Monday, September 14, 2009

A Whale of a Tale

Monday, September 14, 2009

[shining flashlight spookily in face] Come gather 'round to hear a tale of a Wreck.

And not just any Wreck, either.

A wreck [dramatic pause] to the third power.

Er, or something like that.

Last week a local news website in DC ordered a cake for their fifth anniversary. The site is named DCist, and Sommer, who sent this in, asked the bakery to just write their name across the whole cake.

Here's what they got instead:

Bringing a whole new meaning to the Fail Whale?

You've got to admire the tenacity of this decorator. Even while operating under the assumption that the customer wanted something written "on a whale cake", he still went ahead and just wrote those instructions out instead. The fact that the baker actually made more work for himself (by writing the extra text) while trying to make less work for himself (by avoiding drawing or carving a whale cake) is what makes this such a gem. Ah, good stuff.

Thanks to Sommer and to DCist.com, which also posted it (under the same clever title, I might add - great minds and all that) here.

- Related Wreckage: Wreck Creators
Amanda | Glittericity said...

Just... wow. It's not even decorative either. Some anniversary cake! Though I have to wonder why a place like that didn't go somewhere a bit classier for that special occasion.

The Courteous Chihuahua said...

You have to wonder if people aren't doing this intentionally just to get their 15 minutes.

Vickie said...

Cease and desist! After yesterday's beauties come this . . . how wrecky can you get?! (No, don't answer that!)

Taylor (My Older Brothers) said...

I thought of a really groan-worthy pun!

The people responsible for this cake need to seas and DCist! (cease and desist, get it?)

I'm sad for myself now.

heather (errantdreams) said...

Courtesy of my husband: "Wow. A wreck to a higher power! I mean, once religion is involved..."

:)

Anonymous said...

To be fair, that letter looks more like the "o" than the other "a"s in that person's handwriting. So it's probably just meant to read "on a whole cake". Which is still bad, but not as... weird.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm nearly speechless after that "brilliant" display of "talent." Scarier yet to think these people may even be allowed to vote!!

WV: painsph - what some cake wrecks cause

Half Assed Kitchen said...

They've gotta have a plastic whale decoration he could've slapped on that thing. Maybe way up in the corner so there'd be room for all those words?

Angie (from over at www.HalfAssedKitchen.com)

Unknown said...

Ehrm, I would call it creativity. Some wrecky sort of....

Bilby P. Dalgyte said...

...what does that even MEAN!?

Lol

Suburban Princess said...

Wow!! How dumb do thee decorators have to be!?

Brittany Blais said...

Since reading this post the following verse from 20000 Leagues Under the Sea has been stuck in my head:

"Got a whale of a tale to tell ya lads.
A whale of a tale or two
'Bout the flappin' fish and the girls I've loved
On nights like this with the moon above.
A whale of a tale and it's all true
I swear by my tattoo."

Terry Lee said...

aside from the ridiculous-ness of adding that text, i do see a tiny loop on the "o", making it "whole".

but "whale" is funnier, eh?

oh, and did they really want a black and white cake?! seems rather boring for a celebration.

save the wholes.

Kelly said...

To be fair, anyone with handwriting like this should not attempt to draw anything, even something as simple as a whale. They could at least have jazzed it up a bit with some sprinkles!

Did DCist request a funereal cake, or did the bakery choose the color scheme as well?

WV: misol The painful pun by Taylor (My Older Brothers) made misol hurt a little.

Anne said...

Are you sure this isn't from the same wreckerator as the one that started it all (i.e. Under Neat That)?

Mary said...

I am pretty sure that says "on a whole cake", not a whale cake. Looks more like an "o" but still...

Kelsey S. said...

For bonus points, it also looks like the "K" in "caKe" was originally an "h."

Unknown said...

It's just so good. Happy Monday!

Natalie from
www.gamblepartyoffour.blogspot.com

Mal said...

