KINGSTON- Deising’s Bakery and Restaurant in Kingston forked over a $15,000 donation to People’s Place following a fun-filled feud with John Oliver, the host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight.
Eric Deising left a handwritten note on the door of a closed Red Lobster restaurant in the Town of Ulster in June. The note asked to purchase kitchen equipment, but the whole place had been sold to Oliver for an on-air spoof.
Deising’s note went viral and Oliver mocked the handwritten note on air and wrote his own with pen and paper. The back and forth went viral on social media and appeared in USA Today, Business Insider and The Hollywood Reporter.
Oliver agreed to deliver the desired kitchen equipment to Deising only if the bakery produced cakes in the shape of a bear that included the host’s face. The desert-focused fight caught fire on Facebook.
In a matter of hours, the bakery had risen to the challenge. Oliver had the equipment delivered, but not before the bakery sold 3,500 bear cakes. Customers came from around the county, the northeast and even as far as New Zealand, according to the family.
Ward Todd, president of Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce, said it turned out to be great exposure for the bakery and the region.
“This is the culmination of what would have been described as a great PR campaign if it was designed to be such. It turned out to be just by accident. Eric Deising ended up on center stage with John Oliver. It’s a great story, the kind of publicity you can’t buy,” said Todd.
Deising decided to donate the proceeds of the prank to People’s Place, a non-profit organization that offers food, clothes and self-care services for anyone in need.
“We are so grateful. It is such a great gift,” said People’s Place Executive Director Christine Hein.
Hein said the donation will be used to pave the organization’s parking lot to improve safety and access for those who benefit from People’s Place.
The Deising family has been in business in Kingston for almost 60 years.
