Barilla buckles after gay protests

Inappropriate comments lead to boycott

“Our family is a traditional family. You cannot please everyone. I
never want advertisements with a gay couple in them. That is not because I
don’t respect gay people: they have the right to do what they want, as long as
they do not bother other people. But I do not agree with them and we wish to
talk to traditional families. That makes women crucial.” With these
statements, Guido Barilla, the 55-year-old chairman for Barilla, lit the fuse
of the argument.

The fuse quickly resulted in a worldwide blaze, as several interest
groups asked to boycott Barilla and the other brands belonging to the food
corporation. Social media helped spread the information, especially in the
United States, the second largest market for the Italian food company.

First apologies, now actual steps

It became so tumultuous that the founder’s
great-grandson quickly apologized: “I [apologize] if my words generated
misunderstandings or controversy or if they hurt some people’s feelings. In the
interview I just wanted to underline the centrality of the woman’s role in the
family.”

Barilla has announced it is commited to support more diversity, not only in its
advertising, but also in its company structure and personnel. Not only
traditional families will be featured in Barilla’s future advertisements, but they will
also feature the handicapped former F1 pilot and Paralympic hand biker Alex
Zanardi and American gay rights activist David Mixner.

The company will be creating a Diversity and Inclusion Board and
adding a ‘global diversity officer’ to put and keep the company on the
right track. To prove it is serious, Barilla has demanded to be screened based on the
principles of the Corporate Equality Index, a Human Rights Campaign initiative.
This initiative reports on the diversity found in the workplace.

Talks with gay community

These steps were taken after Guido Barilla had
spent the past few weeks talking to gay people and interest groups in Italy and
the United States. “These meetings have helped us open our eyes to what is
happening in the world outside of Parma and Italy”, says spokesperson Luca
Virginio.

Certain sources indicate that the boycott led to Barilla losing 10 % of
its turnover, a number the company neither confirms nor denies. It is undeniable
that the pasta maker has been in a downward spiral due to the Italian
recession, with its last year’s net profit dropping more than 21 % to 60
million euro. It is mainly depending on the United States to recover, meaning
this turmoil was not really helping the company reach that goal.

(Translated by Gary Peeters)