http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/pasta-firm-barilla-boycott-gay
QuoteGay rights activists in Italy have launched a boycott of the world's leading pasta maker after its chairman said he would only portray the "classic family" in his advertisements and, if people objected to that, they should feel free to eat a different kind of pasta.
Guido Barilla, who controls the fourth-generation Barilla Group family business with his two brothers, sparked outrage among activists, consumers and some politicians when he said he would not consider using a gay family to advertise Barilla pasta.
"For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the basic values of the company," he told Italian radio on Wednesday evening. "I would not do it but not out of a lack of respect for homosexuals who have the right to do what they want without bothering others ... [but] I don't see things like they do and I think the family that we speak to is a classic family."
Asked what effect he thought his attitude would have on gay consumers of pasta, Barilla said: "Well, if they like our pasta and our message they will eat it; if they don't like it and they don't like what we say they will ... eat another."
In response, Aurelio Mancuso, chairman of Equality Italia, accused Barilla of being deliberately provocative. "Accepting the invitation of Barilla's owner to not eat his pasta, we are launching a boycott campaign against all his products," he added.
Within hours, the hashtag 'boicotta-barilla' was trending on Twitter. The Barilla chairman issued a statement saying that he was sorry if his remarks had caused offence and that he had only been trying to draw attention to the "central role" played by women within the family.
"I apologise if my words generated misunderstandings or arguments, or if they offended the sensibilities of some people," he said.
The interview started by asking Barilla what he thought of an appeal made on Tuesday by the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Laura Boldrini, to change the often stereotypical image of women in Italian advertisements.
"There are some adverts ... which, when I see them, I think, 'but would this advert be broadcast in other countries? In the United Kingdom would this advert be broadcast?" said Boldrini. "And the answer is certainly not. An advert in which the children and father are all sitting down and the mother is serving at the table cannot be accepted as normal."
Barilla responded by saying Boldrini did not understand the advertising world and women were fundamental to adverts.
He went on to discuss gay rights, saying that he "respected everyone" and was in favour of gay marriage, but against gay adoption.
The remarks provoked anger among many of the politicians who are trying to pass legislation against homophobic crimes.
The country, on whose politics the Catholic church has long exerted a conservative influence, lags behind many other European countries on gay rights. Far from moving towards the legalisation of gay marriage, Italy still does not recognise same-sex civil unions.
Alessandro Zen, an MP for the opposition Left Ecology Freedom party, said: "Here is another example of Italian homophobia. I am taking part in the [Barilla] boycott and invite other MPs – at least those who are not resigning – to do the same."
Very strange and seems like could have been easily avoided.
:hmm: That reminds me, I haven't had pasta in years.
I recently saw a Cheerios ad where the kid had a white mom and a black dad(who she poured Cheerios on while he was napping on couch). Offhand, I can't remember any other commercials(for white bread products) which featured inter-racial couples.
Quote from: DGuller on September 26, 2013, 01:08:41 PM
:hmm: That reminds me, I haven't had pasta in years.
:huh:
The Triple Stacker is served on bread, not spaghetti.
Crazy.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on September 26, 2013, 01:14:31 PM
I recently saw a Cheerios ad where the kid had a white mom and a black dad(who she poured Cheerios on while he was napping on couch). Offhand, I can't remember any other commercials(for white bread products) which featured inter-racial couples.
Saw my first Asian-White couple in an ad the other day. Can't remember what it was for.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on September 26, 2013, 01:14:31 PM
I recently saw a Cheerios ad where the kid had a white mom and a black dad(who she poured Cheerios on while he was napping on couch). Offhand, I can't remember any other commercials(for white bread products) which featured inter-racial couples.
Yeah we had some posts about that. Apparently there was a big freak out among racists.
Has Tomba La Bomba spoken on this yet?
Yeah, this is like the A&F dude's comments from awhile back.
Look, we know how the system works. I get why models/spokespersons are almost always young, pretty and white. I understand why something like the Cheerio's ad is so rare.
