“Happy birthday Steve.”
It’s a simple enough request for writing on a cake, but the result went massively viral.
On Aug. 12, TikToker @k_bug68 posted about a custom birthday cake she ordered from a Giant Eagle supermarket for a co-worker.
“The kid behind the counter said ‘I’m sorry, I did my best,’” she wrote in the on-screen caption.
She stares blankly into the camera, then opens a Giant Eagle cake box, revealing the employee’s work: “Happy Birthday Steve” scribbled off-center and wobbly, almost like a kindergartener had written it.
Still, with a wiggly “H” more like an “A” and a lumpy “a” more like a “9,” the frosted text is beautiful in its own way, and the TikToker was a good sport about it.
“Luckily this is for an office full of adult children,” she wrote in an on-screen caption.
@k_bug68 did not respond to a request for comment from TODAY.com, but she elaborated in the video’s caption, writing, “he looked terrified to hand it to me cause for just about anyone else he’d of ruined a $30 cake — Everyone has to learn, but maybe they could have them practice on things that are not cakes.”
This lesson in giving it your all even when you have nothing to give went viral on TikTok: 12.7 million people have witnessed the employee’s decorating skills so far, and the video has over 13,500 comments.
“I love this so much. Five stars, no notes,” wrote one user.
“If Steve doesn’t like it, we don’t like Steve,” wrote another.
“That is the most Steve cake I’ve ever seen. I showed my husband Steve and he thinks it’s perfect for a fellow Steve. Happy birthday Steve,” noted someone else.
“I bet that kid was left there by himself and got stuck with a job he had never done before,” commented another user, and @k_bug68 replied, “i think you are right- i could practically read his thoughts saying ‘don’t walk up here’ as I approached the counter.”
For its part, Giant Eagle says it is thankful that the customer “received the cake in such a positive fashion.”
“First and foremost, we appreciate our bakery Team Member who took initiative and made his best effort to create a memorable happy birthday message for Steve,” a spokesperson for the supermarket chain tells TODAY.com.
“We want every cake from the Giant Eagle bakery to look and taste great, and we are using this as an opportunity to make sure all our bakery Team Members have the training needed to make every occasion special,” they continued.
Although @k_bug68 hasn’t posted about Steve’s reaction to his viral birthday cake — something we all want to see! — she did tell a commenter who suggested she “go back to tell (the worker) how big of a hit the cake was” that she “definitely will.”
