Would you find this advert endearing and effective or a bit cringeworthy and too personal?

[bakingbaker]

What would you think if you saw a baker advertise his products on FB or Instagram by talking about their struggles, how they stay out in the cold until they've sold everything, dropped out their high paying career, how they pull constant all nighters or how they still managed to deliver your box out of A and E after a car crash.

Would you think it is a good strategy or would you think it's a bit too much?

More specifically what would you think of a post like this? Would you post it or leave it?

"I deliver my cakes by hand. 10 on my arms, 10 on my shoulders, 10 on my back. My philosophy is that if we avoid getting tired, we cannot appreciate a night's rest. If we keep taking it easy, we cannot truly appreciate a glass of water or a hot meal. These are the little joys which make life worth living for me. I do not want it easy!"

or, a bit more personal:

"This business was meant to be co-run by two people - my ex-partner and I. I spent 2 years building up our bakery to the point that I was ready to share the journey with someone. So I rebranded for a fresh start for us this year. But they and I had different visions. I wanted to continue improving my baking, keep prices the same and pay myself the minimum salary while reinvesting most of the revenue back into my business. My partner prioritised delegating the workload to staff, increasing profits and cashing out. This isn't wrong in and of itself but my heart disagreed. It didn't make sense to harvest the first fruits when I could wait and harvest the whole rainforest. There is so much growth still left.

I've faced some tough choices on my journey. With the time commitments, I had to choose between my friends or my small business. Next it was my job or my small business. After that my academics or my small business. But this one really stopped me in my tracks: my partner or my small business. Do I love my business enough that I'd give up a future with someone? The double workload combined with the breakup left me empty. I needed to channel the negative energy into something positive.

This journey has taught me that nothing will happen unless you make it happen."

Thank you for your opinion

I would wonder why they don't dump the business and go work for someone else for a wage.

If your business is doing so poorly you can’t afford to take a decent wage, Id assume your product wasn’t very good and so would avoid making a purchase.

I’d be much more likely to buy from a baker who is experiencing surprise success and can’t believe how well their business is performing, as they must be offering something that people want!

I would actively avoid what looks like a load of old sob story drivel and buy my cakes elsewhere.

I don't do FB or Insta but all that would put me off plus even if not naming the ex, isn't it libellous?

You could have it in the About section on a website at most.
Even then I wouldn't slag off the ex.

I watched a very good comedienne yesterday but they spent much of the time explaining why their morals/authenticity/not selling out had led them to different life choices. This is replicated on their website. I enjoyed the show in a different way (what is says about showbusiness/the patriarchy) but much of it (obviously) wasn't funny.

Comedy show, many want jokes not confessionals.
Cakes, many want not how hard you've had it. Sorry.

I know a local baker who often posts about his long hours and how he misses spending time with his family, but it’s done in a very succinct way, with humour and always accompanied by a photo of his amazing cakes and bread. In that case I think it’s nice to see that someone puts a lot of time and effort into perfecting their products.

The examples above aren’t interesting, funny or even focussed on the quality of the end result of all this sacrifice. No, no, no.

It's not really very professional, is it?
Concentrate on making really good cakes, and presenting and photographing them well. Also experience tells me that if you're any good, you can charge properly for them and get people to collect them.
Best of luck.

Couldn't give a shit about your personal dramas chummy, so fuck right off and take your bakery with you.

Okay thank you all
The cakes aren't overpriced so it's not to compensate that
And they're small, think brownie types of cakes, that's how you can easily carry dozens of them

They're not going to get picked up by Dragons Den, so they need to STFU and have a plan for when shitty overpriced brownies delivered to the door get relegated to talking heads programmes about the more embarrassing memories of lockdown.

Still knobish behaviour and he's still a complete wanker.

I'd have opinions about the type of person they are but I'd make my buying decisions based on the quality and price of the goods/service.
If it was a partner/relative I might tell them it's a bit pretentious. Do they have visions of being an 'influencer ' or lifestyle guru? Do they make FB posts so that they 'can see which ones of my real friends will re post'?
Are they 'empaths'? Do their kids 'mean everything'?

The fact is...what's the baked goods like? Good value?

okay, thank you all

It reads like the business version of a first date with someone who spends the evening complaining about their ex

I’d probably not read it as I’m more interested in ingredients and hygiene than how the cook is feeling. The balancing stuff on your arms etc just makes me wonder how squashed and sweaty the bake would be.
Don’t share too much of your personal life there are some very odd people about.

I'm not interested in your back story.

There’s a bakery near me where the guy has been posting at length about his health issues, in part to explain why he has been closed, but then there are other posts similar to the ones you mention. It puts me off and so I no longer follow on social media tbh. It sounds harsh but I honestly don’t care!

@bakingbaker

we recently had a Gail’s open in my town which is dangerous as I’m trying to lose weight. I like their less sweet and smaller offerings… their chocolate and tahini bite which is not too calorific. It’s doing a roaring trade in a town where we’ve lost a few restaurants options. I know nothing about the origins of Gail’s but I expect there were lots of early starts and long hours. I would happily support an independent but it has to provide the right product.

This reminds me of my cringey acquaintance who started up as a massage therapist and her whole website was about her and her "journey"

Honestly, I would avoid this business like the plague. The oversharing makes me thing that the owner has very poor judgement. The whole spiel makes the business sound unstable and there is no backup if something goes wrong. It sounds like the owner is off loading all the problems they have experienced on the customer.

I don't understand why they would share all that information with customers who just want to buy cakes. The verbal diarrhoea doesn't help them to do that.

I prefer the Mr Kipling approach personally.

I read opening post to dh and in his usual shoot from the hip reply "What a load of old bollocks, what the fuck has any of that got to do with cakes?"
I'm inclined to agree.

In the same way that I no longer use my corner shop because of the creepy bloke who works there, I'd avoid this bakery like the plague for fear that the baker would tell me he'd used his own snot to salt the caramel.

Both a complete turn off and unprofessional. Would just shop elsewhere.

I would be interested in what your product is, why will I enjoy it, not the background with lots of hardship details. Make me want to eat it with artful shots of white bread and bacon, of soda bread and soup etc.tell me how your product is using locally sourced ingredients, your recipe is handed down from 2 generations or whatever.

I'm sorry (because I don't mean to be hurtful but just give you feedback) but the scenarios you describe sound a bit of a pity party. They aren't uplifting they are quite negative. I avoid adverts like that because it sounds as if they are guilt tripping you into buying their stuff.