Why Barilla Pasta CEO Is So Cluels About Gays | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• DID BARILLA PASTA'S CHAIRMAN MAKE ANTI-GAY REMARKS?
• BARILLA GO OM WORST TO FIRST ON GAY RIGHTS
• PASTA MAKER BARILLA TRI TO MAKE AMENDS AFTER CHAIRMAN’S ANTI-GAY REMARKS
• BARILLA PASTA HOT WATER OVER COMPANY PRINT'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS
• BARILLA: ‘GAYS N EAT SOMEONE ELSE’S PASTA’
• BARILLA'S ANTI-GAY CONTROVERSY
• BARILLA PASTA BARON'S ANTI-GAY MENT PROMPTS BOYTT LL
• BARILLA PRINT APOLOGIZ AGA FOR ANTI-GAY REMARKS
• BOYTTG BARILLA PASTA FOR ANTI-GAY REMARKS? A UPLE OF SUGGTNS
• BARILLA PASTA DON'T WANT GAY PEOPLE THEIR ADS
• PASTA MAKER BARILLA UNR FIRE FOR ANTI-GAY MENTS
• WHY BARILLA PASTA CEO IS SO CLUELS ABOUT GAYS
• ITALIAN PASTA BARON'S ANTI-GAY MENT PROMPTS BOYTT LL
• BARILLA PASTA EXECUTIVE HOT WATER FOR ANTI-GAY MENTS
• BERTOLLI MAK THE MOST OF BARILLA CHAIRMAN'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS

DID BARILLA PASTA'S CHAIRMAN MAKE ANTI-GAY REMARKS?

“I would never do a mercial wh a homosexual fay, not for lack of rpect, but bee we don’t agree wh them, ” Barilla said on Italy’s bt-known rad talk show. If gay ctomers didn’t like that, they uld go buy another brand of pasta, he said. The chairman, who turned 60 last year and has five children, further clarified that he opposed adoptn by gay parents.

The chairman of the Barilla pasta brand once proclaimed he would never e homosexual upl his advertisements. The chairman of the Barilla pasta brand once said he would never e homosexual upl his advertisements.

BARILLA GO OM WORST TO FIRST ON GAY RIGHTS

In September 2013, Guido Barilla, the chairman of Barilla Group, one of the world's leadg pasta manufacturers, engenred ntroversy and prompted lls for boytts when durg the urse of an terview wh an Italian rad program, he rpond to a qutn about whether he would ever feature a gay fay his pany's mercials by sayg (as roughly translated to English): "We won't clu gays our ads, bee we like the tradnal fay. If gays don't like , they n always eat another brand of pasta. "I would never do (a mercial) wh a homosexual fay, not for lack of rpect but bee we don't agree wh them.

PASTA MAKER BARILLA TRI TO MAKE AMENDS AFTER CHAIRMAN’S ANTI-GAY REMARKS

In the terview, Barilla said he opposed adoptn by gay parents, but was favour of allowg gay marriage, which is not legal Italy.

His ment about advertisg was rponse to a direct qutn about whether he would ever feature a gay fay his pany's mercials. If gays "like our pasta and our advertisg, they'll eat our pasta, if they don't like then they won't eat and they n eat another brand, " he said. Then the pasta magnate upped the ante by attackg gay adoptn.

"I have no rpect for adoptn by gay fai bee this ncerns a person who is not able to choose, " he said. - I have the utmost rpect for gay people and for everyone's right to exprs themselv.

BARILLA PASTA HOT WATER OVER COMPANY PRINT'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS

- I've also said — and I would like to reerate — that I rpect gay marriag. Not long ago, pasta-maker Barilla was jt one more major pany that had n afoul of the gay rights movement, a distctn earned last year when s chairman said he would never feature a same-sex uple an ad.

If gays didn’t like , he add, they uld eat somethg else.

But a sign of how toxic has bee for a pany to be viewed as uniendly toward gays, Barilla has ma a dramatic turnaround the space of one year, expandg health benefs for transgenr workers and their fai, ntributg money to gay rights , and featurg a lbian uple on a promotnal Web se. Some of the gay advot who have worked wh Guido Barilla sce his ments believe his ntrn is scere. “He was horrified at the nsequenc and his personal beliefs, ” said David Mixner, a veteran gay rights activist and thor who served as a nsultant for Barilla.

BARILLA: ‘GAYS N EAT SOMEONE ELSE’S PASTA’

"Italian Pasta Baron's Anti-Gay Comment Prompts Boytt Call. He said a vio posted to Facebook that he has "always rpected every person I've met, cludg gays and their fai, whout any distctns" and "never discrimated agast anyone.

