Cupcake Cake: The Hybrid War

Cake Wrecks has hundreds of blog posts covering topics from “Chocolate “Poop” Icing” to cakes of Jesus holding a dinosaur. These examples, however, do not come close to the depth, creativity, and thought put into creating these posts. The hilariousness and pure genius used to portray horribly made professional case created a
difficult decision; which post will I analyze??! This one? No…This one…NO! This process continued for about an hour until I found the most amazing button ever! The lime-green “surprise me” button! This magical device turned out to be my savior and led me to what I did my analysis on; behold…(drum roll please) CUPCAKE CAKES (or the acronym CCC).

The authors of Cake Wrecks have an extreme prejudice against cupcake cakes, if you are thinking to yourself “man I love cupcakes!” think again…these are no ordinary cupcakes. Words can hardly describe why Cake Wrecks simply hates CCC’s (but pictures can). Hopefully, after providing some examples Cake Wrecks have presented using creative logic, diction, and of course, the pictures of the horrific cakes themselves, will help you realize how rhetoric with an unhealthy case of prejudice can sometimes persuade a whole online audience to agree with an author. I will analyzed two blog posts that are all about CCC's. I will analyze them based on the diction, tone, figurative language, and how the author used the cake photos.

Warning: If you are going to venture into the unknown...This site is intended for mature audiences and may have some suggestive (but hilarious) material so browse at your own risk :)

Post 1- Cupcake Cakes: Always Wrecktastic. Always.

The original post introduces the idea of CCC’s (and their nastiness) to readers that are not as familiar to the CCC. The beginning statement gives a very “logical” argument that goes a little like this…

“Hi, my name is Jen, and I hate cupcake cakes.

Why? ‘Cuz their ugly.

Don’t believe me? Keep reading.”

The format of the writing suggest that these statements should be read like a confession in a AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting, but the wording is humorous and intrigues the reader to find out why cupcake cakes are ugly even though the argument is hardly logical. Luckily the reader is not let down. I love how she introduces the blog with her own voice and opinion. This caught my attention and is the reason I kept on reading.

The first example of a CCC is precluded by the story of Shara; a lady that just wanted a nice Curious George cake, nothing too fancy. The format of the pictures is also very funny saying “this is what Curious George looks like...and this is what Shara got..." (Pause for rhetorical effect)

This cake is FAR from the cute Curious George! The fact that this is an actual cake a “professional” person made is also what makes this argument extremely convincing but at the same time, amusing. The thought that someone was paid to create this cake is ridiculous because the cake does not look like Curious George! The author, after showing the CCC, states her opinion on the cake…

So apparently what the decorator heard was "Curious George after he's been flattened by a cement truck". That, or maybe he/she was going for an homage to Teen Wolf:

“After he was flattened by a cement truck.”

The author uses figurative language by using the image of a cement truck and Teen Wolf to describe the cake. And the description fits incredibly well! One thing I noticed that the author does well in her writing is the ability to create a image using her words. The cake itself its funny in itself but it is the words following the picture that really creates the humor. This example gives some evidence that cupcake cakes are indeed “ugly”. I think this example alone would win an audience over that sometimes CCC's can go wrong. Her argument is that all CCC's are bad. The next example, may just prove that she is correct.

AHHHHHH!!! I think I'm gonna be sick....

The "Ojai, it's worth the drive!" cake persuades by using the grotesque description (and picture) given by the author..

I would love to ask what the heck "Ojai" is, but I'm way too distracted by the poo souffle on the bottom. Honestly, this thing is in serious competition with the modly-camo cake in my "dry-heave-inducing" category.

The commentary made by the author is what makes the statement "cupcake cake's are ugly" so convincing; the figurative writing (poo souffle) is used once again to make the picture seem much worse than it really is. I have never purchased, or seen a cupcake cake. And after seeing this appalling, awful, wreck of a cake; I don't think I ever will. The author doesn't necessarily have a really strong argument, but it is convincing enough with the evidence given and her strong opinion that CCC's are terrible that you almost have to agree.

