How Subarus Car Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lesbians

Reading Summary

The article describes how, in the 1990s, the Subaru car company recovered itself from an almost terrible downfall by beginning to target to lesbians. The idea of making ads targeted to lesbians was progressive but still very risky because the LGBT community was not culturally accepted yet. The company decided to go with the idea after many meetings which included one with a Japanese man who said that Canada had already done it and succeeded. Although the company suffered a lot of backlash from many people and other companies, the company seemed to meet the goal to attract the large and underrepresented group of lesbians. After making them public, the advertisements started to gain attention from different standing points since they were radically out-of-the-normal. In order to prevent lawsuits or a bigger negative crowd, the company decided to strategically place subtle hints that only members of the LGBT community would understand. As a result, the company began to be accepted again and this time by both straight and gay people. The LGBT community did not backlash the company for the change of the ads because the company openly supported their community and is still considered a “gay-friendly” brand.

Outside Example

My example is a commercial by Gillette razors named “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be.” The commercial caught my attention because it isn’t your typical manly commercial that shows men in tough situations or anything similar to that. Instead, the commercial shows men in another light, as possible sex offenders or unaware advocates for gender inequality. The commercial ends saying that men can be better than what their current label is. I chose this ad because it clearly targets men and their current situation of always being seen as a possible harmful figure in society when they can be and are better than being a machista.

Connection

The Gillette commercial and the reading connect because both companies took risky decisions in their marketing strategies. Ever since I was little, I remember the Gillette commercials always showing a physically fit man in his 20s without a shirt or a good-looking 40 year old man shaving in front of the mirror and then trying to impress the ladies. This type of technique of appealing to man masculinity was very popular for many advertisements back in the day. A couple of years ago, gender equality was not supported by a large number of people just like the LGBT community wasn’t at the time that the Subarus commercial was put out. Another similarity between the two ads is that the Gillette commercial is also very different but progressive just like the Subarus one.

The Gillette commercial starts by showing really close-up shots of men’s faces which is very unusual because close-ups tend to humanize a person more. In the background of the ad you can hear several news reports of men sexually assaulting women or of the #metoo movement as men reflect in the mirror. I really liked that part of the advertisement because it made it seem like men are reflecting on the person they want to become which is the whole purpose. Going back to the article, the Subarus advertisement made a difference in how society viewed the LGBT community and I believe that Gillette is trying to attempt the same outcome with men by changing not only society’s view but also men’s view of themselves.