Eight days ago (EIGHT DAYS!), I delivered this display cake to my local movie theater to be put on display in their birthday party room.

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1732944

I did the cake for free, in exchange for advertising. There's a placard on the table next to the cake stating that it was made by me.

The party room is decorated, but locked, and only visible through a big picture window. When a party is scheduled, the staff packs away the decorations and display cake so the party folks can use their own items.

I went to the theater today to see a movie and stopped by the party room afterwards to see how the cake was holding up. I'm heartbroken... The cake has all but been destroyed. There are about 5 kernels of popcorn left on top... none anywhere else. The popcorn bucket has been shifted offcenter and turned around backwards with fondant dangling off... And the word "Milk Duds" has been all but scraped off.

It really just broke my heart that in only EIGHT DAYS the cake could be mangled this much by the staff there at the theater. I'm not sure how to handle it. I love the cake, but it looks so crappy now, I'm not sure I want to continue to use it as "advertising"!

What would you do?

Such a shame! The staff have no ownership of the theatre, or anything in it. I know at our theatre, most of the staff are ages 16-19. I have seen that age group "take care of things" (I know I am generalizing, there are many awesome teens out there!)

I can see how that would be frustrating. Personally I wouldn't use it as an avenue to advertise anymore. First of all it doesn't sound like any prospective customers are actually getting to see it and if they did, I'm not sure that I would want them to see it in that condition with my name on it. It also doesn't seem like the theatre has anything to gain or lose from the situation so that's why they don't care...for me it wouldn't be worth the time, effort or money. Good luck!

If it has your name shown somewhere, I would ask that either they remove who made the cake or the cake. This doesn't advertise for you very well and it doesn't advertise for the theatre very well either, but maybe they don't care about that.

I can't believe it either! I would speak with the manager and ask what happened. If they don't have a secure place to set it (out of reach) then it will be an ongoing problem and wouldn't be worth repairing only to have it happen again. I would remove it as it is not getting the advertising you hoped for. They should have created pamphlets with your cake as a focus point.

So sorry for the disappointment.

Oh that stinks! Beautiful cake...glad I don't have to see it destroyed.

Maybe next time (if there is one!) do it out of non-edibles? Like the polymer clays? much more durable and you can use heavy duty glues.

it might not have been staff, it could have been anyone at the theatre right? there's a restaurant in town that i go to that recently started to do wedding cakes. they put a dummy out on display. by the time i got a good look at it, it was in pretty rough shape. i bet it was casual customers picking at it, poking at it, seeing if it's real and what not.

but i guess you said the room was locked when not in use...anywho, i'm very sorry this happened to you.

First, It was a great cake! loved all the details.
Second, I guess it was probably curious staff poking and picking at the cake... People can't help but poke their fingers in the cake.
Hope you talk to the manager to see what happened.
Jodi

I did speak to a manager to ask what happened... She wasn't the original manager I'd been dealing with. But she said she'd confer with the general manager (with whom I'd originally dealt) and they'd review the security camera footage for the past week.

There is a camera mounted directly above the display cake table!

Yes, the staff of the theater is largely 16-19 year olds. My 17 year old daughter is actually one of them. But she know exactly how much time and effort went into that cake and is nearly as distraught as I am about the situation.

At this point, I'm tempted to remove the placard with my name and just chalk it up to a bad marketing decision. But another part of me wonders if I might repair it and then spray it down with shellac or something to keep folks from tearing it up!

Beauiful cake! It's so sad that some people have so little respect for things that aren't theirs. I see it all the time, everywhere

Your cake is fabulous! It's such a shame that it has ended up in a terrible state. I bet the staff picked off the popcorn and ate it, ditto with the fondant letters.
Only you will know if it is worth your while doing another cake or repairing this one, or just ditching the idea.
However maybe you could do as suggested and use clay or whatever and really strong glue. Strong glue for the tiers too, I have no idea why the popcorn bucket had twisted around! Make sure the staff know nothing is edible in case they are tempted to rip decorations off it.
Also, you could maybe try raising your cake board on some kind of feet. Perhaps they have trouble getting their fingers under the board to move it, so if they are currently finding it difficult it will lead to carelessness.
And speak to the manager to see if your cake can be right in the big window! If its at some distance, people won't be able to make out your name on the sign.

I feel your pain I can't remember how many display cakes I have done through the years that met with the same fate.. The only way to protect it is in a sealed glass case. Even then.. people will try to pry it open.. It really is a shame.. Your cake was gorgeous too! Take what is left of it, and find another way to market your talents..

THAT TOTALLY SUCKS! I think your cake looked great. Don't doubt your marketing decision, bc there is no way you could have known that they would handle your cake with such disregard.

Aww that stinks. I remember seeing (and loving!) that cake last week when you loaded the pic into the gallery.

I am glad they are going to review the security footage to see what happened. I'm thinking you may be able to repair the cake, and have better treatment of it in the future...depending on how the managers plan to handle this.

The in me would be tempted to paint the popcorn with that stuff that you paint on nails to break the nail-biting habit. That stuff is horrendous and only one person would eat a "kernel"...once. haha.

I'd also put a sign warning not to touch and not to eat the cake.

I have seen your cake and it is awesome! I have, also, worked with the public and know that they have the need to touch, gouge and destroy (intentional or not) whatever is on display. Personally, I would remove the cake and maybe return it with a more detailed contract at a later date. I am sorry that beautiful cake was destroyed.

I'm heartsick for you. What a disappointment. Unfortunately there are a lot of disrespectful people out there that don't care who they hurt. I wish you better luck in the future if you move forward with this partnership.

I'm so sorry that your cake was destroyed. A lot of hard work gone down the drain by careless people. I've been at wedding shows with my displays and the same thing has happened. People just love to poke and pick at the faux cakes, not realizing the amount of work that has gone into them.

You have a picture of the cake so would it be of any benefit to have it enlarged to poster size, mounted and hung on the wall of the party room? You could put one of those brochure holders attached or next to it with your flyer or business cards. It might be a better fit for the environment because if you make the cake again, chances are the same thing will happen. This way, all your hard work is not in vain.

Good luck!

Classycakes, that is such a good idea! I think many can benefit from that thought.

what a serious disappointment! i'm so sorry i'm very anxious to hear what the security camera reveals...please posts any update

I'm kind of liking the poster cake idea... I think it would really break my heart to have the cake continuously destroyed.

I just got a call from the general manager. However, he hadn't actually gone and looked at the cake... He had just gotten what he called "a cryptic message" about the cake.

I told him to call back after he'd looked at the cake. But at this point, I don't have a lot of confidence in him or any of the theater staff!

I'm really sorry, it was a great cake! I wouldn't have much confidence in them anymore either.