Eatery Regrets 'Pro-Life Cupcake Day'

Kopp's of Milwaukee is known for its burgers, frozen custard, and now, a cupcake-themed controversy. The hubbub began when the Wisconsin eatery put out its October "flavor forecast," which announces upcoming special days around the US and the custard flavors that Kopp's promotes to go along with those days. The flavor selection for Oct. 9 was listed as "Hey Cupcake," a concoction featuring yellow cake pieces with vanilla custard, fudge, and mini rainbow chips—but, as OnMilwaukee notes, "that's not the controversial part." What actually caused the commotion was the celebration the flavor was linked to for that day: National Pro-Life Cupcake Day.

That day is described on the National Day Calendar as a day when "cupcakes are baked to honor the lives of those not yet born" and to raise awareness. "Cupcakes are a sweet way to get a conversation started on a difficult subject." Although some customers didn't mind the link, others had a not-so-sweet reaction to it. "I spend a lot of money at @koppscustard," one patron wrote. "Please say this isn't true." From another: "Really disappointed ... no thanks!" Part of the strong reaction may have been spurred by the fact that in Wisconsin, its 1849 law on the books banning most abortions went into effect after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Although Kopp's itself isn't saying how the listing came about, a Reddit user says one of the restaurant's managers claims it was simply a "copy paste error" when one of the staffers was pulling in different holidays for the flavor forecast list. At any rate, Kopp's soon copped to making an "honest mistake" in airing any kind of perspective in the abortion conversation. "It was never our intention to get political and appear as though we have taken a side in this ongoing debate," the eatery posted Monday on its social media accounts, per WISN. "We have always tried our best to keep politics and our staff's personal views out of the business and just focus on serving great food." It adds that it's taken its "Hey Cupcake" flavor off the roster and adjusted its website accordingly. (More pro-life stories.)