To be fair, DCist's logo, and all other "ist" sites, are black and white, so I think they probably chose the color scheme. Avid reader of DCist and cake wrecks!

Jennifer B said...

Oh geez....

S3XinthePantry said...

Ahhh that reminds me of your old post of the cake that had spelled out "and underneath that put ___" I can't remember, was it someone's name?

Yes on a whale cake.... will be a cake to remember!

Goof said...

Yeah I too wondered why the color scheme was black and white, until I went ahead and looked at their company site. I guess its their company colors.

If I ever want a cake with big letters across the cake,or what ever for that matter, I think what I'll do is draw a picture of what I want for the baker/decorator to follow. They SHOULDN'T messed it up much from that.

Famous Hat said...

Are these people really that literal-minded, or are they just trying to get onto Cake Wrecks? And which is worse??

WV: beerifyn. I'm gonna need a beerifyn gonna keep thinking about this question!

Ms. Bright said...

This cake was MADE for Cake Wrecks!!!

Anonymous said...

sad...just sad.

Becky said...

They put it down in black and white. Maybe this crew can book Charm City Cakes for their 10th year celebrations-if they call now.

Stephanie said...

Yeah, I would say that is definitely a wreck to the third degree... *shakes head*

Unknown said...

Not even an outline of a whale? Outrageous!

~Amy B.

OmegaMom said...

I'm surprised no-one has come up with:

FAIL WHALE!

Norkio said...

Don't they actually read the site? It should be required reading for decorators to check this site before beginning their careers. Seriously, someone pitch this to Wilton or whoever does cake decorator training these days.

http://pastperiodspress.com

Debbi said...

Aww ... and their logo is all in lower case. The "decorator" even put their name in all caps! Wrong on SO many levels ...

Fluffy Cow said...

nice.

Glory von Hathor said...

Now I'm going to be humming Mr Scruff's Whalefish Song except with the word Whalecake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQIsZbm8Y4E

There's a whale, there's a whale, there's a whalecake he cried...

Anonymous said...

Well, I don't know, sometimes my o's look like a's.

But then again, I'm way more careful when I'm doing something serious or that I want people to understand. So there's no excuse.

Cake_or_Death said...

I dunno, o or a, a or o. I think it was one of those situations where the wreckerator is saying to him/herself, "gee, I can't tell if that's supposed to be 'whole' or 'whale', so I'll just make a letter kind of half-way between both and maybe they'll think it's right."

Sort of like when middle-schoolers try to make they're "t's" and "f's" indistinguishable on a true/false test. But just like in middle school, either way, this is WRONG!

Instead of trying to work out the a vs. o dilemma, would it not have been more reasonable to question the entire concept of writing "...on a whole/whale cake" on the cake???

WV - faccap - this cake (seriously, that was the WV - I love it!)

12 hour pills said...

How precious. I think this looks better than a whale cake, though, so perhaps we should thank the wreckerator.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Something is wrong with the site...I am getting all this white weirdness at the left margin of the text.

frigglesnitz said...

Do these wreckorators not have phones?
"Excuse me, I have a question about the decoration on your cake you ordered...Do you want it the way you asked for it, or do you want it featured on Cake Wrecks?"

WV-aming These clowns were not aming too high, were they?

Caz said...

Wow.. that's a Whale of a Fail LOL

Sheri said...

Whale or Whole, this is one of the ugliest cakes I've ever seen. What's with the black wiggle border? This may have been professional, but it screams amateur. If it was my company's cake, I would have refused it. Rather have no cake at all!
This wreckerator needs to find new work. UGLY, UGLY, UGLY.

Your Special Cake! said...

it doesn't say "Whale," it says "whole..." They were supposed to write it on a whole cake... No whales needed to be harmed during the decorating of this cake

Hunter said...

I'm guessing it was a two-step fail -- first, the person who wrote it down thought they'd said to put it on a whale cake, and then passed the instructions on to another baker who doubled the fail.

