A $30 grocery store birthday cake for “Steve” has become the internet’s latest wholesome moment, as well as a cautionary tale. TikToker @k_bug68 shared the sheet cake’s childlike lettering and the bakery employee’s nervous apology: “I’m sorry, I did my best,” on Aug 13, 2025, where it has since racked up over 8 million views.
Featured VideoThe TikTok user wrote that the bakery department grocery employee “looked terrified to hand it to me cause for just about anyone else he’d ruined a $30 cake.” The video revealed a sheet cake decorated with the message, “Happy birthday Steve” rendered in childlike writing.
While commenters praised the sincerity and imperfection, many worried the viral attention could backfire on the young decorator, who may not have been trained for the task.
AdvertisementThe stilted script piped across a custom birthday cake charmed social media users and sparked a conversation about compassion. Over 11,000 commenters on TikTok praised the cake for its sincerity and discussed the beauty of accepting people where they’re at. But will viral fame have inadvertent consequences for the kid behind the counter?
Giant Eagle, the grocery chain responsible for Steve’s birthday cake, caught wind of the subpar script job. Reddit users discussing the video on r/TikTokCringe recognized that the employee who decorated it could have been left responsible for tasks that he’d not been properly trained to execute. Some commenters feared for the bakery employee’s job.
The kid behind the counter said ‘I’m sorry, I did my best.’
The post’s caption read, “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.”
Advertisement@k_bug68 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 #ijs #officebirthday #birthdaycake ♬ The Winner Is… Version – DeVotchKa
“This is all of our first times being alive bro 😭.”
“The way I love this MORE than if it was fancy.”
Advertisement“He tried and it’s enough 😭🥰.”
“WHY AM I GETTING EMOTIONAL LMAO.”
AdvertisementThe cake was a hit on social media, but is that a good thing for the employee who decorated it?
@k_bug68’s video was cross-posted to Reddit where the imperfect cake resonated with people on the thread who worried about the employee’s fate.
u/Indieriots wrote, “That poor employee,” and linked the video to r/TikTokCringe. The Reddit user shared a screenshot of a comment from the grocery chain.
AdvertisementGiant Eagle wrote, “Hi, so sorry the cake didn’t turn out as expected. We appreciate you, Steve, and the office for being such good sports about it! If you wouldn’t mind, we’d love to know which store you purchased the cake from so the next Steve has a better cake unveiling.”
u/DisownedDisconnect shared a tongue-in-cheek translation of the store’s corporate-speak:
“Hey valued customer; we’re contacting you in a semi-jovial tone regarding your post about the cake. We’re so happy you liked it even though it doesn’t meet our standards of quality and makes us look bad. Please tell us the name of the store you got this low quality cake from so we can chew out the manager so they, in turn, can make some underpaid employee’s work life a living hell before they find a reason to fire him.”
Advertisementu/bluenervana pointed out, “Buddy definitely isn’t the one who does decorations on the cakes and was left in charge, whoever was supposed to, fumbled that.” The Reddit user is a former bakery employee who said they, “hated when this shit happened and the wrong people got blamed.”
u/bluenervana added, “Personally, I think the cake is perfect.”
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