The pie-loving community spoke, and Christina Tosi listened. The founder of Milk Bar has officially changed the name of her famous Crack Pie to Milk Bar Pie. In a statement released to both her team and her customers, Tosi explained her reasoning for the switch and why she believes it is “the right decision.”
“When we do anything, from implementing a new company policy to creating a new layer cake, we do it because it’s important to us,” Tosi said, referring to her 392-strong Milk Bar team. “Our mission, after all, is to spread joy and inspire celebration. The name Crack Pie falls short of this mission. That’s why starting today, Crack Pie will now be Milk Bar Pie.”
Tosi has been under a lot of pressure from the public and food critics alike for her Crack Pie, named such because of its “addictive” quality. As Eater details, critics have slammed Tosi for the insensitive moniker, which blatantly ignores the pain that crack cocaine has caused many families across America — specifically in the black community.
“No matter how delicious something might be,” San Francisco Chronicle’s critic Soleil Ho wrote in February 2019, “its effect on me is nothing close to what crack does to people and their families.”
“The old name was getting in the way of letting the gooey, buttery slice bring happiness — my only goal in creating the thing in the first place,” Tosi wrote in her statement.
However, just as Crack Pie fell short of Tosi’s mission, Tosi’s explanation is falling short for a lot of Milk Bar fans and those following the story.
good decision, but the statement is a nothing pie
— alexandra j. roberts (@lexlanham) April 15, 2019
Tosi could have used this opportunity to actually explain why the use of the word “crack” is disturbing for many. Instead, she simply glazed over the topic.
For example, in the ’80s and ’90s, crack cocaine use was labelled an “epidemic.” As the New York Times explains, people were scared that prenatal crack use was going to result in an entire generation of deformed kids — something that has since been proven untrue.
Furthermore, someone who is incarcerated for offenses involving crack, a drug which was and is prevalent within the black community, can receive more jail time than someone found with a larger amount of cocaine, despite the drugs having the same effect on the body. The racial disparity is blatant.
However, Tosi’s response leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps she doesn’t understand the issue.
This is the right move, but the letter is overwrought and misses the opportunity to clarify why a name like “crack pie” was offensive in the first place. https://t.co/GyrAlnoOMg
— Maggie Downing (@OnMaggiesFarm) April 15, 2019
Obviously, diehards are upset by the Crack Pie going bye-bye. Gird your loins.
Others aren’t too cut up by her statement. In fact, they wish the name had stayed the same.
Some question if demanding a name change for a pie is taking sensitivity to a new level. If we all understand that it’s a joke, then is there really an issue?
As if there isn’t anything else to get upset about these days, right?
Drug use and addiction is never something to joke about. There are thousands of other names a person can use to name a pie, and adjectives we can use to describe flavor, that don’t offend.
It’s true. “Heroin Cobbler” doesn’t roll off the tongue. Neither should Crack Pie.
Room Temperature Racism is naming a desert "crack pie" when no one would ever order "Oxycontin Cake" from your $24 dessert ass restaurant https://t.co/lKSqwE71QE
— Brendan Jay Sullivan 🫧 (@MrBrendanJay) April 15, 2019
Despite her lackluster statement, we’re glad Tosi ultimately decided to make the switch. Milk Bar Pie sounds even tastier than Crack Pie.
You can pick up a Milk Bar Pie from one of Milk Bar’s several U.S. and Canada locations for $48. It’s a “magical mash up of sweet, salty, and sticky,” the website reads.
And please, remember the name change. Don’t be *that* guy.
You can expect to see the name change on the Milk Bar menu in the coming weeks and months.
