Bertolli Germany ups the ante after rival’s huge misstep

Sep 28, 2013 11:16 GMT  ·  By

The other day, the Chairman of Barilla Pasta, Guido Barilla, said in an interview that he would never use gay couples in ads for the company because they stood for the traditional family values. Turns out, rival Bertolli Pasta, from Germany, is totally ok with that.

Even though Barilla apologized for the initial comment in a bid to do some damage control, the scandal is yet to die down, especially since he had also said that gays who don’t like that can go and eat other brands of pasta, or something to that effect.

Bertolli is now reminding them that they offer pasta that tastes just as good and comes with a more gay-friendly image as well.

The photo above was posted on the company’s Facebook shortly after the Barilla scandal broke. It was accompanied by the message, “Love and pasta for all! We just wanted to spread the news that Bertolli welcomes everyone, especially those with an empty stomach.”

Perhaps more important is that this isn’t just a cheap gimmick: Bertolli has been gay-friendly for years, as the commercial embedded below will confirm.