Naddy said...

i agree with kelly, anyone with ugly handwriting should abstain from decorating cake.

Anonymous said...

Are you sure the "a" in "whale" isn't just a poorly cursived "o" (as in "whole")?

peewee said...

whoa! Talk about overuse of flotsam and color!

Anonymous said...

Wow.

I...wow.

That just...

WOW.

There are no words.

God, I can't believe they...

Wow. That's a whole new level of failure, right there.

Lucille Ball Jr. said...

well that was a ^smart^ wrecker! i love it when they are soooo tenical! ;)

Anonymous said...

hmmmm..... I think these people are related to the people who did my cake last year.....

Little Scarf Girl said...

Wow, I'm not even sure if people are reading these instructions when they go to decorate the cakes. :o Honestly.

M.B. said...

I thought those things on the outside of the whales were barnacles, not cysts. Huh.

Unknown said...

I don't know, writing "on a whale cake" is probably less work than making a whale-shaped cake.

Adnoxious said...

I think this decorator stumbled upon a totally NEW kind of cake design. The cake gives you the concept and then you can create your own version IN YOUR MIND. It's cake decoration on a whole new level. Genius! Or maybe not.

adnoxious.blogspot.com
Taking aim at lousy advertising

Julie said...

Jen, I love you.

Aleisha said...

http://superbnoveltycakes.blogspot.com/

Thought you might find these cakes cute/interesting/inventive.

Vivian said...

Unrelated: I just woke up from a Cake Wrecks dream. My husband and I were in some grocery store laughing at the cakes, and I commented that due to this website, cakes were now always funny. Alas, I did not have a camera in the dream; and even worse, I don't remember what the Hell was so funny about them. But I thought I might mention that you are now invading the sleeping minds of innocents. So, you know, I hope you don't desire to kill us in our dreams. That would be less than amusing.

Pelotard said...

I think the black-and-white color scheme probably came from the name "DCist". They must've thought it was a fancy spelling of "Deceased".

Ruthie said...

Aaaaand thus, she had the Newsboys' "In the Belly of the Whale" stuck in her head for the rest of the day.

Anonymous said...

OK, people...yes, we KNOW it is supposed to say WhOLE CAKE...that is part of why it is so funny! It LOOKS like WHALE...I cannot believe some of the comments here, saying that "oh, I see a loop at the top of the word...they were writing an O..not an A." Gee, ya think?? Get with the program! FUNNY...Ha Ha Ha!!!

NewsCat said...

Okay as a DC resident I DEMAND to know what bakery did this. DCites should know which bakeries we can trust.

Anonymous said...

She is 20 years old- "Twentieth"!

LucyInTheSky said...

I'm an avid reader of DCist (mostly for the comments, because they aren't really a "news" site but more a "news blog" site instead) and found this first on their site and found CW through them! Happy that their ruined cake brought me here to the hilarity of this site!

According to the article that they wrote, they verbally told the bakery they wanted "DCist" on the whole cake, and in the meantime, got "DCIST on a whale/whole cake". It doesn't seem to me they did that on purpose to get on the CW website, but it's now an inside joke on DCist now. Happy to see that they made it here, was waiting to see if they did!

Tania said...

Good grief. I wonder how that decorator even dresses themselves of a morning....

One thing I also wonder every time I see a wreck like this - nobody actually pays for them, right? I assume they refuse, or get their money back?

VeggieT said...

Don't you just hate it when baker's play "telephone" Let's see how many steps it might have taken, shall we?

"DCist in big letter across the whole cake"

"DCIST across the whole cake"

"DCIST on a whole cake"

"DCIST on a whale cake"

blueiguana42 said...

This is funny on so many levels.

This is my favorite category.

"UnderNeat That" :)

ACDC said...

That totally cracked me up, even though it's so, so sad!

Angie said...

Epic fail whale.