Jennifer Galm | Arts & Life Blogger

Barilla, the global noodle maker, found themselves in boiling water this past week after their CEO Guido Barilla made some disparaging comments on an Italian radio show that were deemed by many to be homophobic and sexist. Immediately, social media went into a rapid boil over his half-baked ideas of whom his companies’ consumers were and the role of the woman in their advertising.

One of the CEO’s biggest mistakes during the interview was to give his customers a challenge.

“If they like our pasta and our communication, they can eat them. Otherwise, they can eat another pasta.”

Consumers all over the world took him up on his offer. Twitter ignited with the hashtags #BoicottaBarilla and #BoycottBarilla urging consumers to avoid the Barilla brands and to chuck those products still in their pantries. (Remember, don’t throw away food. Please donate to a local food bank.) Facebook timelines were chock-full of articles from pro-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) groups and allies. Major news media organizations posted articles in response to the intense international backlash.

To marginalize any group of people is never a great idea. According to Business Insider, the LGBTQ community has a collective buying power of $800 Billion, not including pro-LGBTQ allies. Many companies are recognizing the importance of this demographic and have taken steps to ensure their visibility as an LGBTQ friendly company. In fact, several pasta competitors took advantage of Barilla’s misstep and quickly posted graphics to social media noting their love and acceptance of all their customers. Bertolli even reposted a video they had made four years ago showcasing a same-sex couple.

So, what can we learn from this blunder of massive proportions? Information is what makes the world go round and today, because of social media, it moves at neck-breaking speeds. It’s important to remember that your words are never your own for very long. In a split second those words can be used to help promote a positive image for you or your company or they can be words that will haunt you and hurt your company’s bottom line for years to come. 200 million active twitter users will make sure of it.