BARILLA'S ANTI-GAY CONTROVERSY

In 2013, the CEO of Barilla, one of the world’s biggt dried pasta brands, marred an otherwise anodyne terview about the pany’s legacy wh an egreg homophobic ment.

“I would never do a mercial wh a homosexual fay, ” Guido Barilla said live on the Italian statn Rad 24, “not for lack of rpect, but bee we don’t agree wh them. But the efforts, mendable as they are, may not have had a huge effect on Barilla’s bottom le — and ’s possible Guido’s homophobic ments didn’t eher.

BARILLA PASTA BARON'S ANTI-GAY MENT PROMPTS BOYTT LL

Acrdg to the Bloomberg report, Barilla’s revenue was better 2013, the year of the homophobic ment, than 2012.

Like Barilla, Chick-fil-A’s CEO has a history of makg homophobic ments. And both have CEOs who have ma homophobic ments the past.

BARILLA PRINT APOLOGIZ AGA FOR ANTI-GAY REMARKS

“I would never do an ad wh a homosexual fay… If the gays don’t like they n go an eat another brand. “I have no rpect for adoptn by gay fai bee this ncerns a person who is not able to choose. Rters - Italian pasta maker Barilla has reacted to the global storm ed by s chairman's ments that he would never e a gay fay his advertisg by sayg planned to make the pany more diverse and n a more clive TV ad Barilla's remarks to a rad terviewer September led to lls by gay rights groups to boytt the products of the world's biggt pasta maker, a pany more than 130 years old based the provcial cy of media quickly spread the ments that gave rise to numero Inter satir, cludg one wily posted on Facebook and Twter showg the tramark blue Barilla pasta box wh the letters "Bigotoni" on rather than "Rigatoni".

BOYTTG BARILLA PASTA FOR ANTI-GAY REMARKS? A UPLE OF SUGGTNS

Chairman Barilla, the 55-year-old great grandson of the pany's founr, has sce held at least eight meetgs wh gay anizatns and activists both Italy and the Uned Stat, a market where is untg on for growth outsi s crisis-h home market. "WINDOW DRESSING"The pasta maker plans to troduce an advisory board that clus Amerin gay activist David Mixner to improve "diversy and equaly the pany's workforce and culture", acrdg to a statement posted on s webse.

However Carlos Dews, a gay English profsor at Rome's John Cabot Universy who has boytted Barilla products and urged his Facebook iends to do the same, was said the measur were a step the right directn but was too soon to tell whether they would brg any real change. -based Human Rights Campaign's rporate equaly x, which rat pani' polici relatg to lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr employe.

BARILLA PASTA DON'T WANT GAY PEOPLE THEIR ADS

If gays didn’t like , he add, they uld eat somethg a sign of how toxic has bee for a pany to be viewed as uniendly toward gays, Barilla has ma a dramatic turnaround the space of one year, expandg health benefs for transgenr workers and their fai, ntributg money to gay rights , and featurg a lbian uple on a promotnal Web se. Barilla has journeyed om gay rights pariah to poster child — on Wednday received a perfect sre om a proment gay rights group that rat pani on their gay-iendls. It is an about-face that highlights how pani, which typilly shy away om ntroversy, are creasgly beg forced to take sis the cultural battle over gay rights and same-sex marriage — and how cisively pro-gay forc have gaed the upper hoehold-name brands have also found themselv hot water over actns that were perceived to be anti-gay.

Chick-fil-A stopped givg to certa anizatns 2012 after earng the ire of gay rights groups that acced the fast-food cha of supportg anti-gay pani were subject to boytts, though there has been a unter effort by socially nservative groups to support and embrace peril for pani is not short-term profs, bee boytts rarely affect revenue directly, said Mary-Hunter McDonnell, a profsor of strategy at Geetown Universy’s McDonough School of Bs. “Really, boytts are about threateng a pany’s public image and reputatn, ” she said, and a tarnished brand n ultimately hurt the bottom the past, pani had to be reful not to offend groups that opposed homosexualy, said Bob Weck, a rporate crisis nsultant who specializ gay issu.

Two s ago, Weck helped Amerin Airl weather cricism over s cisn to market to gays.

PASTA MAKER BARILLA UNR FIRE FOR ANTI-GAY MENTS

His advice at the time was for the pany to expla to the opposn that this was simply a good bs more recently, opns have shifted dramatilly to the pot that is a posive for some pani to be viewed as supportive of gay rights, particularly among young ctomers, who might view cints such as the one articulated a year ago by Barilla as “stupid and backwards, ” he said. Starbucks, Nike and Microsoft, for stance, endorsed legalizg same-sex marriage Washgton state the se of Barilla — a 130-year-old pany based Parma, Italy, that is the world's largt pasta manufacturer — the blowback was fierce September 2013 when Guido Barilla told an Italian rad host, "I would never do [a mercial] wh a homosexual uple, not for lack of rpect, but bee we don't agree wh them, " acrdg to reports. "He ntued: “If [gays] don’t like , they n go eat another brand.

