What are those strange chocalatey creatures selling by the hundreds at Deising’s Bakery in Kingston? Look closer and you’ll see these brown baked bears have the face of TV host John Oliver. They are the culmination in a strange saga that began with the closure of Red Lobster in the Town of Ulster.
As we reported a few days ago, it all began when News 12 Westchester seemingly engineered a fight between Deising’s and the Last Week Tonight with John Oliver show to get web traffic. In an article and video which Desing’s owner Eric Deising later called “fake news”, the reporter used a clickbait headline to frame the situation as a fight, when in actuality, Deising was making a genuine attempt to acquire some of the restaurant equipment Oliver’s show won at auction and obviously wouldn’t need to hold on to.
Lucky for Deising, the ridiculous story was exactly the kind of thing Oliver’s show loves to pick up on, and the week following Deising’s defeat in the auction, Oliver ran another bit about the situation on his popular HBO comedy/news show. Oliver chuckled at the fact that Deising left a note asking for the restaurant equipment taped to the door, and took the News 12 Westchester story at face value for entertainment purposes. The bit culminated in an offer by Oliver to donate the equipment Deising sought in exchange for the bakery creating a bear-shaped cake with Oliver’s face on it.
Deising said his phone started blowing up at 3am with friends texting him about his repeat inclusion in Olver’s show. Hours later he was in the bakery responding to the challenge without a moment’s hesitation. The John Oliver bears were quickly prepared, and continued to be sold throughout the week by the hundreds. Deising said these limited items would be on sale through the weekend.
Knowing John Olvier’s show, it would not be out of the ordinary for Deising’s to get a third mention this upcoming Sunday, as the visual of the John Oliver bear cakes seems too comedic to pass up.