An illustrated tribute of sorts to Barilla pasta appears in the online “Opinion” section of The New York Times, and asserts that a boycott by the gay community ended when Chairman Guido Barilla’s apologized for saying that “gays can go eat another brand” of pasta.
The 21-panel illustration by Nicholas Blechman, titled “Pasta Planet,” documents his field trip to a Barilla factory, the world’s largest dry pasta producer.
The feature, which feels more like a promotional campaign than an op-ed, calls brief attention to the September 2013 controversy sparked by Guido Barilla when he his family-friendly company would never feature a same-sex couple in its advertising, and “if the gays don’t like it they can go an eat another brand.”
The illustration notes that Barilla apologized and the boycott ended…
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…and suggests that Barilla could rebrand its packaging to better appeal to the LGBT community:
Following Barilla’s apology, the company said it would launch a global online contest in 2014 “designed to engage people on diversity, inclusion and equality,” where entrants can create short videos that represent the “multifaceted nature of pasta” while they enjoy Barilla products.
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