Publix Awkwardly Censors A Cake That Didn’t Need To Be Censored In The First Place

I’ve expressed my undying love of all things Publix before. It’s a great grocery store. Pub subs are awesome. Their chicken tenders are bomb. Their BOGO sales are stellar if you catch them at the right time. And their bakery? DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED. My love of Publix baked goods started as a wee child, when they gave me free sprinkled sugar cookies while my mom shopped. (Publix is known for giving kids free cookies, FYI.)

So yeah. I’m a believer in Publix and Publix’s bakery. But hey…mistakes happen. This one is kinda funny.

A proud mom ordered her son a graduation cake which was SUPPOSED to read, “Congrats Jacob! Summa Cum Laude Class of 2018.”

Cute and to the point, right? WRONG. Apparently, her Publix– located somewhere in West Ashley, South Carolina– decided that the “cum” part was too profane (because, well yeah), even though that’s the phrase and that has BEEN the phrase for all of eternity of academia.

So many facepalms.

Undaunted, Cara Koscinski used a special-instructions box to explain that the offending word was part of a Latin phrase for academic honors and meant “with” (laude translates as “honors” or “distinction” and summa as “highest”), according to a report by local TV station WCIV. She even included a link to a website explaining the meaning, reported the Washington Post.

Get your head out of the gutter, Publix!

“The cake experience was kind of frustrating and humiliating because I had to explain to my friends and family, like, what that meant. And they were giggling uncontrollably. At least my friends were,” said Jacob Koscinski, 18.

His mother was less calm about the incident, telling the Washington Post that her son was ‘‘absolutely humiliated.’’

‘‘It was unbelievable,” she added “I can’t believe I’m the first one to ever write ‘Summa Cum Laude’ on a cake.”

The Koscinskis told WCIV on Monday that a manager from Publix later apologized and offered a refund.

Good on Publix for offering a full refund. But at the same time, I can’t help but wonder. Did the person frosting this cake really not see that this was an academic honors thing? I mean…it’s painfully obvious.

The bright side? I’m sure this silly “typo” didn’t compromise the taste of the cake, which is obviously the most important part anyway.

h/t USA Today