When pasta king Guido Barilla found himself pilloried on social media for saying he would never use a gay family in his advertising, rival pasta maker Buitoni was quick to capitalise.

A picture on its Facebook page from the inside of an open door featured the caption: “At Buitoni's house, there's a place for everyone.”

It was a stark demonstration of the rising power of social media; Barilla's comments to a medium-sized Italian radio station on Wednesday quickly became a global public relations disaster with a likely knock-on effect on sales.

The comments that he would “never” do an ad “with a homosexual family” to a station that has barely more than 2 million daily listeners spread like wildfire on Twitter and Facebook, sparking worldwide calls to boycott Barilla products on Thursday.

In his official apology, Barilla said he was sorry “if my words generated misunderstandings and polemics” and “if I offended some people”. He said he was trying to say “simply that the woman plays a central role in a family”.

The comments will weigh on U.S. sales in the short term, and Barilla's immediate response to the uproar was “muddled and odd”, Ashley McCown, a crisis communications expert at Solomon McCown in Boston, told Reuters.

“In the U.S. people want to feel good about the things they buy and who they buy them from.”

The privately owned Barilla company was founded by Guido's great grandfather more than 130 years ago and is the world's biggest pasta maker.

Seeking to boost sales outside of crisis-hit Italy, Barilla has recently focused on expanding in the U.S., its second biggest pasta market, by introducing microwaveable meals and more ready-made sauces.

His radio comments came after the interviewer asked him about allegations this week from Laura Boldrini, president of the lower house of parliament, that Italian advertising was full of gender stereotyping.

Barilla, whose ads often picture mothers serving their families at the dinner table, disagreed, and was then asked whether he would feature a gay family.

After saying he would not, he spoke at length about his belief in the “classic family”, adding however that he supported gay marriage, which is illegal in Italy, but not adoptions by gay couples.

In the U.S., gay marriage is now legal in 13 states and, unlike in Italy, the gay rights movement continues to build momentum and break down barriers.

“I'm Italian, I'm gay, I'm married legally to a man, I have three adopted children. I had Barilla pasta for dinner last night. Today, tomorrow and forever more I will choose another brand of pasta. Good bye Barilla! You lose!!!” David De Maria wrote on Barilla's U.S. Facebook page.

SPAGHETTI IS STRAIGHT

The controversy generated several Internet satires. BuzzFeed featured a picture showing heterosexual couples lovingly eating pasta together with the words: “Spaghetti is straight”.

Another image posted widely on Twitter and Facebook showed the trademark blue Barilla pasta box with the letters “Bigotoni” on it, rather than “Rigatoni”.

While Barilla's comments were condemned by most, others said the gay community was over-reacting.

“We may not agree with him but he is just expressing his opinion and doing it in a respectful way,” said JasonD79, who said he was gay, in reaction to a news story on Facebook. “He is not saying gays can't work for them or anything, he is just saying he will not do an ad with a gay family.”

After its first apology, Barilla posted a second, more contrite version on its U.S. Facebook page several hours later that recognised that it may have offended some of its own employees.

“While we can't undo recent remarks, we can apologise. To all of our friends, family, employees, and partners that we have hurt or offended, we are deeply sorry,” it read.

Only time will tell how much the boycott will hurt Barilla, which saw profit tumble 21 percent in 2012.

“In the short term, it is a threat to sales. What's yet to be seen is, is there really going to be a long-term impact'” McCown said.

It's not that "believing in the traditional family" is a bad thing, but rather that there has been a concentrated push to demonize everything but the traditional family.

How is buying pasta from a company that puts people you identify with in their ads dumb?

 cincydooley wrote:
Are you serious? You must be living in a different United States I am, because over the past 10-15 years we've been moving towards a level of political correctness that requires you display extreme empathy and understanding for anyone in a non-traditional situation; otherwise, you're villainized.

Don't believe in gay marriage? You must be a homophobe or an ignorant religious zealot.

Don't think abortion is moral? You must be a mysogyinst or an an ignorant religious zealot.

Didn't vote for Obama? You must be a racist or an ignorant religious zealot.

Believe in the traditional family unit and acknowledge that you agree with gay marriage? You're a homophobe that must apologize.

 Seaward wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Sorry, you've lost me.

