How an Ad Campaign Made Lesbians Fall in Love with Subaru
May 24, 2016 7:47 AM   Subscribe

"While gay and lesbian consumers loved the shout outs in the license plates, straight people would only notice features like a bike rack. Paul Poux, who helped come up with the license plate idea, says he held focus groups with straight audiences where he’d show ads featuring gay couples. Even after an hour of talking about gay issues, they’d think a man was shopping with his uncle." (See also: pinkwashing, pink money.)
posted by zebra (114 comments total) 45 users marked this as a favorite
 
pink money

In the early 90's in Atlanta, I used to get dollar bills with "LESBIAN MONEY" stamped on them as change pretty often.
posted by thelonius at 7:57 AM on May 24, 2016 [9 favorites]


I'm so not surprised to see my town (Northampton, Massachusetts) name-checked along with Portland, Oregon as lesbian Subaru ground zero.
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:00 AM on May 24, 2016 [8 favorites]


Vivian: Bridge? He's not really my uncle.
Bridget: They never are dear.

Pretty Woman (1990)


But seriously an interesting article. Subaru has equalled "lesbian vehicle" for my brain for so long that it's odd to remember that it wasn't true, let alone imagine the origin of it being so targeted (which I'm totally for by the way; you want my queer money, you can work for it).
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:01 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


Also, the best line in the article:
Yeah that’s fine. We did that in Canada years ago. Anything else?
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 8:02 AM on May 24, 2016 [23 favorites]


When one Subaru ad man, Tim Mahoney, proposed the gay-targeting ads in talks with Japanese executives, the executives hurriedly looked up “gay” in their dictionaries. Upon reading the definition, they nodded at the idea enthusiastically. Who wouldn’t want happy or joyous advertising?
This seems almost too pat to be real, but if it is real it is fairly brilliant.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:04 AM on May 24, 2016 [26 favorites]


That's funny, MC. I'm a white man in the US and am one of the independent outdoorsy type in their other niche market. Ann Arbor, MI no less. I've driven a Subaru since at least '95, and I only recently became aware of the association. I think it's really cool.

The old dealership here was a small family-run affair. No longer, though. It's a regular big dealership like all the other lots on the road now. I still drive the Subarus and will continue to do so, though, especially after having read this article.
posted by Roger Dodger at 8:07 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm in the market for a new car, and I told my boyfriend that I was thinking about purchasing a Subaru after reading that someone on AskMe recommended it - I like practical hatchbacks, and they have a fairly nice looking one.

He looked at me with a very straight face and said, "Are you trying to say you're leaving me for a woman?" I'm still chuckling over his deadpan reaction.
posted by sockermom at 8:12 AM on May 24, 2016 [30 favorites]


I'm a kayaker and this is and was a very popular vehicle for kayakers. Whenever someone would get an Outback one of the many lesbians in the kayaking club would inevitably sneak a rainbow sticker on the back. Good times.

While I've always liked Outbacks I feel they were overpriced, especially compared to a used 10 year old Honda, another favorite vehicle with outdoorsy dirtbag types.
posted by misterpatrick at 8:16 AM on May 24, 2016 [5 favorites]


Subaru has equalled "lesbian vehicle" for my brain for so long

Heh. So my wife, who plays hockey (and keeps her hair short to make wearing the helmet easier), is very outdoorsy, and is a pretty decent handyperson, occasionally gets odd looks when she mentions her husband. I guess we should add in the "drives a Subaru" to the equation.
posted by nubs at 8:17 AM on May 24, 2016 [14 favorites]


Since, with the arrival of kid number 2 looming in the next few months, I'm not going to be able to hold out long enough to snag a EV that I like... I may be in the market for a station wagon type vehicle in the not so distant future. The '07 Toyota Yaris Hatchback (a requirement for me, the hatch I mean), while still much loved and trouble free, we have isn't cutting it as well these days for when we need to road-trip to see family with the wife, kid, and 2 doggies, and kiddo number 2 isn't going to help matters.

So, yea, Subaru is probably going to be it for us. The last IC vehicle I expect to purchase and all that jazz. I honestly, in my surface level research anyway, don't see anyone that can compete with their track record to cost ratio, even despite the fact that I don't live in a place where all-wheel drive is going to be all that handy.

But yes, the lesbian/gay thing has come up when discussing it (insert Croc wearing lesbian joke here) so I'm actually surprised to see that Subaru actually targeted this population instead of falling into some sort of inside-decision of that same population. Honestly, not that it matters a helluva lot to me because buying a car is a *big* decision for the likes of us, it actually makes me respect the brand that much more.

So, let the Forrester vs Outback vs whatever else research begin.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:19 AM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


But the Lesbian Subaru was one model of its line. I had a Subaru--a Legacy--and just got rid of it, alas, after 22 years and over 150,000 miles. It was the Forester model that was marketed or at least thought of, as the model for lesbians.
posted by Postroad at 8:19 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


This little bit buried towards the end of the article surprised me:

Searching out the origins of the phrase “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” revealed that it’s a 1944 ad campaign designed to sell more breakfast cereal.

