The Pizza Mural Debate Taking Over TikTok

New Jersey’s Brick & Dough, a pizzeria, has been serving a variety of pies in Montclair since its opening in 2019. In an effort to change up the restaurant’s exterior style, owner Jason Rosenthal hired artist Jen Flaum to paint a mural on the outside of the building. The two agreed on a depiction of different slices and stages of pizza from start to almost finish, but little did they know that the change up would cause controversy in town and all over TikTok.

What is the pizza mural controversy?

On April 12, Flaum posted a video to TikTok showcasing her progress on the mural, as well as what people were saying as they passed by. The beginning of the video begins with one particular comment from someone asking if she was painting over the mural that was there before.

“You painted over those murals?” the passersby asked Flaum. “Why would they do that?”

That sentiment seems to be shared by TikTok users, too, who are upset both by the pizzas and by what she covered up. According to Rosenthal’s interview with Today, the original black and white mural was a detailed depiction of two elderly subjects looking off into the distance. The mural was called ‘The Curse of Socrates’ and was painted by street artist JAYEMAICH. He told Today that his mural represented Socrates’ teaching of morality and being weighed down by a system of oppression. Commenters on TikTok took notice of this and began to blame the artist for broadcasting herself painting over the mural that had already been there. Others added their own critiques of the artist’s work in defense of the previous mural’s erasure.

What do people on TikTok think?

TikTok user @ccbbhfjetu expressed that the painting held more depth than the restaurant’s new art piece saying, “it made the wall pop.”

Mural artist and TikTok user Robert Washington complimented Flaum’s work in a recent video, but also stated that if a company were to hire him to paint over a mural that he would would want them to prep the area so he wouldn’t need to ‘paint over another artist’s work’. 

Though restaurant owner Rosenthal said he just wanted to make changes to their business, people who came across the new mural thought the painting was not a creative move and did not care for Flaum’s work. TikTok user @samxjg commented, “the pizza mural looks so childish.”

However, some people came to Flaum’s defense, like user @dota.renee, who believes that the ‘pizza mural hate’ is misdirected because Flaum was doing her job.

Though one person has gone as far as leaving a one-star review under the restaurant on Google Maps detailing their disappointment of the old mural’s removal, Flaum’s TikTok has gained 30 thousand new followers and she is continuing to showcase her art work on her page.

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