Viral Amon-Ra St. Brown cake brings massive crowds to Michigan bakery
ROCHESTER, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — A Rochester bakery has seen tremendous success since it created a window display featuring Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The life-sized edible cake has gotten a lot of attention even from the player himself.
St. Brown partnered with the bakery to give away tickets to Saturday's NFC divisional game against the Washington Commanders, and there's still one more day for you to enter.
For the last several days, crowds of people waited outside of Home Bakery in the cold for hours.
"I wait for about two hours. I wanted to see the cake, and then it would be nice to win the tickets," said Nancy Rayos.
Some had to try their luck more than once.
"(The second day) I was in line for two hours and had to leave for an appointment. The first day, I couldn't get in because he said the line was about to shut down," said superfan Darshell Brown.
Brown finally made it inside the bakery.
"It was worth the wait. I'm a diehard Lions fan. I've been to a couple of games, and I'm so excited. So hopefully I get it. If I don't, you know, hats off to the baker. She's a great person," Brown said.
Home Bakery owner Heather Tocco says after making a cake for her best friend, she knew she had found her calling.
"I believe I was put on this earth to feed people, quite honestly," Tocco said.
Tocco says when the team came up with the idea for the window display, the design was a cakewalk.
"Collectively, we thought about the project, and St. Brown's image on his headstand was so iconic, it was pretty easy, a no-brainer for us," Tocco said.
Also included in the display are marquee letters representing old Detroit and a quote from Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
"I think Dan Campbell's leadership style is something to be learned from," Tocco said.
Everyone wants to take a photo in front of the now-viral image, and the fever and excitement of the ticket giveaway is leading to a big boost in sales for the bakery.
"Definitely more than doubled for what we would expect during this time of year. And the biggest blessing of all, normally, a bakery Christmas, New Year's resolutions, we're laying people off, we're cutting hours, and I've not had to do that," Tocco said.
Thursday, Jan. 16, is the last day to enter to win tickets at Home Bakery. When you make any purchase, you're given a unique QR code on your receipt.
The winner will be chosen randomly and announced on Friday.
