans, the dessert designs came off as lazy and borderline mocking. It’s not the first time a major retailer has been in hot water over a misstep, as Walmart dealt with controversy over its Juneteenth ice cream and watermelon-themed cakes in recent years.
Kroger responds to viral Juneteenth dessert video with statement
In response to the backlash, Kroger released a statement to Fox acknowledging the issue and confirming that the questionable treats were removed. “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,” shared a company spokesperson. It also stated that the matter was addressed with both the store team and the customer who posted the video.
In a follow-up video, blaq monalisa confirmed that the products were taken off the shelves. “TikTok, y’all did it,” she said, though she noted that no better alternatives were put in their place. “I still feel some type of way that they didn’t replace it with better Juneteenth cakes.”