Barilla’s LGBT remarks boiled over on social media and  David Worthington of SmartPlanet sought Brian Solis’ views on the subject.

“Guido Barilla’s comments were the perfect recipe for a social media crisis. In a world where news no longer breaks, it Tweets, Barilla had no chance to stop the wrath it deserved on social media. The company had remained silent for far too long in a real time world but at least Barilla issued an apology on its primary accounts around the world. Certainly boycotts are inevitable. Now the company must wait to see just how much this debacle impacts its business,” said Brian Solis an author and principal analyst with Altimeter Group.

“There are interesting precedents here as well. Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy was very public against gay marriage in 2012. Boycotts were waged but others called for a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. Reports show that business netted positive for them over time. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos also contributed significant donations in Washington to help legalize gay marriage and was met with threats of a boycott to no avail,” Solis added.

Read the entire article here.