Content warning: This article discusses drug usage. Please refer to the end of the article for on- and off-campus resources.
Washington, D.C.-based pizza fast-casual restaurant &pizza sparked outrage after releasing “Marion Berry Knots,” a marionberry dessert that made fun of the late D.C. Mayor Marion Barry’s drug abuse, Oct. 21, prompting protests Oct. 25.
Harriet’s Wildest Dreams (HWD), an organization that advocates for Black lives at risk for state-sanctioned and intra-community violence, is one of the leading organizations in the boycott of &pizza for the dessert. The group staged a protest Oct. 25, calling on the company to recognize and address the harm its recent marketing campaign caused the Black community.
Barry, who passed away in 2014, prioritized work to lift thousands of locals out of poverty and aid underserved communities during his time as mayor. Despite his well-known struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, including a brief stint in prison after a publicized crack cocaine incident, Barry remains admired in the District.
&pizza’s dessert prompted outrage from the public as the company advertised it with thinly veiled references to cocaine.
“These knots will blow you away,” read one advertisement.
A photo was posted on the company’s X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, which featured a pile of white powder atop a mirror with small, powder-filled plastic pouches scattered around the table.
Mike Burns, the CEO of &pizza, released a public statement regarding the dessert, apologizing to the D.C. community and to Barry’s family.
“While humor was our intent, it was regrettably off the mark,” Burns said in the statement. “We’re an edgy brand known for being risk-takers. The parody of the former Mayor and portrayal of substance abuse was wrong.”
In a public statement released Oct. 24, HWD said that the references to substance abuse can cause real damage.
“The exploitation of Mayor Marion Barry’s legacy for profit, paired with tasteless references to substance abuse and criminality — particularly in a city where Black communities have borne the brunt of racially biased drug criminalization — is not just offensive, it is harmful,” the statement said.
Critics connected the insensitive dessert to broader issues of racial injustice, noting how Black Americans in the 1990s faced disproportionately longer prison sentences for drug charges compared to white offenders convicted of the same crimes.
Cora Masters Barry, Barry’s wife, told D.C. News Now that the references to Barry and his substance abuse were racist.
“I just think it’s racist,” Masters Barry said. “In this city, it is outrageously racist. You can print that. It’s racist and disrespectful.”
Zoë Griffin (SFS ’28) said she thinks that &pizza is not only disrespecting the former mayor but also anyone struggling with substance abuse.
“I don’t even think that that’s just making fun of the fact that this man had a drug problem,” Griffin told The Hoya. “That’s also poking fun at whoever has a drug problem now, and that’s such a prevalent issue.”
D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8) called for a boycott of the pizza chain, saying that the dessert disrespects Barry’s legacy and shows a profound lack of cultural awareness.
“Reducing the legacy of Marion Barry to a marketing gimmick is tone-deaf and blatantly disrespectful,” White said on Instagram.
Jackie Berman (CAS ’28) said she thinks people have the right to boycott the company, as the marketing campaign was disgraceful.
“The marketing was inexcusable,” Berman told The Hoya. “I think people have the right to boycott.”
While Barry’s estate threatens to sue &pizza over the desert for using Marion’s likeness, HWD and other organizations from the “Knot in D.C. Coalition,” an organization opposing &pizza for the use of Barry, said they are working with Barry’s family and &pizza to resolve the issue.
“We recognize that true restorative relations require mutual input and agreement,” HWD and the other organizations said in a press release. “We value collaboration and look forward to working with &pizza toward a productive process for all parties that are impacted by their harmful and hurtful actions.”
Resources: On-campus resources include Health Education Services (202-687-8949) and Counseling and Psychiatric Service (202-687-6985); additional off-campus resources include the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988) and the Assessment and Referral Center (202-727-8473)
