I was watching the HBO special featuring one of my favorite comedians, Ricky Gervais (of the BBC's The Office fame), the other night. He had a funny line about certain baby names going out of vogue, one of them being Adolf Hitler.
Well, wouldn't you know there's at least one child out there with that name -- a toddler in Easton, Pennsylvania, and he's had a pretty difficult time finding a baker to decorate a cake for his 3rd birthday.
Apparently, his local supermarket to refuses to make a birthday cake with the name Adolf Hitler on it. The foodies at Food & Party Buzz are talking about it there, too.
"They need to accept a name. A
name's a name," the child's father, Heath Campbell, says in a
FOXNews.com report. "The kid isn't going to grow up and do what
[Hitler] did."
The family finally did find a store bakery to agree to make and decorate a cake for their son, whose full name is Adolf Hitler Campbell. But now let me ask you ...
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Comments 46
Yes. As a cake decorator, it is my job to decorate the cake regardless of how I feel about the name. I'm not the name police.
I agree with jellyphish - even if the people who ordered the cake wanted to celebrate the real Hilter's birthday, it's not up to the store to determine what's appropriate.
It's terrible the parents would name thier little boy that but it's not the kid's fault! It was their job to make the cake.
The store has no right to refuse writing the kids name on the cake. And the parents have every right to name their child whatever they want.
I think the parents have every right to name their child whatever they want. However, I think the bakery has just as much right not to make the cake.
Why are they putting the whole name on the cake? Why not just Happy Birthday Adolf? Did they name him Adolf Hitler as a joke?
A name is a name is a name. While I wouldn't want to name a child of mine that. It is the parents right to name their child what ever they want. It is the store owners job to satisfy their customers.
I think that the only time that would not apply was if it was a Jewish bakery. Then it would be in bad taste to ask them to make a cake with that name on it.
I would not condone the name if I owned a business. I would be more than happy to write Adolf, but his middle name is not needed on the cake. I am sure EVERYONE they know knows his middle name. You have to wonder why they would name him after such an evil person.
Just because you don't like the name doesn't mean you shouldn't do your JOB!!
The thing is, my feeling is that these parents are using their child to make a point. Think about it. If the cake just was going to say "Happy Birthday, Adolf" I doubt that they would have said no. My cakes never said "Happy Birthday, Danielle Elise". They always just had my first name. Every birthday cake I've ever seen has been the same. These parents drive around with a swastika on their car, have named all their children after Nazis, and insist on using full names--then they start the "poor me" routine. Nuh uh, not buying it. Stop using your poor kids to push your nazi agenda.
Do I think the parents chose names poorly? IMO - Absolutely.
Do I think the child should be denied the cake on their birthday? Absolutely not. While the store employees have every right to find the history associated with the name offensive, the cake was for an innocent child who had no choice in what he was named - the cake wasn't for the Adolph Hilter himself. Geez.