Birthday parties are supposed to be fun. But there's nothing fun about being called a "loser" — especially when you're only 2 years old.
In September, Melin and Dan Jones from Bonne Terre, Missouri, were preparing to throw their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, a party for her birthday. Melin Jones ordered a cake from her local Walmart and asked the bakery department to write, "Happy Birthday, Lizard" on the cake since Lizard is the family's nickname for Elizabeth.
Jones picked up the cake from Walmart on her daughter's birthday, a day before the family had planned to host the big party. She was in a hurry to get back and left the store without doing a final cake check — which turned out to be an unfortunate mistake.
Once Jones got home, she saw a glaring error written in big, red cursive letters across her daughter's cake. It read, very clearly: "Happy Birthday Loser."
Poor, little Lizard.
"I was unloading the car, and that's when I noticed it said 'loser'," Jones told TODAY Food. "So I wanted to send a picture to my husband, Dan." Jones said she ran inside, propped her daughter on a chair, and took a picture of her sad-looking toddler with her cake.
Jones posted the photo to her private Facebook page later that day and vented about the Walmart employee's mistake. However, she quickly removed it, fearing the employee who made the error would get into some type of trouble.
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Just a few weeks ago, however, Jones told TODAY that she was inspired to repost the story (which has since become a hilarious family memory) after joining a Facebook group called Sad Sales where members post all sorts of retail flops.
Jones started receiving requests to make the post public so other members could share it, too. On June 30, Lizard's sweet, disappointed face staring at her "loser" cake swept through social media.
Not surprisingly, the 2-year-old's reaction has spawned a few clever memes.
Jones said she's also received several comments from people who think she made the biggest mistake.
"You shouldn't have given it to her," one person wrote on Reddit.
Another chimed in, "Looks like they made the cake for the [sic] you instead."
"I didn't tell her the cake said 'loser,' and a lot of people might not have realized she couldn't read — she's 2 — she didn't even know it was her birthday," Jones said, adding that her daughter's expression was pure coincidence. "She just happened to be looking at the cake that way."
So was the "loser" cake ever eaten?
After sending the now-viral photo to her husband, Jones returned to the store to get a new one for her daughter's party. While other Walmart customers have complained about their ruined cakes, Jones didn't say a word about the mistake to the bakery department, which typically has a pretty lenient return policy.
"I didn't have the heart to. I didn't want the lady to get in trouble," Jones reiterated. "I went back and bought another one and asked them to write 'Elizabeth' so there was no confusion."
According to her mother, Little Miss Lizard was able to enjoy her new cake, and her party was a great success last fall. As for this year, Jones said she can't imagine what could possibly happen to top last year's hilariously adorable debacle.
"The pressures definitely on," she said.