Harvard Universy dumped Barilla om s feterias, gay rights groups promoted nam of other brands of pasta, and Barilla's petors seized on the opportuny to prent themselv as more forward-thkg, wh Bertolli Germany postg a ment on s Facebook page promotg "pasta and love for all! ”Some of the gay advot who have worked wh Guido Barilla sce his ments believe his ntrn is scere. “He was horrified at the nsequenc and his personal beliefs, ” said David Mixner, a veteran gay rights activist and thor who served as a nsultant for lled the recent diversy iative “the most all-enpassg effort to bounce back om an unfortunate misstatement that I’ve ever been part of.

WHY BARILLA PASTA CEO IS SO CLUELS ABOUT GAYS

”Seth Adam, a spokman for GLAAD, a gay advocy group that has also met wh Barilla, said is important to acknowledge someone when they have unrgone an “evolutn” support of gay rights. It has broaned s anti-discrimatn policy to ver gay and transgenr pany also has donated money to the Tyler Clementi Foundatn, an anti-bullyg anizatn found by the parents of a gay Rutgers Universy stunt who mted suici, and featured a lbian uple on a Web se voted to urgg fai to eat more meals will same-sex upl be turng up any televisn mercials?

AP file/Bernd KammererGuido BarillaThe print of Barilla is apologizg after disparagg remarks he ma about gay fai led to swift lls for a boytt of the pasta Barilla told an Italian rad statn that he wouldn't nsir g a gay fay to advertise the pany's pasta, sayg that "the ncept of the sacred fay remas one of the basic valu of the pany. " While he said that he had rpect for gay people, he went on to say that gay nsumers who disagreed wh his msage were wele to enjoy a different brand of pasta. The executive quickly issued a clarifitn of his ments, wrg on the Barilla rporate webse that he had "utmost rpect" for gay people and their marriag and that he apologized if "[his] words have generated ntroversy or misunrstandg, or if they hurt someone's sensivy.

ITALIAN PASTA BARON'S ANTI-GAY MENT PROMPTS BOYTT LL

As the wds of polil change has shifted favor of gay rights and same-sex marriage, many brands and pani have led up to affirm their support for the LGBT muny.

BARILLA PASTA EXECUTIVE HOT WATER FOR ANTI-GAY MENTS

The one pany to buck the trend, Chick-fil-A, was the subject of a ser backlash when s print, Dan Cathy, affirmed his pany's opposn to gay fast-food cha has more or ls weathered that storm, largely on the strength of brand loyalty to s tasty chicken sandwich, and support om the mographic that agre wh Cathy's polics.

Guido Barilla sparked ternatnal outrage when he said he’d never feature a gay uple ads for his firm’s foodstuffs — addg that if homosexuals don’t like , they n buy another brand. “I would never do [a mercial] wh a homosexual fay, not for lack of rpect, but bee we don’t agree wh them, ” the pany chairman told Italian rad Wednday eveng. “Ours is a classic fay where the woman plays a fundamental role, ” Barilla, 55, said, addg that if gays “like our pasta and our advertisg, they’ll eat our pasta.

Anger at the remarks boiled over Thursday, wh gay-rights activists announcg a boytt of the world’s largt pasta maker. He also re-erated his support for gay marriage, which is illegal Italy, although he is agast gay adoptns.

BERTOLLI MAK THE MOST OF BARILLA CHAIRMAN'S ANTI-GAY COMMENTS

The ntroversy trend on Twter, where Alsandro Zan, a gay member of the Italian parliament, tweeted: “You n’t ms around wh nsumers, cludg gay on. Other ers blasted Barilla multiple languag, labelg the brand “hate pasta” and llg Guido Barilla “horrendoly sexist and homophobic.

On September 26th, 2013, Guido Barilla, the chairman of the Italian food pany Barilla Group, stated an terview on the rad show La Zanzara[1] that the pany would not nsir g gay upl advertisements for their pasta brand bee he do not agree wh their liftyl. He went on to emphasize the importance of what he nsirs a tradnal fay, statg “If gays like our pasta and our advertisg, they will eat our pasta; if they don’t like that, they will eat someone else’s pasta. Gay rights groups are boyttg Pasta Barilla after the pany's CEO, Guido Barilla, said Wednday on an Italian rad show, "I would never do an advert wh a homosexual fay.