One of the most renowned Mardi Gras traditions is biting into a colorful slice of king cake, hoping to catch teeth on a little plastic baby. Innovative Advertising, a Mandeville-based company, holds the King Cake Snob contest every year to rank king cakes from around the region.
However, while advertising for the competition on Facebook, the company hit a snag when a photo of the plastic carnival cake trinkets in all of their birthday suit glory caused Facebook to block the advertisement. According to The Advocate, Facebook sent a notification to King Cake Snob that said, "this ad isn't running because it includes an image or video depicting excessive skin or nudity."
Jay Connaughton, managing partner of Innovative Advertising, addressed Facebook’s decision to deny the advertisement in a post on the site, shocked that the media site would censor such an important aspect of Mardi Gras culture.
"Obviously the folks at Facebook have never tasted the sweet deliciousness of a traditional or filled king cake,” he said. “If they had, they would understand the deep passion that runs in Louisiana for king cakes of all varieties, and the little babies that live inside them."
Innovative Advertising is fighting Facebook and the censoring of the king cake babies, standing up for local tradition, according to Andrew Alexander, a representative of King Cake Snob.
“There must have been some bot scanning for nudity, but I mean come on Facebook, they need more of a human touch here," Alexander said.
