This Emo Elmo Cake Is Going Viral For All The Wrong Reasons
As it turns out, not every day is an "A-OK sunny day" on Sesame Street, as the show's theme song sings. At least, not for the Elmo portrayed on a hilarious custom cake that's been circulating online.
Created by baker Brianna Romero, the cake shows an “emo” illustration of Elmo with side bangs over a black cake with red sprinkles. Apparently, the cake originated from a hilarious mixup by Romero, who misread her customer’s request for an Elmo cake as an “emo cake.”
Romero’s video of the cake first went viral on TikTok in March 2023, and now has 1.2 million views. “Guys, so my worst nightmare happened,” Romero says at the open of the video. While decorating an unrelated cake of the Hello Kitty character Kuromi, Romero explains that she initially accepted the last-minute request for an emo cake because she loves emo and goth. “And I know I’ve been perfecting my black frosting, so I’m ready for this.”
It wasn’t until one hour prior to delivery, though, when Romero realized she might have made a mistake. Knowing it was a birthday cake, she asked the customer if she wanted a number candle on the cake. In text screenshots from Romero’s follow-up video, the customer explains that the cake is for her four-year-old granddaughter. Romero was immediately confused by the thought of an emo four year-old, but thought, “Maybe she just likes Wednesday or something," referring to the popular Addams Family spin-off series starring Jenna Ortega.
Romero double-checked the theme, only to realized that the party was Sesame Street-themed.
“My heart sinks a little bit,” Romero narrates, before revealing that she did, in fact, misread the original request for an Elmo cake as an “emo cake.”
Luckily, Romero was able to quickly run to grocery store Albertson’s to “beg” them for an Elmo cake topper to place atop the black-frosted cake. Given her mistake, Romero says that, upon delivering the cake, she told the customer, “Something came across me, and it’s going to be free today.”
Naturally, TikTokers loved the storytime, posting their reactions to different points in the sitcom-esque situational comedy. “The second you said she was 4 I knew what happened,” laughed one commenter. But the resounding sentiment in the comments was unanimous: The people wanted to see the emo Elmo cake.
Though the original story on TikTok was hilarious, the “emo Elmo” cake reached a whole new level of virality when Romero responded to a comment with a follow-up. “Praying it’s Elmo with a side bang,” the commenter wrote. And, although the original did not feature this hilarious image, Romero decided to recreate the request with a side-banged frosting Elmo.
TikTokers quite literally ate the new cake up, riffing in the comments on the hilarious alter ego of Elmo.
“Elmo said: ‘tonight will be the night that I will fall for youuuuu’ 😂😂😂,” wrote one commenter, referencing the popular 2008 emo ballad “Fall for You” by Secondhand Serenade. “Bro I saw this cake going everywhere on my social medias! It was you!! 😂😂,” wrote another.
From here, the image blew up across social platforms and recently going viral once again from a May 4 tweet. “I’m in tears. This baker said she misread the customer text asking for a ‘Elmo’ cake & instead made an ‘emo’ cake but realized last minute & tried to improvise,” wrote @DeeLaSheeArt in the tweet, which now has over 10.5 million views and 180 thousand likes.
I’m in tears. This baker said she misread the customer text asking for a “Elmo” cake & instead made an “emo” cake but realized last minute & tried to improvise. Y’all 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5aUW2z1LeQ
— I appreciate you. (@DeeLaSheeArt) May 4, 2023
In a May 8 interview with TODAY, Romero said that her viral video has gotten her many requests for more emo Elmo cakes, along with other unique requests. “I feel like I’m still learning, I’ll take on most challenges,” she told TODAY.
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