Barilla Pasta Chairman Tells Gays To 'Go And Eat Another Brand'

By Anthony Todd in Food on Sep 26, 2013 6:20PM

Photo credit: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

We thought that we'd finished with the blatantly bigoted food CEOs when the boss of Chick-fil-A finally shut up, but apparently we were wrong. The chairman of one of our favorite pasta brands (until now), Barilla, has made some pretty horrid anti-gay statements, once again raising the issue of whether consumers should care what a company CEO thinks.

Guido Barilla, the head of the company (which, in addition to their Italian operations also owns a big factory in Iowa) said during a radio interview he would never use a gay or lesbian couple in an advertisement. His remarks were reported today in the Independent.

“I would never do an advert with a homosexual family…if the gays don’t like it they can go and eat another brand. For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the fundamental values of the company.”

This wasn't his only statement on the subject, as he also bashed gay adoption: "I have no respect for adoption by gay families because this concerns a person who is not able to choose."

At least one left-wing member of the Italian Parliament is already boycotting the brand. According to LGBT Nation, the president of Equality Italia, Aurelio Mancuso, has chosen to go along with Barilla's suggestion. "“We accept his invitation to not eat his pasta.”

The company immediately started damage control. He issued a non-apology apology a few hours ago. "I’m sorry if my comments on La Zanzara have created misunderstanding or polemic, or if I’ve offended anyone. In the interview I only wanted to underline the central role of the woman in the family." Uh huh. Right.