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KARACHI: Delizia, a Karachi-based chain of bakeries, came under fire after one of its workers refused to write ‘Merry Christmas’ on a cake.
The incident was reported by a woman customer on Facebook group Voice of Customer PK. In the post, the woman said she had visited the Khayaban-e-Jami branch of Delizia to buy a cake but when she asked them to write ‘Merry Christmas’ on it, the worker refused and said he was not allowed to as he had been given an “order” from the kitchen.
The incident caused an uproar on social media platforms, with people expressing shock and anger at the occurrence. Some Twitterati called out Delizia for failing to comply with the demand.
World going to mars
meanwhile Pakistanis: we won’t write merry Christmas on cakes cause company orders #delizia— Baakh (@bnusrat) December 22, 2021
Just heard #delizia in #Karachi abandoned a Christian customer’s request to write #MerryChristmas on her cake since they were instructed not to. Religious intolerance is still in the roots.
— Engr. Zeerak Ullah (@theotherboysays) December 22, 2021
While some social media users call for a boycott of the company, others simply attributed the refusal to the bakery being ‘short of icing’.
Spoke to a representative of #delizia, they are out of icing apparently, hence the refusal. Do not know how a bakery runs out of icing but do know they didnt write happy birthday on the cake my colleague bought for my birthday today!
— Nida Khan Tareen (@NidaTareen) December 22, 2021
One social media user shared that it was an individual’s act and didn’t represent the ‘company’s policy’.
You guys have nothing better to do ? Spamming Delizia for the lone act of their staff at one of their branches , I’ve seen a lady get merry Christmas written on the cake at their boat basin outlet and the staff happily did so
— High (@talkingcurves) December 22, 2021
Bakery’s statement
Meanwhile, management at Delizia told a private magazine Images that it was the act of an individual. “At the moment we are taking action against him. It was done in an individual capacity and is not company policy.
“It may have been done due to lack of education and awareness that ‘Merry Christmas’ means wishing someone a happy Christmas, nothing else,” the management told the private media outlet.
The senior management official said there is nothing wrong with wishing someone a merry Christmas and expressed their sorrow at the incident. The company plans on releasing a statement on social media “soon” to address the incident and clarify its stance.
Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time that the company faced backlash over the refusal to ‘do the icing’. In 2018, a woman was refused the ‘Merry Christmas’ icing and told that it was so, on the “company’s instructions”.
