“Free @ Last” — Kroger Customer Calls Out the Store’s Lazy Juneteenth Cake Display
For Juneteenth, you want to just throw something on a freaking cookie cake and expect people to buy it?"
Published June 20 2025, 10:54 a.m. ET
On June 17, 2021, former President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, making it an official federal holiday. However, the holiday marking the day enslaved people were declared free in 1865 under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation, had been celebrated by Black people in the U.S. for generations.
While some can appreciate those new to celebrating Juneteenth, such as brands and corporations, wanting to show their support for the holiday, sometimes a good intention is just... wrong!
An example of just how wrong some can be was Kroger's attempt to celebrate Juneteenth through their baked goods. One customer succinctly dragged the grocery store after seeing what they came up with.
A Kroger customer scolded the grocery store for its Juneteenth cakes: "I wish there was a manager here"
On June 18, 2025, TikTok user @blaq.monalisa posted a video of her walking through the bakery aisle at an Atlanta Kroger. She began the video by showing off the store's decorative cookie cakes and said, "this is some bulls--t," and, soon, it was easy to see why she had that reaction. The first cake, one with an image of that didn't look as bad and said "celebrate freedom in the center. However, as @blaq.monalisa shifted through the rest of the collection, there was no room for compliments.
The cookie cakes the customer showed her a display of "ugly a--" creations. One cookie had frosting around it with the phrase "Free @ Last" in the center. I'm not being funny, the "@" sign was put in the middle of the cake because writing "free at last" was just too taxing.
The content creator then showed more of the cookie display, including one that read "June 19 free" (WHAT??) and one that simply read, "Free."
To make things worse, Kroger didn't decorate the cakes in any of the pan-African flag colors (red, green, yellow, or black) that are associated with the holiday. As she continued sifting through the offensive cakes, the customer said she planned to speak to a manager about the issue, as she found the cakes to be disrespectful.
"I wish there was a manager here because y'all decorate everything else around here cute," she noted. "But for Juneteenth, you want to just throw something on a freaking cookie cake and expect people to buy it? That's bulls--t."
The internet also dragged Kroger, forcing the store to remove their Juneteenth cakes.
After seeing @blaq.monalisa's post, many TikTok users just couldn't help but laugh at the Atlanta Kroger bakery department's foolery. While most of the creator's 1 million-plus viewers had a lot to say about how blatantly racist the store's Juneteenth collection seemed, the lack of creativity sparked multiple hilarious comments.
"I hate that racism is funny sometimes because 'free @ last' got a chuckle out of me," one TikTok commenter admitted.
"You should’ve just flipped the table over," another suggested to the TikTok poster.
"This is funny but NOT funny," a third user said. "I’m highly disappointed in Kroger."
The TikTok also made its rounds on other social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Kroger may have realized the errors of their ways, because when @blaq.monalisa returned to the store the following day, the cookie cakes were gone. The instant vanishing of the the baked goods likely meant they took them away or that someone bought it. However, as she pointed out, the display wasn't replaced by better-looking cakes. How convenient!