The sugar-dusted Marion Berry Knots, &Pizza's latest dessert creation, has come under fire for allegedly referencing DC Mayor Marion Barry’s legal troubles for possessing cocaine.
Released on October 21, many have already begun christening the limited-edition "doughy dessert knots" stuffed with "deliciously sweet marionberries and topped with a creamy vanilla icing drizzle" racist.
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The official press release for the same reads:
“&PIZZA CRACKS OPEN NEW THRESHOLD FOR DESSERT WITH KNOTS SO GOOD IT’S LIKELY A FELONY.”
Furthermore, the Marion Berry Knots comes packed with enough powdered sugar to “force the DEA to look twice,” or so it says, while promo images depict the sucrose nestled in little baggies atop a mirror with a tag that reads: "Our classic knots got a bump.”
Another one of its taglines- ostensibly all of which are riddled with nods to substances- reads:
"Bump up the party with our all-new Marion Berry Knots! It's criminal how good these are."
Marion Barry's wife calls the Marion Berry Knots "racist and disrespectful"
Cora Masters Barry, Marion's wife, chimed in on Monday to ridicule the sweet treat, saying to DC News Now,
"I just think it’s racist. In this city, it is outrageously racist. You can print that. It’s racist and disrespectful."
The promo ads draw from a point in Marion's career when he was arrested in January 1990. The FBI cuffed him after they obtained evidence of him smoking the substance in a sting operation.
He consequently spent six months in jail, and by 1994, he was re-elected as Mayor. He passed away on November 23, 2024.
Several of those in office have also pitched in to critique the Marion Berry Knots. DC Council member Christina Henderson called it “tone deaf and hella disrespectful,” while Trayon White said the company should be shunned for the “shameless and tasteless exploitation of Marion S. Barry’s legacy.”
According to Washingtonian, Ronald Moten, co-founder of Don’t Mute DC, concurred, saying:
"You can’t spit on Marion Barry’s grave and think there won’t be consequences.”
In response to the mounting disapproval, Mike Burns, the CEO of &Pizza, said in a statement to DC News Now,
"We’re talking about a marionberry, that’s spelled with an ‘e’. We stuff that into a knot, drizzle it with icing, and then top it with powdered sugar. It’s delicious – we can’t wait for D.C. to try it."
Activists call for the Marion Berry Knots to be taken down from menus
Per WUSA9, D.C. activist Ron Moten also echoed the sentiments as he pointed out that such an ad campaign could be disparaging to those dealing with substance abuse issues.
"You’re making a mockery of people who have this issue! On top of that, you’re making a mockery of a man who our children need to know about...[Our children] need to know about the things he’s done as a leader, the things he did with SNCC, the things he did with Washington DC, building up U street, where this guy has a restaurant, right? For him to have an opportunity to do what he’s doing right now, they need to know about that, so they know they can fall down and get back up.”
He also pledged to cancel the outlet, noting that there was a zero-tolerance policy for attacking their leaders. The NAACP, based in DC, the breeding ground for activism for civil rights and social justice, called for the Marion Berry Knots dessert to be taken down, effective immediately. In a statement, per the outlet, they said:
"Although the spelling of the menu item is 'marion berry,' after a berry and not 'Barry,' the marketing and advertising is intentional and overtly disparaging to D.C.’s iconic, four term former Mayor and 'Mayor For Life,' The Honorable Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. &Pizza is a 55-store chain spanned across the East Cost and based out of the D.C.-area, so the original owner and new CEO know D.C. history and the racial, health and social implications of drugs in D.C. and Black communities."
At the time of writing, the Marion Berry Knots have been taken down from the menu. However, a promotional image of the same remains on the main page.
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