You might think the name Guido Barilla sounds familiar, and if you’re an Italian food lover you’ve probably had many of his products, because he’s the owner of the enterprise that made his last name a famous brand among pasta enthusiasts. His firm owns almost half of the Italian pasta market and a quarter of that in the U.S., but it might experience substantial losses after a comment Mr. Barilla made at a radio show that portrayed him as a complete troglodyte.
"I would never do (a commercial) with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect but because we don't agree with them. Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role," Barilla, 55, said in an interview with Radio 24’s program La Zanzara on Wednesday in response to a direct question about whether he would ever feature a gay family in his company's commercials. If gays "like our pasta and our advertising, they'll eat our pasta, if they don't like it then they will not eat it and they will eat another brand," he said.
Barilla is one of Italy's biggest advertisers, and for many years has used the image of a happy family living in an idealized version of the Italian countryside, with the slogan: "Where there's Barilla, there's home". In the interview, Barilla said he opposed adoption by gay parents, but was in favor of allowing gay marriage, which is not legal in Italy. “I have no respect for adoption by gay families because this concerns a person who is not able to choose," he said.
Of course, LGBT associations called for a boycott of all 20 brands owned by the Parma-based company, which include Voiello pasta and Filiz and Misko products. Alessandro Zan, a gay rights campaigner and an MP in the left-wing SEL (Sinistra Ecologia Libertà) party, said: “This is another example of Italian homophobia. I’m joining the boycott of Barilla and I hope other parliamentarians do the same.” Aurelio Mancuso, head of gay rights group Equality Italia, said Barilla's comments were an "offensive provocation" and called for a boycott of the company's pasta, sauces and snacks. "We accept the invitation from the Barilla owner to not eat his pasta," Mancuso said. Many Italians used social media to voice support for a boycott.
However, Barilla later apologized for the statement, writing on the company's Facebook page: "I'm sorry if my comments on La Zanzara have created misunderstanding or polemic, or if I've offended anyone. I deeply respect any person, without any distinction and I also respect homosexuals and their freedom of expression. I did also say I support gay marriage. Barilla in its advertising has always chosen to depict family because it is the symbol of reception and love for anyone."
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