But don't claim that making those kinds of decisions are some sort of virtue. :lol:
Tricking activist groups into getting mad at you and spending their own money to give you free publicity seems to be a fad marketing strategy these days.
And another front opens in the culture war :lol:
I'm eccentric. :mad:
Quote from: DGuller on September 26, 2013, 03:13:44 PM
I'm eccentric. :mad:
No Ed Anger is, you aren't rich enough.
Ed doesnt eat pasta?
lol, wut?
Quote from: DGuller on September 26, 2013, 01:08:41 PM
:hmm: That reminds me, I haven't had pasta in years.
WTF? :wacko:
Quote"An advert in which the children and father are all sitting down and the mother is serving at the table cannot be accepted as normal."
Yeah I can see how that might be considered very bizzare
Ed is wondering where the servants are at.
Meowtf?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on September 26, 2013, 01:23:35 PM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on September 26, 2013, 01:14:31 PM
I recently saw a Cheerios ad where the kid had a white mom and a black dad(who she poured Cheerios on while he was napping on couch). Offhand, I can't remember any other commercials(for white bread products) which featured inter-racial couples.
Saw my first Asian-White couple in an ad the other day. Can't remember what it was for.
Was that the one where she has his picture/painting upside down?
Quote from: Tonitrus on September 26, 2013, 07:16:57 PM
Was that the one where she has his picture/painting upside down?
:hmm:
Can't rule it out.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/mixed-race-couples-in-ads-cheerios-ad_n_3384297.html
Quote"For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the basic values of the company," he told Italian radio on Wednesday evening. "I would not do it but not out of a lack of respect for homosexuals who have the right to do what they want without bothering others ... [but] I don't see things like they do and I think the family that we speak to is a classic family."
My God, the nerve of that private company. Truely shameful.
not really. Get over it Nancy-Boys. :rolleyes:
I would think something like a pasta company wouldn't even enter battle in the culture wars. What's the upside for their business?
Maybe 11B4V, we have very different ideas on what a private company should aim to do.
Quote from: garbon on September 26, 2013, 08:58:10 PM
I would think something like a pasta company wouldn't even enter battle in the culture wars. What's the upside for their business?
Maybe 11B4V, we have very different ideas on what a private company should aim to do.
Perhaps, it's their company.
Quote from: 11B4V on September 26, 2013, 09:05:24 PM
Quote from: garbon on September 26, 2013, 08:58:10 PM
I would think something like a pasta company wouldn't even enter battle in the culture wars. What's the upside for their business?
Maybe 11B4V, we have very different ideas on what a private company should aim to do.
Perhaps, it's their company.
Of course and people can choose not to buy their products and also be annoyed.
That said, I don't see the advantage for a pasta company to try and alienate anyone. Like I asked before, what's the upside?
I don't see how this is a case of a pasta company trying to alienate anyone. He was asked a question by a feminazi about politically incorrect ads featuring women serving pasta to family, and he answered honestly.
OH NO YI HE HAD AN AGENDA TO MAKE GAYS FEEL BAD ABOUT THEMSELVES
Quote from: Admiral Yi on September 26, 2013, 09:23:37 PM
I don't see how this is a case of a pasta company trying to alienate anyone. He was asked a question by a feminazi about politically incorrect ads featuring women serving pasta to family, and he answered honestly.
By bringing gays in?
It may have been a misstep, but it doesn't seem to have been a deliberate one.
I'm sorry if my posts suggested that, I don't think it was intentional. And I think that's evidenced by the sort of hasty apology from the company.
Gays are stupid.
:lol:
Many people are only happy if companies communicate through PR firms and check all the PC boxes before finalizing any statement. An owner speaking unscripted and being somewhat honest in anathema to them.
De Cecco pasta is better anyways, though Barilla is not bad.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on September 26, 2013, 01:54:51 PM
Tricking activist groups into getting mad at you and spending their own money to give you free publicity seems to be a fad marketing strategy these days.
:yes:
Although it is good for the activist group as well, AND people on both sides of the argument who like to get all scandalized and upset over meaningless shit can be upset (and thus happy) as well.
