The Chairman of the worldwide privately-owned company pasta company of the same last name , Guido Barilla, stepped into a huge pile of puttanesca yesterday when he told an Italian radio show that Barilla is a company that “likes the traditional family.” And therefore, you’re not going to see any gays in Barilla’s advertising. And if gays don’t like it, “they can always go eat someone else’s pasta.”
Non faremo pubblicità con omosessuali, perché a noi piace la famiglia tradizionale. Se i gay non sono d’accordo, possono sempre mangiare la pasta di un’altra marca. Tutti sono liberi di fare ciò che vogliono purché non infastidiscano gli altri”.
TRANSLATION:
“We won’t include gays in our ads, because we like the traditional family. If gays don’t like it, they can always eat another brand of pasta. Everyone is free to do what they want, provided it doesn’t bother anyone else.”
Italian gay rights advocates, including members of the Italian parliament, are up in arms over Brallia’s statements and are now calling for a boycott of Barilla (#boicottabarilla #boycottbarilla) while Italian “family” advocates are claiming that criticizing Barilla is an attack on civil liberties.
Well, I am beginning a non-starch, gluten free diet (The Glycemic Load Diet and the Virgin Diet) anyway. But, while you are boycotting Barilla, you should boycott Dominoes Pizza since the owner is notoriously anti-gay.
Would the head of Barilla Pasta’s gadar go off on some retro ads?
As everyone was buzzing about the Mad Men moment when Bob Benson brushed his knee against Petes, setting tongues wagging about Bob’s possible homosexuality, the real Mad Men of mid-century Madison Avenue produced some real ads with homoerotic subtext of their own. For a look at some unintentionally gay vintage ads take a peek http://wp.me/p2qifI-1rc