Do ‘Depressed Cake Shops’ Help or Hurt Depression?

When I saunter into my day job, I see a spectrum of color. Delicious desserts like colorful cupcakes, sinful donuts —the Maple Bacon Long John comes to mind — rainbow-sprinkled cookies, and everything from cannoli to tiramisu to Black Forest chocolate cake. I work at the bakery, definitely the most cheerful department of the grocery store of my employment. When people come to the bakery, they are happy and friendly. They’re treating themselves, so they are notably in a good mood.

So when I heard about Depressed Cake Shops, I immediately thought of all that color I see and thought maybe these new cake shops were turning it up a notch. I thought of rainbows and palm trees and unicorns and smiley faces. Neon pink and green-glitter sugar sprinkles. Brilliant hues spanning the color palette. Something bright to cheer you up. But I was wrong.

Depressed Cake Shop is a pop-up store that sells grey cakes and baked goods. Some of the offerings are sad and angry-faced cupcakes, “Whatever the Weather” cake-pop rain clouds, and “Maca-wrongs.” And while the outside is all doom and gloom, on the inside, there may be a spot of color (hope).

More than 30 one-day Depressed Cake Shops have popped up all over the world, from London to San Francisco to Seattle.

“There is no common experience of depression. The grayscale was meant to simply evoke a feeling of glumness, and at the same time juxtapose that with the beauty and subtlety we were able to tease out of the grayscale,” co-organizer of the Cake Shop in San Francisco told Healthline News. “The colorful insides and colorful flavors were an attempt to demonstrate the complexities and sometimes seemingly contradictory feelings and experiences people have.”

When you’re depressed, oftentimes you don’t feel like eating anything at all, let alone something grey and dreary.

So is it a depressed bake shop or a depressing bake shop? Either way, anything helping to raise awareness and raise money for mental health charities is cool by me. Would you like to eat these bakery items?

Conor Bezane

Head Writer

Conor Bezane is a music-meister who has written for MTV News, AOL, and VICE. He is a recovering bipolar addict who can be found digging through the crates at a local record store when he’s not attacking his keyboard, writing nonfiction. His first book, The Bipolar Addict, is available now on Amazon.