I did not know that at all, and I'm kind of annoyed now. I've been eating every morning just to line the pockets of Big Breakfast!
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:19 AM on May 24, 2016 [41 favorites]


That's a really fascinating article. The subtle messaging is really great; I count myself as pretty observant, but I ever connected any of it before, even the more obvious ones. I'm sure that's partly because my car itches are usually scratched by Germany, but I'm still amazed at how completely the ads were under my radar.

Good for them.

And not for nothing, but we may well end up in a Subaru this fall when our lease is up. The older I get, and more into cycling and whatnot I get, the less I need our car to be zoomy and the more I want it to be flexible for travel with gear. And all of a sudden I'm in Subaru-town.

(I hope they come with Birkenstocks. I could use a new pair.)
posted by uberchet at 8:20 AM on May 24, 2016


I live in Subaru ground zero (Pittsburgh), due to a combination of winter and challenging topography. Gay, straight, bi, asexual, everyone here drives a Subaru. I am currently on Subaru #3 and my parents are on Subaru #4. Both I and my husband routinely attempt to get into other peoples' identical Outbacks (complete with identical carseats) in parking lots. For a few years now we've been joking about our neighborhood where every time a moving truck leaves it is replaced by a Subaru with a dog in it.

I only became aware of the Subaru/Lesbian connection pretty recently as well, when internet friends starting making jokes about my long line of Subarus, so it was interesting to read about the origins of it being from so, so long ago. It's true though, if you're into home improvement and woodworking (I am) but don't care to drive a huge behemoth (I don't), and don't know how to fix cars (I don't), Subarus are a pretty outstanding choice.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:20 AM on May 24, 2016 [10 favorites]


My wife and I both drive Subarus. She has an Outback, I'm on my second Forrester. They're perfect for us New England outdoorsy types. We camp, we kayak, we ski, we go to Home Depot.

We're married 18 years and I'm pretty sure she's not a lesbian, though more than one lesbian friend has taken a look at my car and joked that perhaps I'm the lesbian.
posted by bondcliff at 8:23 AM on May 24, 2016 [5 favorites]


I wish we had some more diverse dealership options where I am. I'd probably love something like a Subaru for our next vehicle, but much prefer to be able to buy it (and know I can get it serviced) locally. Maybe I'll post an AskMe.

That was a great read, thanks. Would love to see more print ads from Subaru in the 90s.
posted by ODiV at 8:23 AM on May 24, 2016


But since it's a car, all it is is talk right?

Like, Subaru is just saying what they need to to get the demographic to like them. It's not like they are adding features for that demographic. What's a gay car feature?

It's cool that they are comfortable talking about these issues. But I can't shake my bias that they are just efficiently targeting a demographic for profit.

How does an advertising campaign serve their customers besides giving them a consumer identity, and the rest of society a new cliche?
posted by OwlBoy at 8:23 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


I will note that here the Subaru stereotype is more just generally liberal bougie (in my parents' neighborhoood we joke that they come from the dealwership with COEXIST bumper stickers and in my neighborhood they come automatically with Obama 2012 bumper stickers) than a particular sexual orientation. Add in a couple poodles though, and then you start to enter Sapphic Town.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:27 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's them noticing that they already had features that lesbians really liked, that they were already somewhat popular with that demographic and wanting to cater more to it in their advertising.
posted by ODiV at 8:27 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


How does an advertising campaign serve their customers besides giving them a consumer identity, and the rest of society a new cliche? Am I missing something?

In a culture that demands your silence and invisibility, being represented and acknowledged is powerful.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 8:27 AM on May 24, 2016 [80 favorites]


I had no idea that this was a thing. Fascinating! I read a book about the old, failed Subaru ad campaign, Where the Suckers Moon. Nike's agency tried to do a sarcastic, winking, anti-car-ad ad campaign, and it flopped hard.
posted by clawsoon at 8:27 AM on May 24, 2016


Like, Subaru is just saying what they need to to get the demographic to like them.
The point of the article was that they discovered that lesbians already liked them. Their marketing angle was to play to a strength they'd just discovered they already had.

The article goes on to say that the features of the car that lesbians tended to like is that they are a vehicle that is good for outdoorsy pursuits and for hauling large things home from Home Depot (both pursuits that lesbians are sort of known for) but they aren't trucks. Trucks are often uncomfortable for women to drive because they are so big. A Subaru is a car you can haul lumber home from Home Depot in and then go to your board meeting in the next day. It is perfect for a certain sort of lifestyle and there was a time when there wasn't a whole lot in the "crossover" not quite an SUV/truck but bigger and tougher than a car space.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:31 AM on May 24, 2016 [11 favorites]


I miss that Subaru Baja. THAT was the Lesbian Subaru I always thought of. I mean, economical car but is also a small pickup truck? Step aside, Chevy Avalanche!

