AceShowbiz - Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky have landed in hot water. The couple is heavily mocked by critics on social media for their "stupid" and "violent" prank on one of their twin sons for his birthday.

Over the weekend, "The Avengers" actor turned to his Instagram account to share a photo that saw him and his wife pulling a prank on their son's birthday. In the picture, the Spanish model could be seen shoving her son's face into the birthday cake, while the actor and their two other children were laughing.

Fans quickly took issue with the way Elsa held her son's head down in chocolate cake, branding it "violent" and "ridiculous." One person commented, "Why people smash their kid's face in the cake is above my understanding but whatever." Another chimed in, "Why do people think this is funny?" while a third added, "It's so violent."

"In my country [this is] done, but it's very poorly [looked upon] because several accidents have already happened," a fourth opined. Someone else 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?"

While Chris and Elsa have yet to respond to the criticism, other fans have jumped to their defense. "Violent? It's a bit of play," wrote one fan, with another adding, "Just a bit of basic humor….. they look like they are having a good time together."

A third weighed in, "Those kids are gonna grow up able to take a joke not be some little fairy who thinks having their head dipped in frosting is violent." A different person added, "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."