If cancel culture comes at you for reasons that are out of your control, should you cower or should you take it like a man?
I’d say neither, take it like a woman!
I met Kelly and Erinn (of Kellys Bake Shoppe) in 2012 when they started the bake shoppe downtown Burlington ON. My company at the time was known for doing murals and chalk art in the area and they had asked if we’d do their main board behind the counter for their opening. While chalking away with my buddy Rony at around 2 am we overheard some conversations coming from the kitchen that sounded dire. I poked my head in the door and mentioned that I had overheard some issues that I thought I could solve. From that moment, and for the next ten years we worked together off and on, on some of the greatest moments in downtown Burlington retail.
No matter what the problem, we always seemed to fix it, and no matter what the goal, we always found a way to reach it. I’m not saying it was just us stepping in and making things happen, but listening to what the girls needed done, and helping them do it.
Kelly and Erinn are entrepreneurs, go-getters, and visionaries when it comes to the businesses they run. Other than my other favourite chick in the GTA Heather Reisman, these girls take the cake…or should I say cupcake. From a grain of gluten-free flour to the marketing campaigns they run, they oversee every single detail. They pour their every thought into it, blood, sweat, and many tears (mostly on Kelly’s part).
People love them and would travel to the ends of the earth for them. I’ve seen it! Their products are borderline life-changing for some, their business runs incredibly smooth, and on top of all that, they are gorgeous! They could have been homely, it actually wouldn’t have mattered. People pour into the doors to get a glimpse, to get a taste, to just be near these wonderful ladies.
But what if you don’t really know them? What if all you see is your idea of who they are? What if your perception of them isn’t anything close to what I just explained? Would that even matter?
It did.
I guess because they are ball-busters sometimes and because they know exactly what they want…it comes across as a little bossy. So what, men can do that without an issue, it’s almost celebrated. Maybe they seem stuck up or vain. Well, being number one does have its effects on you, being in the public eye and having awards line your shelving could play a part. But I haven’t seen it, and I’m a pretty good judge of character.
So when I saw what happened to them in 2020 I couldn’t really believe what was going on. I watched from afar as these incredible women, friends of mine…slowly deteriorated. Two words can best describe it, and that is Cancel Culture.
We’ve all heard about being canceled, it sounds like a celebrity status now…what terrible thing will we find out next about these overprivileged, Hollywood hacks? But Cancel Culture reached more than just Hollywood, it reached whoever it wanted to as long as you had the power of the Internet on your side. This is what happened to Kelly and Erinn.
When I heard about it, I approached the girls about making a stand…to fight against the hate with love. The love I had experienced along with thousands of others over the years.
So we put together a little campaign, a little story on what happened and why. Kelly sent me a voice memo one night saying she didn’t want to play the victim, some sort of sob story. She also didn’t want to come across as vicious, or angry…but to fight the hate with love. A portion of the note said “I think I’d rather have the title “You Can’t Cancel Love” …they can try to hurt us but nothing can stop love”. So we wrote up some scripts, shot for a few days and this is what we came up with.
Written and produced by Considerate Agency, Kelly Childs & Erinn Weatherbie
Custom Music by Mark Underdown.
So what’s the outcome, have Kelly and Erinn won the battle against Cancel Culture? No, but standing up to it like this is a start. The saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me!” isn’t as powerful these days as it used to be. Words can hurt, they can hurt your livelihood…they can also damage the human heart. Instead, we should say “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today” and do our best to look forward and move on with the same vision we had in the beginning.
The world is a funny place right now, full of anger and anxiety, hurt and hate. It can also be a wonderful place sometimes, full of joy and laughs, a kind heart, and a tasty cupcake.
I hope this story and other stories around the globe help our culture to wake up, to help us from dominating others with our opinion or views. To learn how to love each other more, and communicate with kindness.
If you’re in need of telling your story, give us a call!
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