Bakery apologizes for honest mistake after image mocking Philadelphia police ends up on cake
A customer calls it an attempt to smear the police department, but the bakery owner says that it was not done on purpose.
PHILADELPHIA -- A cake controversy shook both a Philadelphia woman and a local bakery.
Customer Tina Jones calls it an attempt to smear the Philadelphia Police Department.
The bakery, however, says this was an honest mistake.
Jones ordered a cake from The Bakery House for her friend's 25th anniversary at the Philadelphia Police Department. She said she didn't notice what the fine print on the badge said until her friend was about to take the cake into his office to share with colleagues.
The official badge is emblazoned with the words "Honor, Integrity, Service," but the words on the cake read "Coffee, Corruption, Donuts."
"I wanted to cry because I'm like, 'I can't believe they did this,'" said Jones. "That's so humiliating to put on someone's cake who is serving 25 years and in a not-so-easy job."
But Sandy Stauffer, owner of The Bakery House, said this was an accident.
"My decorator is beyond upset, she's been crying all weekend, we all have been because it's mortifying," said Stauffer. "We are not the kind of business that would ever, ever disrespect (the police). Everyone should be respected, this was not done on purpose."
Stauffer showed ABC7's sister station, WPVI, about 100 orders that the decorator had to finish the day she made Jones' cake.
Stauffer explained the decorator thought the badge image provided by Jones was too blurry to look good on a cake, so the decorator pulled a more crisp, clear image of what appeared to be the police badge from online.
"We're tired, we're pushed because of the staffing situation," explained Stauffer. "She looked at the images, she saw the clearest one and she printed it."
Jones said the bakery offered her a full refund but she declined.
"I didn't want the money back because I knew if I accepted the money back it was like, ok what you did, and it wasn't," said Jones.
Stauffer said she wanted to apologize to the Philadelphia Police Department and insists the decorator's actions were not malicious.
"This bakery house respects what they (police officers) do for their living, their job, they do a great job and I'm sorry ... please don't ever think otherwise that we don't respect the police."
