In true Carnival spirit, King Cake Snob teamed up Caluda’s King Cake to design a special Facebook-themed king cake, paired with a king cake baby sporting a Facebook logo t-shirt, after the social media platform lifted a ban preventing advertisements from featuring images of the iconic figure hidden inside the seasonal pastry.
The tradition of hiding figures or trinkets inside of king cakes began in the Old World, dating all the way back to the Roman empire, and was brought to New Orleans by both her French and Spanish residents. La fève (as in fava bean) was considered a lucky charm and, during the Saturnalia festival, literally crowned the slave who found it as “the king of the day,” when he would trade places with his master.
Through the ages, the bean evolved into porcelain and then plastic figures. The now-defunct McKenzie’s bakeries in New Orleans revived the practice of putting beans inside king cakes back in the 1930s, followed shortly by babies.
Facebook, however, missed this big picture when King Cake Snob, a site that lets users decide who has the best king cake in the state each year, wanted to boost an advertisement that included an image of these prized figures. The social media platform not only refused, but then banned the tiny naked babies from appearing on their site at all. However, after a very vocal response against this rejection of our much beloved modern fève, Facebook reversed the decision.
After boosting their new advertisement, King Cake Snob and Caluda’s, the 2018 winner of King Cake Snob’s “Seal of Approval,” are boosting a brand-new Facebook king cake and fully-clothed baby that is sure to be as delicious as this notable Carnival victory.
