"Avengers" star Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky are being eviscerated on social media for their playful celebration of their twin sons' birthday.
"Happy 9th birthday to my two little men," Hemsworth wrote along a photo of Pataky and their three children: daughter India and twin sons Tristan and Sasha.
"Only one way to eat cake in this house and that's to have mum slam your head into it first. 'Hey mum I don't like chocolate cake I prefer vanilla.' ‘Oh really son, what about now,'" he added.
The photo illustrated the silly nature of the joke, with one child's head fully submerged in the chocolate treat while the rest of the family looked on.
Although many of Hemsworth's 56 million Instagram followers relayed respective birthday wishes to his sons, other fans were more disturbed. Some were quick to criticize the couple, branding the prank as "violent."
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One person remarked, "Why people smash their kids face in the cake is above my understanding but whatever."
Another individual wrote, "It's so violent," while another added, "Does anyone here want cake all over their face? didn't think so. Why would your kid? And it's so wasteful. So you're going to throw a perfectly good cake away after the stupid not funny prank?"
Several fans defended the actor and his model wife, writing, "To each their own, you might see it as ridiculous but they are obviously enjoying it, stop judging ppl [sic] based on yourself, you need to understand not everyone is like you."
Others questioned if it was a cultural tradition, as Pataky hails from Spain.
"Is it how they do it in Spain," one person inquired.
"It's part of Hispanic/Latino culture," another person wrote back.
Mexican American actress Salma Hayek, actually expanded on this belief in an interview with Kelly Clarkson in 2021.
She explained that "La mordida" is a staple in Mexican culture, where a person's face is smashed into a cake for their birthday.
"When the cake comes you make a wish, you blow the candle and then you take a bite of the cake and then somebody behind you whacks you in the head and puts your face inside of the cake. It's very normal in Mexico," she clarified.
Hayek revealed that for her birthday one year while filming "Eternals," Angelina Jolie was responsible for smashing her face into a cake.
