Courtesy of Deising's Bakery
- John Oliver bought the contents of a defunct Red Lobster at auction, beating out a local bakery.
- Oliver offered to buy the bakery new equipment if it created cakes in his likeness.
- The 'cake bears' are selling out rapidly, with all proceeds going to a local food pantry.
A small, family-owned bakery in the Hudson Valley is getting thousands of dollars worth of new kitchen equipment following a good-humored feud with John Oliver.
On Sunday's episode of HBO's "Last Week Tonight," Oliver recounted how the viral back-and-forth stemmed from a stunt on his show where he purchased all of the kitchen equipment from a shuttered Red Lobster in Kingston, NY, at auction.
Oliver recreated his own Red Lobster to exclusively manufacture the chain's hallowed cheddar biscuits.
But according to local outlet News 12, Oliver had beaten out another suitor.
Eric Deising, owner of 59-year-old Deising's Bakery in Kingston, had left a sign on the defunct Red Lobster inquiring about a flat-top oven and convection oven, News 12 reported.
"John — he's just beating me all over the place," Deising told the outlet of missing out on the equipment.
'Check out the donk on that cake bear'
Oliver responded to the report on his show Sunday. "Last Week" had already donated all of the Red Lobster equipment, he said, and they hadn't even purchased either item Deising requested to begin with.
But Oliver offered a challenge. If the bakery would make and sell bear-shaped cakes with Oliver's face on them, he said he'd gift Deising's new ovens.
"Respectfully, check out the donk on that cake bear," Oliver said of the confection, which Deising's had previously offered. "That cake's got cakes."
Deising's rose to the occasion — with an altruistic bent.
On Monday, the bakery began selling "cake bears" with Oliver's face affixed with edible paper, News 12 reports.
Peter Deising, another owner at the bakery, told Business Insider the items have been a smash hit, with approximately 100 selling every hour. They're priced at $8 apiece.
Deising's plans to donate 100% of the proceeds from the cake bears to People's Place, a local food pantry, Deising said.
The cake bears are only available through Sunday in-store, despite requests to ship from across the globe, he added.
Deising told BI the kitchen equipment — which he estimates is worth thousands of dollars — is set to be delivered on Thursday.
A rep for "Last Week Tonight" did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
from All Content from Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/family-bakery-new-kitchen-equipment-john-oliver-red-lobster-2024-6
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