Well, this is too bad. Guido Barilla, head of the world's biggest pasta brand, went on an anti-gay rant on Italian radio yesterday, proclaiming that he would never OK a commercial depicting a gay family and that if gays don't like his views "they can eat another pasta."

Barilla pasta is famous in part because of its TV ads, which portray a traditional Italian family living in the quaint Italian countryside—tagline: "Where there's Barilla, there's home." Asked if he'd ever consider replacing that traditional family with a gay one, Barilla scoffed:

"I would never do (a commercial) with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect but because we don't agree with them. Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role," Barilla, 55, said in an interview with Radio 24 on Wednesday.

[...]

In the interview, Barilla said he opposed adoption by gay parents, but was in favour of allowing gay marriage, which is not legal in Italy. ...

If gays "like our pasta and our advertising, they'll eat our pasta, if they don't like it then they will not eat it and they will eat another brand," he said.

Barilla has since attempted to walk back his comments, saying, "In the interview I simply wanted to highlight the central role of the woman in the family." But LGBT groups and others are already calling for a boycott of Barilla pasta. You should probably join that boycott if you believe in the equality of all human beings. Gawker recommends replacing Barilla with De Cecco or making your own pasta at home, which is not as difficult or expensive as you might expect.

[Image via AP]