Everybody wins. Getting upset at each other for no real reason is what unites mankind into one happy community.
Quote from: garbon on September 26, 2013, 09:31:10 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on September 26, 2013, 09:23:37 PM
I don't see how this is a case of a pasta company trying to alienate anyone. He was asked a question by a feminazi about politically incorrect ads featuring women serving pasta to family, and he answered honestly.
By bringing gays in?
And saying 'if they don't want to buy it they don't have to'. Seems a really weird approach to take :mellow:
Is a thread of a non news of a non event a non thread?
So a friend of mine posted on Facebook something to the effect of "OMG, another company I have to boycott-- wish people would just keep their mouths shut."
Or maybe if it's that much of an annoyance to do another boycott, you could just ignore it & go on about your life?
I'm lucky since I don't buy Barilla pasta anyway. Think of the agonies of doubt and self-loathing, or, even worse, minor inconvenience, that this fortunate fact has saved me from :cool:
I wish Marti was here so I could make a fat joke about him. :(
I just bought Barilla pasta last weekend because it was on sale. :(
We have a cupboard full of it. It has always been our go-to pasta. Will need to keep it locked up next time my wife's friends are over :P
Quote from: garbon on September 27, 2013, 11:49:47 AM
I just bought Barilla pasta last weekend because it was on sale. :(
Be strong. No one think less of you.
I think I shall only buy Barilla.
I always buy Barilla when I buy non-fancy pasta.
I'm having American pasta for lunch today.
Michelina's :(
Quote from: 11B4V on September 27, 2013, 12:01:02 PM
No one think less of you.
I think less of you though.
Quote from: 11B4V on September 27, 2013, 12:08:07 PM
Quote from: garbon on September 27, 2013, 12:07:17 PM
Quote from: 11B4V on September 27, 2013, 12:01:02 PM
No one think less of you.
I think less of you though.
I will take that as a compliment. ;)
Or you could take it as an opportunity to work on noun-verb agreement. :P
Can I take it as a condiment?
Quote from: garbon on September 27, 2013, 12:09:00 PM
Quote from: 11B4V on September 27, 2013, 12:08:07 PM
Quote from: garbon on September 27, 2013, 12:07:17 PM
Quote from: 11B4V on September 27, 2013, 12:01:02 PM
No one think less of you.
I think less of you though.
I will take that as a compliment. ;)
Or you could take it as an opportunity to work on noun-verb agreement. :P
I'm the second generation standing upright. You expect far too much.
Quote from: The Brain on September 27, 2013, 12:09:29 PM
Can I take it as a condiment?
No, but how about a complement?
The tyranny of the gays!
http://news.yahoo.com/pasta-maker-barilla-tries-diversity-anti-gay-scandal-144339802.html
QuoteItalian pasta maker Barilla has called in experts to help overhaul its image and promote diversity in its ads after its CEO sparked outrage by saying he would never use gay couples in commercials.
American gay rights activist David Mixner and Italian Paralympics cyclist and ex-Formula One driver Alex Zanardi are among the high-profile international figures called in to advise the embarrassed company, a spokesman said Tuesday.
The pasta maker fought boycott calls after chief executive Guido Barilla gave an interview in September in which he said that "the concept of a canonical family remains one of the fundamental values of the business."
Asked if he would include a gay couple in one of his television commercials, he said: "We would not do it because ours is a traditional family".
"If (gay people) like our pasta, they can eat it. If they do not like it, if they do not like what we say, they can eat a different one," he added, sparking a major backlash and forcing the company to take to social media to apologize.
Barilla is the leading pasta company in Italy and a major exporter worldwide, with a turnover last year of 3.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion).
The Barilla spokesman said that the company's ads had already changed.
"We no longer see women in the kitchen in the latest Barilla ads, and it is men who do the food shopping," he said, citing a commercial in which Spanish actor Antonio Banderas bakes his own Barilla bread to eat with a group of men.
The company has also appointed a head diversity officer and will sign up to the Human Rights Campaign's corporate equality index, which rates companies on how open they are to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.