Well, we seem to be making the crazy assumption that people will only buy products that specifically identify with their sexual orientation in their advertising. I think making that assumption's pretty patronizing, but I'm just going with the flow.

I'm curious, though, if it extends to gender or even race.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I am not. I am making the assumption that not deciding not to have gays in your advertising shows you are a bigoted, discriminatory CEO.

What if the guy had said he won't have black people in advertising, or Jews?

 Andrew1975 wrote:

I am not. I am making the assumption that not deciding not to have gays in your advertising shows you are a bigoted, discriminatory CEO.

What if the guy had said he won't have black people in advertising, or Jews?

Basically you are saying that unless someone specifically markets to a minority they must obviously be against it? That's pretty flawed logic. That is a victimized mentality!

I would never do (a commercial) with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect but because we don't agree with them.

 cincydooley wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I am not. I am making the assumption that not deciding not to have gays in your advertising shows you are a bigoted, discriminatory CEO.

What if the guy had said he won't have black people in advertising, or Jews?

Or a smart one if there is significant research that shows the best way to advertise Italian family style meals is to so use using the traditional family unit.

the original article wrote:When pasta king Guido Barilla found himself pilloried on social media for saying he would never use a gay family in his advertising, rival pasta maker Buitoni was quick to capitalise.

A picture on its Facebook page from the inside of an open door featured the caption: “At Buitoni's house, there's a place for everyone.”

It was a stark demonstration of the rising power of social media; Barilla's comments to a medium-sized Italian radio station on Wednesday quickly became a global public relations disaster with a likely knock-on effect on sales.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
His policy has failed, because he is likely to have generate a lot of negative publicity that will affect his own sales.

the original article wrote:Above all, though, companies have an ethical duty to not discriminate against people due to irrelevant reasons.

 Kanluwen wrote:

 cincydooley wrote:
Are you serious? You must be living in a different United States I am, because over the past 10-15 years we've been moving towards a level of political correctness that requires you display extreme empathy and understanding for anyone in a non-traditional situation; otherwise, you're villainized.

Yeah. I must be living in a different United States to you, because not once did I ever experience "extreme empathy or understanding for anyone in a non-traditional situation". When it became common knowledge to the staff at my high school that my parents had split, I started having the staff treat me as though I was some kind of troublemaker--despite being a quiet kid who never really got into trouble.

Don't believe in gay marriage? You must be a homophobe or an ignorant religious zealot.

Don't think abortion is moral? You must be a mysogyinst or an an ignorant religious zealot.

Didn't vote for Obama? You must be a racist or an ignorant religious zealot.

Believe in the traditional family unit and acknowledge that you agree with gay marriage? You're a homophobe that must apologize.

This is nonsense of the highest caliber.

Don't believe in gay marriage? That's fine, but when you start talking about how how you think that gay marriage is something that the government should not involved in but that it should be between a man and a woman because of the Bible--realize that you might just be called "an ignorant religious zealot" for a reason.

Don't think abortion is moral? Again, that's fine. Start talking about how women use abortion as "birth control" and you are going to come across as a misogynist. Start talking about how abortion is murder because "life starts at conception", you might be called an "ignorant religious zealot" for a reason.

Didn't vote for Obama? You might not be racist or an ignorant religious zealot, but realize the company that you are in. There were a large amount of people who did not vote for him because of their perception of him as "Muslim" or "Communist" or any number of idiotic reasons.

Your last part does hit on something important though. I don't think the CEO bashed homosexuals outright--but I can understand why people would be upset. Whenever I hear the term "traditional family" thrown around here in NC, it is being used to counter the idea that same-sex partners can raise children in a healthy environment or have healthy relationships.
The fact that the guy apologized though suggests that he is just covering his ass rather than standing by his statement.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
He won't portray gay people in his advertising.

How is that not discrimination?

 Frazzled wrote:


How would he portray gay people exactly, without the presentation itself being sadly stereotypical. Unless Cam from Modern Family is on their making the speghetti its going to look sadly staereotypical and bigoted itself.

 d-usa wrote:
He said he doesn't agree with homosexuals and that's why he won't put them in his ads. His words.

