Gay rights and pasta. My two favorite things!
Inspired by Doris' post, I thought I'd expand a little on what's going on with all the "gay" pasta ads on the Internet.
Last week, Guido Barilla, chairman of Barilla Pasta, made some horrifically homophobic and sexist remarks that sparked a worldwide boycott of the Barilla company by the LGBTQ community. Guido tried to issue an apology, but instead he wound up saying that he has never actually discriminated against anyone. Except refusing to represent non-straight couples in your advertising because you 'disagree with their choices' is, you know, discrimination.
This coaxed a bunch of other pasta companies to come forward and do what Barilla was too conservative to do: represent non-straight families in their advertising. My favorite so far is the Bertolli ad above, because of its creatively simplistic way of demonstrating diverse family dynamics. While the debate surrounding non-heterosexual marriage is more complicated and nuanced than this, the ad does argue something essential: families aren't always man-woman, pink-blue, A-B. This simple ad challenges the simplified binary that most of us absorbed in preschool.
Especially notable are the two bowtie pastas with the little penne baby, especially since Guido also came out against the right for gay couples to adopt.
I have to wonder if these other pasta companies would have ever represented family diversity in their advertising were it not for the sake of competing with Barilla. Barilla, after all, dominates 25% of the US pasta market and between 40 and 45% of Italy's. It's certainly nice to see gay couples represented, but I can't help but feel that it's motivated more by cashing in on the Barilla boycott than an actual interest in equal representation.
But like in most situations involving discrimination and privilege, intent is pretty much irrelevant. Regardless of who's making money, what ultimately matters is that "non-traditional" families are being represented in a positive, inclusive light. As someone who comes from one of those non-traditional families, I don't feel exploited by these ads. I feel empowered.
Take my money, Bertolli!
Image source: http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/09/30/2698641/barilla-pasta-non-apology/
You can tell that culture is changing by the way major marketers swing.
ReplyDelete