The Barilla spokesman said the initiatives had "been in the works for over a year" and were not an attempt to clean up the company's image after the backlash over the CEO's anti-gay remarks.
Quote from: garbon on November 05, 2013, 12:06:19 PM
The company has also appointed a head diversity officer and will sign up to the Human Rights Campaign's corporate equality index, which rates companies on how open they are to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.
:bleeding:
Gays and minorities with worthless degrees need good jobs too. :mad:
Those were some pretty saucy remarks. No doubt many customers were thorougly cheesed off. However, there is no reason to get all boiled about them.
Quote from: Malthus on November 05, 2013, 12:15:42 PM
Those were some pretty saucy remarks. No doubt many customers were thorougly cheesed off. However, there is no reason to get all boiled about them.
I think only the first sentence worked in that. :(
Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 05, 2013, 12:15:29 PM
Gays and minorities with worthless degrees need good jobs too. :mad:
I shudder just thinking of all of the worthless, utterly non-productive meetings that person will schedule in order to waste everyone else's time while simultaneously justifying their existence. :cry:
Quote from: Caliga on November 05, 2013, 12:21:50 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 05, 2013, 12:15:29 PM
Gays and minorities with worthless degrees need good jobs too. :mad:
I shudder just thinking of all of the worthless, utterly non-productive meetings that person will schedule in order to waste everyone else's time while simultaneously justifying their existence. :cry:
Will it entail creating a list?
It will entail sermons about sensitivity so that the company covers its ass against a lawsuit.
Quote from: Caliga on November 05, 2013, 12:21:50 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 05, 2013, 12:15:29 PM
Gays and minorities with worthless degrees need good jobs too. :mad:
I shudder just thinking of all of the worthless, utterly non-productive meetings that person will schedule in order to waste everyone else's time while simultaneously justifying their existence. :cry:
Just as long as he schedules them during siesta time; then he can have his meetings and justify his existence without bothering anybody.
Maybe he'll sleep through his own meetings as well and save the world some noise pollution.
Unless he's a snorer, of course... :ultra:
"He"? This type of job is almost always held by a chick in my experience. :)
I had a Mexican dude one time.
Quote from: Malthus on November 05, 2013, 12:15:42 PM
Those were some pretty saucy remarks. No doubt many customers were thorougly cheesed off. However, there is no reason to get all boiled about them.
The company may have pasta milestone in its history, but the president there needs someone to Wop him upside the head. He sounds like a weenie in a linguine world.
Quote from: Caliga on November 05, 2013, 12:13:59 PM
Quote from: garbon on November 05, 2013, 12:06:19 PM
The company has also appointed a head diversity officer and will sign up to the Human Rights Campaign's corporate equality index, which rates companies on how open they are to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.
:bleeding:
That company's management is getting as soft as cooked linguine!!
Quote from: Malthus on November 05, 2013, 12:15:42 PM
Those were some pretty saucy remarks. No doubt many customers were thorougly cheesed off. However, there is no reason to get all boiled about them.
You're saying it's time to stop noodling around and move pasta those remarks?
Quote from: Jacob on November 05, 2013, 03:11:20 PM
Quote from: Malthus on November 05, 2013, 12:15:42 PM
Those were some pretty saucy remarks. No doubt many customers were thorougly cheesed off. However, there is no reason to get all boiled about them.
You're saying it's time to stop noodling around and move pasta those remarks?
Certainly, it ill suits such a manufacturer to insult the Fagottini.
:frusty:
:weep:
Even by our standards that was a groaner Malthus :lol:
Quote from: Valmy on November 05, 2013, 03:39:25 PM
Even by our standards that was a groaner Malthus :lol:
I only got BB to bash his head
once. My aim: a triple. ;)
Quote from: Malthus on November 05, 2013, 03:41:29 PM
Quote from: Valmy on November 05, 2013, 03:39:25 PM
Even by our standards that was a groaner Malthus :lol:
I only got BB to bash his head once. My aim: a triple. ;)
If I do it does that mean you'll stop with the puns?