# NYC bakery offer "Drunken Negro Head" cookies to celebrate Obama. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718 "2009-01-23T21:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/1 "2009-01-23T21:47:53Z")
[Wow](http://gothamist.com/2009/01/23/greenwich_village_bakery_selling_dr.php) > [@](#): > > Yes, the shop’s owner Ted Kefalinos decided to make a batch of cookies with bleary red cherry eyes and oversized nose and lips and give them the charming, sunshiney moniker. To, you know, celebrate our new darker-hued President. Scroll down the page a bit, and there’s a video too. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/2 "2009-01-23T21:52:50Z")
😃 Anyway, that’s one ugly cookie. Should I be upset? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/3 "2009-01-23T21:54:34Z")
There is no dearth of lunkheads and dimwits, it would seem. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/4 "2009-01-23T21:58:47Z")
I think there’s a few possibilities here: 1. The baker is a bigot and was trying to act oblivious when cornered by the cameras. 2. The baker is too stupid to realize the cookies would most likely be viewed as offensive by the majority of people. 3. The baker is mentally unbalanced–his “Dead Geese Bread” gives some credence to this possibility. If he’s also alluding that Obama is going to “get his” (as two female customers reported) then it’s fairly obvious these cookies aren’t the creation of a simple idiot but rather an intentionally malevolent bigot. At the same time, the ending blurb of the video kind of irked me when the Fox News guy said, “his critics claim he has crossed the line between freedom of expression and blatant racism.” There is no such line, blatant and intentional racism **is** free expression. The thing about having a freedom to express one’s self is you have to take the bad with the good, it doesn’t apply only to things that aren’t objectionable (because everything is objectionable to someone.) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/5 "2009-01-23T21:58:51Z")
That’s an outrage ! Obama is a smackhead, not a boozer ! ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/6 "2009-01-23T21:59:43Z")
Oh, Lawd, with the election and the next 4 (to 8) years of an Obama-led administration, what hath God wrath? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/7 "2009-01-23T22:01:43Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > At the same time, the ending blurb of the video kind of irked me when the Fox News guy said, “his critics claim he has crossed the line between freedom of expression and blatant racism.” There is no such line, blatant and intentional racism **is** free expression. The thing about having a freedom to express one’s self is you have to take the bad with the good, it doesn’t apply only to things that aren’t objectionable (because everything is objectionable to someone.) I completely agree with this, and also thought that stuff at the end of the video was stupid. The very definition of freedom of expression requires that you allow it for types of expression that you find repugnant. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/8 "2009-01-23T22:16:14Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I think there’s a few possibilities here: > > 1. > 2. > 3. 1. The baker knows the old saying “Any press is good press” and knew this would get the shop lots of free publicity. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/9 "2009-01-23T22:16:25Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > At the same time, the ending blurb of the video kind of irked me when the Fox News guy said, “his critics claim he has crossed the line between freedom of expression and blatant racism.” There is no such line, blatant and intentional racism is free expression. The thing about having a freedom to express one’s self is you have to take the bad with the good, it doesn’t apply only to things that aren’t objectionable (because everything is objectionable to someone.) A-fucking-men. I plan to use some of my own freedom of expression in making objectionable remarks about this racist turd of a baker: > [@](#): > > Kefalinos denies intimating that Obama would be assassinated, and insists that the cookie is “not unflattering. I think it’s a fun face… And anyone who says anything else should be ashamed of themselves.” […] > > UPDATE: We just spoke with Kefalinos on the phone and he remains utterly oblivious, telling us, “This whole thing was blown out of proportion.” […] > > Community Board 2 was quick to call for a boycott of Lafayette French Pastry, to which Kefalinos responds, “I’m sorry they feel that way because I was trying to do a nice thing.” Not seeming to grasp in any way the degree of outrage he’s sparked, he added, “I did it and that’s the end of it and it’s over.” Please, somebody update this thread to let us know when this racist turd files for bankruptcy. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/10 "2009-01-23T22:19:47Z")
That cookie is _hilarious._ ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/11 "2009-01-23T22:25:58Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > That cookie is _hilarious._ It looks pretty damn tasty too! ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/12 "2009-01-23T22:32:05Z")
It looks less like a cookie than it does a large lump of chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/13 "2009-01-23T22:32:42Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > It looks less like a cookie than it does a large lump of chocolate. So does Barack! ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/14 "2009-01-23T22:32:52Z")
I would eat one. They look delicious. MMMMMMMM Obama head… ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/15 "2009-01-23T22:35:55Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > At the same time, the ending blurb of the video kind of irked me when the Fox News guy said, “his critics claim he has crossed the line between freedom of expression and blatant racism.” There is no such line, blatant and intentional racism **is** free expression. The thing about having a freedom to express one’s self is you have to take the bad with the good, it doesn’t apply only to things that aren’t objectionable (because everything is objectionable to someone.) > [@](#): > > So you wouldn’t have any problem with me buying music with lyrics that are shockingly offensive and sexually suggestive? There’s a C&H quote for almost every situation. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/16 "2009-01-23T23:31:04Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > “Any press is good press” For Paris Hilton, maybe; for a Greenwich Village merchant with a celebrity clientele, no, this is not good press. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/17 "2009-01-24T00:18:47Z")
We have a local bakery that has sold “blue state Minnesota” cookies for the last 8 years, since 2000. They are white sugar cookies in the shape of the state of Minnesota, with either blue frosting on them or white frosting with blue sprinkles on it. And they are really good tasting cookies – even Republicans like them! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/18 "2009-01-24T00:21:28Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > 1. The baker knows the old saying “Any press is good press” and knew this would get the shop lots of free publicity. Except that isn’t true unless you’re a rock star. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/19 "2009-01-24T00:21:37Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > There’s a C&H quote for almost every situation. “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” Ralph Waldo Emerson ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718/20 "2009-01-24T00:23:59Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > We have a local bakery that has sold “blue state Minnesota” cookies for the last 8 years, since 2000. > > They are white sugar cookies in the shape of the state of Minnesota, with either blue frosting on them or white frosting with blue sprinkles on it. And they are really good tasting cookies – even Republicans like them! Blue Minnesota is not _quite_ the same as Drunken Negro Head. The above improbable sentence is one reason why these cookies are hilarious. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nyc-bakery-offer-drunken-negro-head-cookies-to-celebrate-obama/482718.md?page=2)