After Barilla's chairman, Guido Barilla, came under fire for making anti-gay remarks on an Italian radio show which led to major backlash, the company announced their efforts to make Barilla a more diverse workplace and create a more inclusive television ad campaign.
According to the Reuters, Barilla issued a statement stating that they would be introducing a "Diversity & Inclusion Board" and hire a Global Diversity Officer. The Diversity & Inclusion Board will be comprised of external experts and advocates who will help Barilla establish concrete goals and strategies for improving diversity and equality in the company's workforce and culture, the press release stated.
"Diversity, inclusion and equality have long been grounded in Barilla's culture, values and code of conduct. They are reflected in our policies and the benefits we provide to all employees, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation," Chief Executive Officer Claudio Colzani noted on Barilla's website. "At the same time, we are committed to promoting diversity further because we firmly believe that it's the right thing to do."
In addition the company has plans to launch a global contest to engage consumers in diversity issues. Consumers will be asked to submit videos online that show the "multifaceted nature of pasta" which will then be voted by the online community with the winners receiving awards from a panel of judges.
Reuters reported chairman Barilla, the 55-year-old great grandson of the company's founder, has since held at least eight meetings with gay organizations and activists both in Italy and in the United States, a market where it is counting on for growth outside its crisis-hit home market.
"Italy is a very insular country, and in cities like Parma it's even more so," company spokesman Luca Virginio Barilla's executive director of communication and external relations in the statement to Reuters. "The meetings have helped open our eyes and ears to the evolution taking place in the world outside Parma."
He said the shock could lead to a shift in focus from rosy depictions of traditional Italian family life that have always been the staple of Barilla advertising campaigns.
"We're grateful to those who took the time to share their perspectives with us, and to get to know Barilla as a company. As a socially responsible company that serves and respects diverse consumers, we know we have to expand our commitment," Virginio said. "Our goal is to do better by becoming a global corporate citizen and leader in diversity and inclusion, internally and externally."
The controversy began in September after Barilla stated his company supports "traditional" notions of family and that anyone who disagrees could "eat another brand of pasta" during a radio interview.
"I would not do a commercial with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect toward homosexuals, who have the right to do whatever they want without disturbing others, but because I don't agree with them and I think we want to talk to traditional families," Barilla told the Italian radio program, La Zanzara. "For us, the sacral family remains one of the company's core values.
"Our family is a traditional family. If gays like our pasta and our advertising, they will eat our pasta; if they don't like that, they will eat someone else's pasta," he said.