It's not the absence of gays in his ads that make people think that he has an anti-gay stance. It's his stated reason for that absence that makes people think that.

 d-usa wrote:
He said those things after the backlash started, what else was he going to do

"For us, the 'sacral family' remains one of the company’s core values. Our family is a traditional family. If gays like our pasta and our advertisings, they will eat our pasta; if they don’t like that, they will eat someone else’s pasta. You can’t always please everyone not to displease anyone. I would not do a commercial with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect toward homosexuals – who have the right to do whatever they want without disturbing others – but because I don’t agree with them, and I think we want to talk to traditional families. The women are crucial in this."

"I respect same-sex marriage because that concerns people who want to contract marriage, but I absolutely don’t respect adoptions in gay families, because that concerns a person who is not the people who decide,"

 d-usa wrote:
Looks like a new apology:

Edit: Found YouTube link




Saw it reported today, looks like it was posted on the 28th.

 Grimtuff wrote:


I believe homosexuals are deserving of their rights, being equal and all that. They are just as much of a human being as anyone on Earth.

But I'm getting tired of this media witch hunt that goes on every time some CEO or company voices their opinion about homosexuals. It's their opinion. Deal with it. You can bully them into "apologizing" and backtracking while gritting their teeth, but it doesn't do anything to help homosexuals in any way, and it's not even an honest apology or realization. What this witch hunt does, is reinforce the animosity any homophobe holds against homosexuals, reinforcing their ignorant belief's and just ultimately sweeping the issue under a big rug. Beating on the big guy because he doesn't like gays won't make him learn to love them.

However, Bertolli's ad is adorable, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for their stuff during the next grocery run.

 Andrew1975 wrote:
The views he expressed are completely normal marketing strategies, unless you have a specifically gay product, you don't market directly to them in mass media, you potentially alienate your other customers.

Good luck with that. The specific product featured in the ad is something as a hetero I wouldn't touch and I'm pretty sure my gay friends wouldn't either. The stuff is radioactive and could be seen as a plot to exterminate any market it targets.

Oh and if you are alone, lets face it, you are eating the whole package....so twice that. STAY AWAY FROM PREMADE FOOD!

After saying he would not, he spoke at length about his belief in the “classic family”, adding however that he supported gay marriage, which is illegal in Italy, but not adoptions by gay couples.

 pities2004 wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:

 Seaward wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
Not if they make that the official policy of their international company advertising.

It's simple discrimination law. You can think whatever you like. You can't act on it if it is unfair discrimination.

You're right in one thing: it's simple discrimination law.

Find me the law regarding discrimination against fictional individuals, and you've got a knockout case with this guy.

Unfortunately for you, he didn't say he wouldn't hire gay individuals. He didn't even say he wouldn't hire married gay individuals.

He said he wouldn't use fictional examples of married gay individuals in his advertisements. Somehow, I don't think that one's going to the Italian version of the Supreme Court.

You are not familiar with European discrimination laws. In Europe you can be prosecuted for unfair discrimination against a minority for speaking disrespectfully about them in a business situation like this guy did.

Good thing this is the U S OF A

 Frazzled wrote:
I overheard that BMW discriminates against poor people. As we all know there are minority poor people. Therefor they have discriminated.

Give me money!

They don;t go out of their way to say they will never show poor people

 Easy E wrote:
Sadly, we do.

The reason is simple. If it isn't challenged and brought to light, such casual bigotry becomes institutionalized. People need to know and be punished when they cross the line. In the end, the guy is only be shamed and nothing more will really come of it.

As far as hiding your deep principles, there is a reason it is considered bad form to talk politics and religion in polite company.

 pities2004 wrote:
Do you know what traditional means?

This topic really doesn't belong on this site, you might as well make a topic that says "Bible and Christians bash homosexuals"

it's Chik-Fil-A all over again.

 Forar wrote:

 Andrew1975 wrote:
so who cares.

Gay people who want to get married do.

Little statements like those found in the OP about how 'yeah, I totes support gay marriage, but don't think they should be adopting' are part of the problem. It's the veneer of the bare minimum amount of tolerance expected to be shown, but hey, let's not get crazy and treat them like people or anything. They are gay after all, and we all know what THAT means.

*wink wink nudge nudge*

There are legal repercussions to this idea, but I don't really make laws, so who cares.

Little statements like those found in the OP about how 'yeah, I totes support gay marriage, but don't think they should be adopting' are part of the problem.