Audio By Carbonatix
No one is really sure why the heads of companies continue to espouse exceedingly unpopular, even bigoted opinions. No one is arguing they don’t have every right to both their opinion and to espousing it, of course. But then, the public also has every right to not buy your product if they start associating your personal positions with your company’s public image.
Guido Barilla, chairman of Italian pasta company Barilla, got the company in hot water this week with some homophobic remarks. (Get it, hot water? These are the jokes.)
But homophobia is no laughing matter! Unless of course Conan O’Brien and Team Coco are lambasting you for being a homophobe. Let’s watch!
See also: Barilla Pasta King Makes Anti-Gay Comment, Sparks Boycott
Toleranza di Napoli makes pasta for everyone. They use gay wheat and straight wheat; straight eggs and fabulous eggs.
“For the man who likes penne, the lady who likes linguini, and those who like both!”
One might wonder why the chairman of a major international corporation would come out and say something so, well, stupid. Apparently he was asked straight out by an interviewer if he would ever feature gay people in the company’s ads.
“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.”
Umm… Yay for feminism?
And why, then, would an interviewer ask such a seemingly random, and, in retrospect, loaded question?
Probably because Barilla’s main competitor Bertolli has been running ads like the one below for quite some time. Many people mistakenly thought this ad was in response to Barilla’s comments, but actually, this ad first aired in March of 2009.
It’s almost, like, I dunno, gay people are a totally normal part of society (and of families) who have been around as long as there have been people and maybe we should all just stop acting like they don’t exist. Or something. Crazy talk!
You can contact Rebecca Dittmar, Arts & Culture Editor at rebecca.dittmar@browardpalmbeach.com.
