How Subarus Came to be Seen as Cars for Lesbians

Reading Summary

In this article out of The Atlantic, Alex Mayyasi addresses a specific ad campaign that left Subarus being seen as cars for lesbians. In the 1990s, Subaru executives made the attempt to “reinvigorate sales,” and in doing so they identified five core groups that accounted for over 50% of the makers’ sales: teachers and educators, health care professionals, IT professionals, the outdoorsy type, and last but certainly not least: lesbians. The article continued to address how the company handled the advertising and targeting of the LGBT community, and how rather than being exploitative, the company’s tactics resulted in additional support.

Outside Connection

After reading this article and reflecting on it, it reminded me somewhat of Nike’s ad featuring Colin Kaepernick, “Believe in Something,” and Gillette’s ad “The Best Men Can Be.” Each of these advertisements faced backlash in the media for support of controversial movements, but despite the critical evaluation of each of the ads, the media surrounding them typically did not hurt either of the company’s sales as the phrase “any publicity is good publicity” proved to be true.

https://globalnews.ca/video/rd/1313477187677/?jwsource=cl

Reading Connection

I connected the readings and these Nike and Gillette ads because of the section of the article that talks about Subaru facing backlash and receiving letters from a grassroots group that threatened to never buy a Subaru again. All that Subaru learned from this was that these people who were boycotting the company were individuals who were not supporting them by purchasing their vehicles in the first place. Through this backlash Subaru learned that “the people opposing . . . were not as imposing as they seemed. The same goes for the Nike and Gillette ads, that despite critical media surrounding them, “any publicity is good publicity” proves to be true.