You might have heard about “hurricane cakes” in recent years — cakes at Publix that look like hurricane graphics from the National Hurricane Center.
They sometimes come with short phrases written on them, such as “Go Away” or “Leave Florida Alone,” to poke fun at impending storms during hurricane season.
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educating nonfloridians about the joy of publix is always so fun. they don’t even know about the hurricane cakes pic.twitter.com/veC3iMtb0l
— chris☀️ (@arcanegold) December 22, 2022
However, that won’t be the case with the 2023 hurricane season.
Following Hurricane Ian last year, Publix announced that they will no longer be selling hurricane cakes in their stores.
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According to the company, the decision was made to avoid potentially downplaying natural disasters.
We appreciate your reaching out regarding decorated cakes from our bakery departments. Our associates make every effort to support our customers during weather events. Oftentimes, this includes finding ways to delight them with their favorite Publix items as they prepare for uncertainty. For these requests in particular, it is our company policy to not produce bakery cakes that would make light of a natural disaster. We have sent communications to our stores reminding them of our policy. We regret if a store has not followed policy, and we are working to rectify the situation.
Publix Statement on Hurricane Cakes
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida in September 2022 as a Category 4 storm, causing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage and resulting in the deaths of over 100 people statewide.
In March 2023, the World Meteorological Organization decided to retire Ian from the list of future hurricane names due to the “death and destruction” wreaked by the hurricane.
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