Two Dutch women artists decided to test the limits of what HEMA (major chain store) would accept to reproduce on a cake from a photo in the cities of Enschede and Deventer. They ordered seven cakes, of which three were rejected.
An authentic old picture of a Hitler greeting wasn’t a problem and neither were tompouces with ‘Islamic culture is backwards’ on them, a well-known phrase uttered by murdered politician Pim Fortuyn a few years back.
What didn’t make the cut was a man with an erection and a woman with her legs open and a heart hiding anything indecent. So erotic is out (the store claimed that was porn), but ‘fascist’ politics are in. Now you know too. Let’s be fair, both cities are far from the country’s capital and have different values and political views. That’s my polite way of saying people there are more shocked by sex and clearly vote more to the right as of late.
The General Terms and Conditions of HEMA say that the pictures, “cannot go against the law, must show good morals and cannot have any religious content”. Obviously the people who made these cakes at HEMA never read any of that or don’t understand what it meant.
(Links: welingelichtekringen, ad)
Inventor René Bijsterveld came up with the Vrachtpatser (from the Dutch words krachtpatser, strong man, and vracht, freight) because as a student he has to lug a lot of heavy stuff around on in his bike, and not in the least crates of beer 
This design for a tape dispenser by Derk Reilink (fourth year student Industrial Product Design at the Saxion Hogeschool in Enschede) won second place in this year’s HEMA Design Competition. First place was won by Annet Hennink, who came up with a disposable cake stand. I also like the pan lid with holes, making it easier to drain water after you’ve boiled your veggies.