Fat Cupcake, a bakery based in Portland, Oregon, has been accused of racism by customers who are upset about an Oreo cupcake called the “Mr. President.”
According to The Oregonian, just five weeks after Fat Cupcake opened its second location in southeast Portland, customers have already taken notice of the unusual moniker for one of the bakery’s tasty treats and posted reviews on Yelp.
“Very troubling,” one reviewer wrote. “They were serving a cupcake called the ‘Mr. President’ that had an Oreo cookie inside. When I tried to point out the racism implied, they claimed that ‘our current president loves Oreos.’”
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has compared President Obama to an Oreo cookie several times before in the past, which was especially problematic because Obama is biracial.
The store’s Yelp page is currently under cleanup with a notice from the site stating: “This business recently made waves in the news, which often means that people come to this page to post their views on the news. While we don’t take a stand one way or another when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer’s personal consumer experience with the business.”
Anjelica Hayes, the owner of Fat Cupcake, told The Oregonian that she has been asked about the racial undertones of the cupcake name “so many times.” But, she told the publication on Monday, October 10, she is not racist.
“I myself am black,” she said, adding that the bakery has been actively involved in the community, including a “Piece of Cake” movement where she and others “have driven around Portland to give away cakes to the homeless … and donated thousands of cupcakes to the community.”
Asked about the origins of the “Mr. President” name, Hayes explained that she wanted to give the sweet treat a name that sounded “really fancy.” “We thought of the presidential office,” she told the paper. “I just thought it was an honorary name. I thought I’d be honored if someone named a cupcake after me.”
For the time being, she told the paper, she has opted to change the name of the cupcake to “The Professional.”
