Apparently, even famous basketball players need cake. The problem is when they want the cake for free.
Fanny Lam, owner of Oh Sweet Day! Bake Shop, recently found herself at the center of an awkward celebrity-business drama involving former NBA All-Star Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly known as Metta World Peace, and his wife, Maya Ford.
According to Lam, a representative for the couple contacted her about a possible “collab opportunity” for their child’s birthday. The proposed deal was simple. Lam would make a custom cake worth somewhere between $200 and $300. In return, the family would provide social media exposure through posts, stories and tags.
Sounds like a deal, except Lam apparently wasn’t interested.
She turned down the request and later shared the exchange online. Her complaint was pretty straightforward. Why are small businesses constantly expected to hand out free products to people who can afford to pay?
That is a fair question. After all, flour costs money, eggs cost money, butter costs money, and labor costs money. Apparently, the only thing that is sometimes considered free is the bakery owner’s patience.
“Exposure doesn’t pay the bills,” Lam said.
That sentence probably landed harder than some of Metta’s old NBA trash talk.
Lam explained that her bakery regularly receives requests for free products and collaborations. However, she generally prefers to support charities and community organizations when giving products away.
That policy makes sense. A birthday cake for a family celebration is not exactly the same thing as feeding a community fundraiser.
Things became even more interesting after Maya contacted Lam and reportedly asked her to remove the post. Maya said the original request came from an assistant.
Lam decided to keep the post online. She did, however, remove details about the child’s birthday party.
And just like that, a simple cake request became an internet debate.
The bigger issue is not really about one cake, it is about the strange relationship between social media fame and small businesses.
Being tagged by a celebrity sounds exciting, but excitement does not pay rent, Instagram stories do not buy ingredients, and followers cannot magically settle a bakery’s electricity bill.
Small businesses often get told that free products are worth it because of “exposure.” Sometimes they are, but sometimes exposure is just another fancy word for “please work for free.”
Lam’s message was clear: if you want the cake, perhaps just buy the cake!