I laughed so hard when she related this cake to the "dry-heave-inducing" category. She planted a seed of curiosity in me and I clicked on the moldy-camo cake link which made me laugh even harder! (Read the link and you'll understand) The way she over-exaggerates everything is what makes this blog so funny. Her purpose is to not only entertain, but get across a point that if you are going to do something (and sell it), do it good. Also, if you are trying to go on a diet. This site is perfect for you! After seeing some of these cakes, the craving for cake (or anything really) is severely diminished :)

She gives other examples of horrific cupcake cake's and I advice you to check them out. I chose these two because I felt they were the most convincing as to why the author chose to write two fairly large blog-posts devoted solely to the condemnation of CCC's.

Post 2 - The Great Cupcake Cake Debate Continues

This blog was created in a response to the responses given to the previous blog. Apparently, there were a lot of people that disagreed with the argument given by the author. Her response follows...

I have no problems with cupcakes. C'mon: mini cakes you don't have to share? What's not to like? No, it's only when you cram a bunch of them together and slop on a gallon of icing to make a smooth surface that my eyelid begins to twitch uncontrollably. Ok? So, to sum up: cupcakes good, cupcake cakes baaaad.

I enjoyed reading this because her opinion is again, extremely prejudice. But it sheds light that she is pro-cupcake. The visual imagery of the slopping icing makes me want to cringe. I do not like icing. I can handle a little but generally the icing is the worst part of the cake and should be there to slightly sweeten something already good. CCC's shove it in your face, creating a giant mess and filling your sweet tooth with cavities. Fellow blog-followers and cake decorators apparently attempted to defend the cupcake cake by sending in pictures of CCC's they had done. This was her response...

The best part about all this public outcry, however, are the photos you guys have sent in supposed "defense" of cupcake cakes. Many of them are so bad I can only hope you guys are being sarcastic, 'cuz if not, daaang!'

Here are a few of the cakes people sent in, along with excerpts from the commentary...

If this looks familiar, it should: it's what the Ojai cupcake cake was supposed to look like. However, looking at it you can see that Ojai actually wasn't that far off the mark; I guess "shiny poo souffle" must be on the spec sheet.

And here a decorator traded in the neon french fries for a bad airbrush job:


I don't think this is professionally done, but I am assured is still a "good" CCC.

An easier way to decorate cupcakes"?!? That thing looks more like a radioactive zombie cloud than a pumpkin!

Due to the confusion over whether or not I was vilifying all cupcakes, about a billion of you sent in these iPhone cupcakes:

Which are cute, but don't count; they're separate cakes and therefore Jen-approved.

My first opinion of the cakes shown is that they are average. Once again these are professionally made cakes which people have used their hard-earned money to buy for special occasions. She uses several different examples of "good" cupcake cakes but reiterates that these are not even close to what real cakes can do. In each picture she points out all the bad things and hardly ever talks about what is good about the cake. I think her argument does have some flaws because she is not analyzing both sides and how a person could see the good in a CCC. But for entertainment purposes (the main reason for this blog) she is amusing and puts smiles on the faces of readers with her thoughtful diction, placement of pictures, and her critical tone toward the CCC's.

My personal view is that cupcakes should be individual items, not slopped together to create something else. There are cupcakes, and there are cakes, those mad enough to create a hybrid of the two should be banned from making anything cake-related. I'm sure the occasional cupcake may want to feel like he is part of something bigger; but shoving three inches of frosting on top of him and his buddies is just sick and wrong. I think it is far easier (and cleaner) to decorate each individual cupcake than try and create a (usually) bizarre looking image that you will have to eventually destroy. Cakes also serve more people. There are only a few examples of CCC's that really impressed me.
They are (with commentary of course)...

THE FOOTBALL!

There's the ticket: draw the design inside the edges, thereby avoiding the scalloped look. Bravo, Carrie S.; you found a "good" one!

THE PALM TREE!!!

Katie S.'s is still scalloped, but nicely done:

And last but not least....

STARRY NIGHT!!

This is incredible...the detail put into this CCC puts this up there with the real cakes. Unless you can make something like the last three examples, please just stick to normal cakes/cupcakes. 99% of the time your attempt at something great will be criticized on this website as a "wrecktastic" mess. Also because...

Anything done by a CCC, can also be done by a real cake :)

Check out this blog everyone, and witness the damage done when professional cakes go horrible, hilariously wrong!