Subaru ads gay
In the early 1990s, homosexuality was a sensitive and controversial topic. However, one struggling automobile manufacturer discovered a niche market and targeted its advertisements to this group in a clever and imaginative way. Specifically, Subaru identified through market research that it had five main target markets, one of which was the woman loving woman community (The Atlantic, 2016). Subaru decided to focus its attention on this marginalized group and succeeded in developing a strong bond with its customers through the clever use of semiotics in its advertising (Mayyasi, 2016), as can be seen in Figure 1.
At this time in the US, Subaru was a recent and small automaker and had stagnant, if not weakening, interest (The Atlantic, 2016). It fired a “hip/trendy” advertising agency after a failed marketing campaign to try to turn around its public image and sales (The Atlantic, 2016). Subaru decided to launch an extensive research venture to better perceive who was buying their cars and why they establish them appealing (Mayyasi, 2016). Mayyasi goes on to declare that Subaru discovered that one of its key markets was lesbians, who claimed to spot with the cars’ traits and underst
ow do you advertise a car that journalists describe as “sturdy, if drab”?
That was the ask faced by Subaru of America executives in the 1990s. After the company's attempts to reinvigorate sales — by releasing its first luxury car and hiring a hip ad agency to introduce it to the public — failed, it changed its approach. Rather than fight larger car companies over the same demographic of white, 18- to 35-year-olds living in the suburbs, executives decided to market their cars to niche groups — such as outdoorsy types who liked that Subarus could handle dirt roads.
In the 1990s, Subaru's unique selling point was that the company increasingly made all-wheel steer standard on all its cars. When the company's marketers went searching for people willing to pay a premium for all-wheel steer, they identified four core groups who were responsible for half of the company's American sales: teachers and educators, health-care professionals, IT professionals, and outdoorsy types.
Then they discovered a fifth: lesbians. “When we did the research, we found pockets of the country favor Northampton, Massachusetts, and Portland, Oregon, where the head of the household would be a available per
Critical Media Project
This Subaru car commercial depicts an animated Subaru driving through various neighborhoods and landscapes. Throughout the advertisement, written questions scroll on the bottom of the screen, asking big questions about the nature of being. “How do you see yourself?”, “What do you see yourself doing?”, “Where do you notice yourself going?”, “How will you get there?” At the close of the ad, we the car stops by a lake, and two men get out of the vehicle, walking together.
discussion
Did you have any expectations about the genders of the drivers of the car? What shaped these expectations? Were you surprised that two men were revealed to be in the car? Why or why not?
Consider the target audience for this ad. What is their age? Gender? Sexual orientation? Socio-Economic status?. What clues from within the advertisement help determine this target audience? Consider both audio and visual cues, including the text at the bottom of the screen and the various environments that the animated car drives through.
critique
Subaru has long been been acknowledged as a champion for sapphic and gay rights, and was a sponsor of the le
Case study: Subaru
The beginning
How undertake you advertise a wagon that journalists describe as “sturdy, if drab”? That was the question faced by Subaru of America executives in the 1990s. When the company’s marketers went searching for people willing to pay a premium for all-wheel navigate, they identified four core groups who were responsible for half of the company’s American sales: teachers and educators, health-care professionals, IT professionals, and outdoorsy types. Then they discovered a fifth: lesbians. “When we did the analyze, we found pockets of the country like Northampton, Massachusetts, and Portland, Oregon, where the head of the household would be a single person - and often a woman,” says Tim Bennett, who was the company’s director of advertising at the time. When marketers talked to these customers, they realized these women buying Subarus were lesbian.
In the ‘90s, gay-friendly advertising was largely limited to the fashion and alcohol industries. Pop culture had also yet to embrace the LGBT cause. Mainstream movies and TV shows with gay characters - prefer Will & Grace - were still a couple of years away, and few celebrities were openly gay.