Subaru gay ads

Subaru’s lesbian-focused ad campaign was widely discussed in the New York Times, Washington Post, and trade magazines, and its success helped spur wild growth in gay and lesbian marketing. In focus groups and online polls, gay and lesbian consumers consistently choose Subaru vehicles as their favorite cars or Subaru as the most gay-friendly brand.

A group of Subaru owners filed into a little room in a shopping mall to answer a few questions, and the researchers noticed something right away. All of them were women and many identified as. Subaru sponsored events, programs, and even the first LGBTQ satellite radio station. It also contributed to AIDS research and LGBTQ advocacy groups, like the Human Rights Campaign. Among gay people, it seems to have preceded Subaru’s explicit lesbian niche marketing.

NPR’s Planet Money tells the whole story. “Subaru spent more than a decade carefully targeting lesbian consumers” Noelle King and Stacy Bannock Smith explain. It was the mid s, and sales of Subaru cars were in decline. After firing the hip ad agency, Subaru of America changed its approach. Rather than compete directly with Ford, Toyota, and other carmakers that dwarfed Subaru in size, executives decided to return to its old focus on marketing Subaru cars to niche groups—like outdoorsy types who liked that Subaru cars could handle dirt roads.

This search for niche groups led Subaru to the 3rd rail of marketing: They discovered that lesbians loved their cars.

This was the type of discovery that the small, struggling automaker was looking for. But Subaru had been looking for niche groups like skiers and kayakers—not lesbian couples. Did the company want to make advertisements for gay customers?

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At the time, in the mid s, few celebrities were openly out. Yet Subaru decided to launch an ad campaign focused on lesbian customers. It was such an unusual decision—and such a success—that it pushed gay and lesbian advertising from the fringes to the mainstream. That was the question faced by Subaru of America executives in the s.

When Subaru marketers talked to these customers, they realized these women buying Subarus were lesbian. The marketers found that lesbian Subaru owners liked that the cars were good for outdoor trips, and that they were good for hauling stuff without being as large as a truck or SUV. Photo courtesy of Subaru. Of all the niche groups, lesbians may have exhibited the most fervor.

For medical professionals, it was that a Subaru with all-wheel-drive could get them to the hospital in any weather. For rugged individualists, it was that a Subaru could handle dirt roads and haul gear. For lesbians, it was that a Subaru fit their active, low-key lifestyle. But it was easier to get senior management on board with making ads for hikers than for lesbians. Pop culture had also yet to embrace the LGBT cause.

When Ellen Degeneres became a rare exception in , and her character in the show Ellen came out as gay in an episode of the sitcom, many companies pulled their ads. Gay-friendly advertising was largely limited to the fashion and alcohol industries. Today, this IKEA ad of a gay couple shopping for a dining room table seems mundane. But in , the film crew was tense, and its airing incited backlash and New York Times op-eds.

Early in his career, he made cold calls to ask companies for their business. It was tough. Reporter Ron Dicker ably captured some of the cultural confusion that followed:. Upon reading the definition, they nodded at the idea enthusiastically. According to Bennett, who is gay, they never faced disrespect within Subaru. But Bennett did not reveal his sexual orientation, fearing it would overshadow the effort, and it took a year and a half to get everyone at Subaru onboard.

For a car company, openly marketing to gay customers still felt new, if not taboo. But the corporate environment did have its advantages. For starters, there was a great business case for the marketing campaign.