A fancy store in Japan called Takashimaya messed up big time. They ordered 2,900 strawberry Christmas cakes, but 807 of them were delivered all squished and ruined. People got really mad and started complaining on social media. The boss of Takashimaya, Kazuhisa Yokoyama, said sorry and bowed deeply at a press conference in Tokyo. They looked into what happened, but they still don't know why the cakes collapsed.

Even though only 1% of people in Japan are Christians, lots of folks still celebrate Christmas by giving gifts and having yummy meals with their families. The colors red and white in a strawberry cake are a symbol of celebration. It's also a tradition in Japan to eat KFC fried chicken on Christmas Eve. The strawberry shortcake from Takashimaya is made with layers of soft cake and fresh strawberries, covered in pretty white icing that looks like a frilly dress. Each cake costs 5,400 yen ($38; £29).

But when people got their cakes, they were a mess. Pictures on social media showed the strawberries sliding off the melted icing and the cake layers all messed up. One person even tried to hide the collapsed cake by putting fruits and chocolate sprinkles on top. The post got 16.1 million views. Some people on social media thought it was cool how customers tried to fix the cakes.

Takashimaya said sorry on Christmas Day and again on Wednesday. Mr. Yokoyama said they would work harder with their partners to make sure this doesn't happen again. They want to improve their system and make things right.

Original news source: Japan: Takashimaya apologises for 807 collapsed Christmas cakes (BBC)

– News Summary
Instructions: Divide the students into pairs. Give each pair a copy of the article. Have them read the article and then summarize the main points in a short news summary. After they have finished, have each pair share their summary with the class.
– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Divide the students into small groups. Ask them to discuss whether they think Takashimaya handled the cake incident well or not. Have them come up with reasons to support their opinion. Once they have discussed, have each group share their opinion with the class and conduct a class-wide poll to see which opinion is the most popular.
– Sketch It
Instructions: Give each student a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Instruct them to sketch a picture of what they imagine the collapsed cakes looked like based on the description in the article. After they have finished, have them share their sketches with a partner and discuss their interpretations.
– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write a list of vocabulary words from the article on the board. Divide the students into two teams. One student from each team will come up to the board and choose a word. They must then draw a picture to represent the word while their team tries to guess what it is. The team that guesses correctly gets a point. Continue until all the words have been guessed.
– Pros and Cons
Instructions: Divide the students into small groups. Ask them to discuss the pros and cons of ordering a cake from a fancy store like Takashimaya versus making a cake at home. Have them come up with reasons to support each side. Once they have discussed, have each group share their ideas with the class and facilitate a class-wide discussion on the topic.

A fancy store in ? called Takashimaya messed up big time. They ordered 2,900 strawberry ? cakes, but 807 of them were delivered all squished and ?. People got really mad and started complaining on social media. The boss of Takashimaya, Kazuhisa Yokoyama, said sorry and bowed deeply at a press conference in Tokyo. They ? into what happened, but they still don't know why the cakes collapsed. Even though only 1% of people in Japan are Christians, lots of folks still celebrate Christmas by giving ? and having yummy ? with their families. The colors red and white in a strawberry cake are a symbol of celebration. It's also a ? in Japan to eat KFC fried chicken on Christmas Eve. The strawberry ? from Takashimaya is made with layers of soft cake and ? strawberries, covered in pretty ? icing that looks like a frilly dress. Each cake costs 5,400 yen ($38; £29). But when people got their ?, they were a mess. Pictures on social media showed the strawberries ? off the melted icing and the cake layers all messed up. One person even tried to hide the collapsed cake by putting fruits and chocolate ? on top. The post got 16.1 million views. Some ? on social media thought it was cool how customers tried to fix the cakes. Takashimaya said sorry on Christmas Day and again on ?. Mr. Yokoyama said they would work harder with their partners to make sure this doesn't happen again. They want to ? their system and make things right.

1. What is a Christmas cake?
2. How would you feel if you ordered a cake for a special occasion and it arrived all squished and ruined?
3. Do you like celebrating Christmas? Why or why not?
4. Do you think it's important for companies to apologize when they make a mistake? Why or why not?
5. Have you ever had a bad experience with a product or service? How did you handle it?
6. What is a press conference? Have you ever seen one on TV or in the news?
7. Do you have any traditions in your country for celebrating holidays? If so, what are they?
8. Have you ever tried a strawberry shortcake? Did you like it? Why or why not?
9. How do you think the customers felt when they received their ruined cakes?
10. Do you think it's a good idea for companies to use social media to apologize and respond to customer complaints? Why or why not?
11. Have you ever tried to fix or hide a mistake to avoid getting in trouble? What happened?
12. What do you think Takashimaya can do to prevent this from happening again?
13. How do you think the employees at Takashimaya felt after the cakes were ruined?
14. Do you think it's important for companies to take responsibility for their mistakes? Why or why not?
15. If you were in charge of Takashimaya, what would you do to make it up to the customers?

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