“How Subarus came to be seen as cars for Lesbians”

Reading Summary

Subarus becoming the official car for lesbians isn’t just the result of a stereotype, but it is the outcome of a highly progressive marketing campaign beginning in the 1990s. The birth of this project began when Subaru conducted a survey to identify the demographics of those who were willing to purchase their premium all-wheel drive. The core groups discovered were: medical officials, teachers and educators, IT professionals, outdoorsy types, and lesbians. Subarus fit the low-key life styles of many lesbians at the time. Rather than fighting larger car companies over the same demographic, Subaru decided to target unconquered territory: the gay market. From this point forward, Subaru marketing became leaders in social progress. Considering this market campaign received backlash from conservative viewers, Subaru decided to base their advertisements on subtle hints and allow the audiences to decode what was happening. This left the anti-gays to be dumbfounded and the supporters to enjoy the playful coding incorporated into the ad.

Outside Example

The reading states how some of the first marketing techniques did not go well because many of their tactics read as ingenue to gay audiences. Lesbian audiences seemed to not enjoy their sexuality being the sole point of such ads. This target audience seemed to favor subtle shoutouts. When reading this, I was reminded of the last few moments of a recent political ad I scrolled upon. This ad is for Rich Madaleno’s campaign. He states in this video that his sexuality is the number one thing about him that allows him to take a stance against republicans. As suggested in the reading, this tactic may not read well at all. https://youtu.be/cc9ovvth3sY

Reading Connection

This ad correlates to the reading because it is reminiscent of the first few ads Subaru put out. Gay audiences seemed to enjoy “playful decoding” rather than no subtle hints and in your face marketing techniques. In this political ad, Rich Madaleno seems to use his sexuality as a spite towards Donald trump. Instead of voicing that he was for gay rights he voiced that he was against Donald trump and did so by filming what looks to be a very ingenue kiss. As the reading suggests, this ad may read better with gay audiences was merely hinted at rather than being “the number one way he pisses of trump and republicans.”