To dislike the new cake smash photo trend?

[Tissunnyupnorth]

Recently I have seen many ads for a new style of photo shoot. Young child is placed in front of a very large cake and basically told to smash it up, smear it anywhere and basically do what the hell they want with it, whilst being photographed.

Am I being a killjoy? Is this cute? Just find the whole thing pretty distasteful.

[Willow2016]

There is someone advertising their 'cake smash service' on NM today. Loads of views (102, probably thought the thread was like this one) but no replies last time I checked except the advertiser had re posted with more info!

Just why? Its awful, wasteful, confusing to child and so contrived. Why would you want to be covered in cake anyway, its ok on your face when a teenie byt everywhere?

Why not just bake a cake yourself and get the kid to smash it up and save yourself £££. I have a photo of ds1 with his first bit of choc birthday cake, face covered in cake, its so natural and he is grinning from ear to ear enjoying cramming it in, why pay £££ for something you can get for free?

[Tissunnyupnorth]

It gets worse, there are also ones for couples at their wedding...

[Farmmummy]

See I can't really come to terms with it (each to their own and all that) because I bake all the cakes for my dcs and for our family and friends, it's entirely up to people what they do with the cake after they are given it but after all the blood sweat and tears I'd be tempted to smash them cry. Also truthfully I'm way too greedy to waste good cake!!

[OhBigHairyBollocks]

Am I the only one that immediately thinks of the lemon drizzle thread when I see them though? Mumsnetters love punching cakes

[StealthPolarBear]

She did what?
Did she also poo in the child's nappy and fall asleep making those sucky faces? How utterly cute.

[RainyDayBear]

Oh I hate those! A woman I know had a lovely cake done for her dd's first birthday and did a cake smash photo shoot. Total waste of a stunning cake, she tagged the baker in a post on Facebook thanking her, I would have just been gutted if I'd made that, the baker had done such a lovely job.

I don't like food waste anyway in a world where people are starving. Also, who does that to a perfectly good cake?? Madness!

[Pineapplemilkshake]

I think it's very distasteful. A friend organised one for her DD's first birthday - the child wasn't interested in smashing the cake so she had to break it up herself and smear it around, which in my opinion made the whole thing even worse.

[Blu]

This has somehow passed me by, so I googled - how extremely contrived. Loads of features about 'tips' to do a great 'cake smash photo shoot', and different studios offering them. None are actual birthday party, natural pictures, just toddlers done up in stupid outfits to match with ghastly looking garish cakes, and twee / naff props / décor.

Not my taste.

And it is wasteful of food.

The need to perform everything in Fb: very tiresome.

[NellWilsonsWhiteHair]

I agree with those who've pointed out that the logic isn't really there. Yes, it's gratuitously wasteful, gleefully and disgustingly so. But in the grand scheme of things, it's relatively inconsequential. I waste very little food, but I've flown back from holiday this year - that kind of dwarfs the food thing.

And yet... It is just yuck. And so contrived. I keep getting FB ads for "photo shoots of your newborn wearing a tutu whilst sleeping in a flowerpot" type ideas too, which are equally un-cute in their contrivedness.

And, yeah: weird to teach your child to deliberately make a massive mess with food just for the hell of it. I did BLW, I coped with mess, but DS knew what to do and it would seem to me really really weird to suddenly confuse a baby by encouraging them to smash a cake. "Aw, look, he's got yoghurt on his nose and he's having so much fun with it" makes much more sense - it's accidental, affectionate, and a photo captures an actual memory not some weird fake shit.

[BroomHandledMouser]

Naff and pointless.

[BlancheBlue]

Indeed. Some people struggling to afford a birthday cake when others think hey let's smash one up for £100. Just awful.

[Choccywoccyhooha]

With more and more people turning to food banks, it's obscene.

[BlancheBlue]

It is a very vulgar trend

[Notso]

I can't stand them, they all look the same so it's just boring. Like those photo booth things that are every wedding or those awful pictures of crumpled up newborns stuffed in a woollen thing.

I don't know why people want photographs of forced fun than photographs of actual fun.

[Laineymc7]

I think there's nothing wrong with this it's personal choice. We done one. Not much cake was wasted my dd ate some and we took the rest home. I love our photos, they were done by a friend.

[SalemSaberhagen]

I called it vulgar on here once. Quite a few people told me IWBU.

[Marmite27]

I'm not a massive fan, but a friend suggested a joint one for our NCT group. It was less than £15 for the shoot, cake and a disk of copyright free photos each.

The kids ignored the cake, so the adults ate it, no waste at ours lol!

[StealthPolarBear]

Yes exactly. It's like the photos where people pretend to be having fun, just for the photo. Photos are meant to capture the scenes that are already happening!

[Evilstepmum01]

My SiL did this for her dd 'so 1st birthday. Really tacky and contrived pics of niece sitting next to a cake. And not smashing it. Then pics of her in a bath. She paid hundreds for these pics.
I just don't like the concept and the pics are crap! Each to their own but try not to waste food! I mean it's cake!

[RichardBucket]

^ See now, THAT would be a cute photo and anecdote. But doing it deliberately isn't cute, somehow.

[originalmavis]

My niece did an inpromptu smash in a very posh tea room - the type that had a trolley ladened with goodies that they wheel to your table.

She was little and fast and just dived at a large cream cake and ended up hands right in the cake up to her elbows.This was over 25 years ago and my sister is still too ashamed to go back.

[RichardBucket]

Tissunnyupnorth I learned about it from LadySqwuak's thread, so you're not alone.

[Tissunnyupnorth]

I think I thought it was new as I haven't seen it anywhere before. Suddenly in the last month I've had a flyer, ad in two local shops and all over social media.

Each to their own of course, but as Rubyrose says, it's just so bloody gluttonous and weird. Do people hang something like this on their wall, totally oblivious to the blatant wastage image they are projecting? Or maybe I sound a bit up myself.

[HappyCamel]

In the US you get a free matching smash cake if you order a first birthday cake. It's totally the norm here. I've been here two years and I still can't get over the food waste that they consider completely normal.

[NotYoda]

I have never heard of this

It's silly.