A Vancouver bakery has called out former Los Angeles Lakers icon Metta Sandiford-Artest for what the store believes is an “outrageous” offer.
Fanny Lam, who owns Oh Sweet Day! Bake Shop, detailed her experience with Artest’s social media team to Cheryl Chan of the Vancouver Sun. Lam shared that she received an email from the social media teams of both the man formerly known as Ron Artest and his wife, Maya Sandiford-Artest, offering a “collab opportunity” ahead of their son’s birthday party.
Based on her experience with such requests, Lam knew that the email was angling for a free cake in exchange for social media exposure. She expressed her frustration with the Sandiford-Artest’s request in particular, calling it “inappropriate because of the imbalance.”
“It raises a question of why small businesses like us who often have the least resources to spare are being asked to constantly provide free products for people or organizations that can afford to pay for them,” Lam said.
“Our business relies on word of mouth and support from our paying customers,” she continued. “Exposure isn’t our main focus. Exposure doesn’t pay the bills.”
You can read the full story of Lam’s experience with the Sandiford-Artests here.
On the one hand, Artest and his wife have nearly a quarter of a million followers on Instagram combined. It’s fair for them, or their social media representatives, to pursue favorable deals to leverage such a large following. After all, establishments they reach out to could always opt to say no.
On the other hand, Artest earned about $80 million over his 17-year NBA career. The man should have the money to pay a small business for the elaborate cake design he wants for his son, which Lam stated costs “roughly $200 to $300.” Artest also recently landed a new coaching gig that he probably isn’t doing pro bono.
While Artest may indeed have thousands of followers, the percentage of them who live anywhere close to Lam’s humble Vancouver bakery is probably minuscule.
