The Three Little Birds bakery in West Yorkshire might not be creating Catherine Tyldesley's birthday cake for her, but AI certainly can.
Admittedly it won't taste as good as the real thing, but at least we get to see exactly what the cake might have looked like, if the bakery had accepted the job.
I say 'job', but the bakery wouldn't have actually received any money for their creation. Instead, staff there had been asked to create a total of 102 cakes for free, in exchange for 'promotion' on social media and in a magazine.
Advert
The request came from a party planner later revealed to be working for Coronation Street star Tyldesley, and was criticised by the bakery as they pointed out 'exposure doesn't pay the bills'.
"This poor celebrity apparently can't afford to pay people for their products and services. Spare a thought!" they wrote on Facebook, alongside a screenshot of the request.
"What happened to women supporting women..." they added.
Advert
The bakery was asked to create one main cake, one smaller cake and 100 cupcakes in keeping with the theme of the party, 'camp as t*ts', which featured 'pinks, sparkles and a touch of flamingos'.
After sharing the request and their criticism online, the bakery was flooded with support from internet users and new customers - so much so that they're now booked up on requests until mid-September.
In response to the kind messages, Three Little Birds shared an Instagram Story reading: "I wish I had time to reply to all your amazing messages one by one. But I totally don't. But please know that knowing much solidarity is out there for small business is incredible and every message of support means a lot."
Advert
Alongside the post, the bakery shared a picture of a vibrant pink, three-tiered cake decorated with pink flowers and flamingos, perfectly fitting the theme described by the party planners.
It's a pretty impressive creation, but not one made by the bakery itself.
Instead, the staff member explained their brother-in-law had created an 'AI drawing' of the 'infamous cake request', allowing people to see just how much work it might have been - and that's just for one of the 102 cakes.
Advert
Amid the outrage over the request for free cakes, Tyldesley addressed the situation on social media and claimed she had no idea the emails had been sent to the bakery by her party planners.
“I would never ask anyone to work for free or provide product for free. I’m not working with the lovely OK magazine on anything," she said.
The actor went on to insist party planners NVRLND were actually an amazing company, but that they had simply been misrepresented through the viral post.
“I genuinely do hope the bakery have got some exposure and receive lots of new orders! I’ve always supported local and small businesses," Tyldesley continued.
Advert
The actor added that she'd received some 'horrendous' abuse after the emails went viral, adding: "Hopefully this will put an end to it. And here’s to turning 40. Love, Cath!”
Topics: TV And Film, Celebrity, Food and Drink
Emily Brown