I've had my eye on the Subaru, but I really love my local Mazda dealership. This is pretty awesome, though, especially with how they not only marketed to gay people, but donated to HIV/AIDS and LGB causes and even had supportive benefits for same-sex couples employed there. That means to me it wasn't just for show.
posted by jillithd at 8:31 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


My parents bought a Subaru, primarily my dad's car, about a year ago. My brother made fun of him for getting a "hipster car" and spent an entire weekend showing him pictures of hipsters. This was what my mom said the next time we were on the phone: "Oh, I know all about them now. With their tight t-shirts and their scarves and their beards. This all started when your father got his Prius, you know."

I can't wait to hear the reaction when they find out his car is gay.
posted by phunniemee at 8:31 AM on May 24, 2016 [5 favorites]


I didn't know about this, seeing as these are apparently US-only ads. But it makes me want a Subaru even more.
OwlBoy: "How does an advertising campaign serve their customers besides giving them a consumer identity, and the rest of society a new cliche?"
If only this was addressed in TFA.
posted by brokkr at 8:34 AM on May 24, 2016 [10 favorites]


My parents own a Subaru Crosstrek and my dad's little zip-around-town car is a Miata. Neither of my parents are gay but boy do they drive some gay cars.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:35 AM on May 24, 2016


"Mom, Dad... your car is gay."
posted by J.K. Seazer at 8:36 AM on May 24, 2016 [25 favorites]


soren_lorensen, I lived in Pittsburgh for a decade before I came here. So, I feel qualified to disagree and state that Vermont is Subaru central. Feel free to speculate as to how related that is to other Vermont associations - and how much it is the great extents of still dirt regular residential roads that turn to rivers of mud every spring.
posted by meinvt at 8:39 AM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


I think Vermont has been Subaru Central for much, much longer, so I accede to your claim on the title.

It has gotten ridiculous here in about the past 5 years or so. Husband and I make a game of trying to complete the longest line of Subarus possible while parking in parking lots.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:41 AM on May 24, 2016 [13 favorites]


In a culture that demands your silence and invisibility, being represented and acknowledged is powerful.


That makes total sense. I guess my anti-advertising bias is making it hard for me to not be cynical.

Acceptable and representation is important.
posted by OwlBoy at 8:42 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


But I can't shake my bias that they are just efficiently targeting a demographic for profit.

Hey, I am as cynical as the next person. More so usually.

But, all other things aside, I damn sure would rather purchase a car from a company that has a history of recognizing and kindly (I assume, my knowledge here is pretty superficial) targeting a certain subset of folks that aren't exactly always recognized at all, let alone marketed towards or respected, than I would purchase a car from a company that didn't or that simply attempted to bludgeon their way into my buying system with the same old testosterone or vanity stimulating ads.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:43 AM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


On trucks vs Subarus, there is also the issue of dogs. Your average dog-loving lesbian would not stick a dog in the back of a truck, but a Subaru is a perfect car for transporting dogs.
posted by aabbbiee at 8:44 AM on May 24, 2016 [13 favorites]


Whelp, shoulda previewed I suppose.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:44 AM on May 24, 2016


Wow. Excellent article. I had no idea of this whole marketing angle; living in the UK, Subaru had a very different meaning to me, characterised initially by their rally success with the late, legendary Colin McRae

WRX footage

That particular model, the blue WRX with the gold wheels, then became a car of choice for the boy-racer & car customiser crew, known colloquially over here as a "Scooby" (Scooby-Doo...)
posted by khites at 8:45 AM on May 24, 2016 [5 favorites]


I remember when these ads came out; they were much remarked upon in lesbian circles at the time. It's a good insight they had, that this community responds better to coded messages than to overt ones - I assume that's true of other hidden-in-plain-sight communities, and wonder about other examples.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:45 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


In Boulder, CO, they are legion, and the most apt bumper sticker for the nearby mountain town is "Nederland: A dog in every subaru."
posted by nickggully at 8:47 AM on May 24, 2016 [6 favorites]


"We've found that playful coding is really, really appreciated by our consumers. They like deciphering it."

We really love our subtext.
posted by imnotasquirrel at 8:51 AM on May 24, 2016 [10 favorites]


Granted witchen. I'm willing to acknowledge a strong alignment between places I could easily see myself living and Subaru ownership. Somewhat ironically, I don't have much interest in owning a Subaru.
posted by meinvt at 8:53 AM on May 24, 2016


I have a 1998 VW Beetle, which I bought new. It's been described as "the number one chick car that no man should ever drive" and the #1 gay gay car of all time. Um, I'm neither.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:53 AM on May 24, 2016


Your average dog-loving lesbian would not stick a dog in the back of a truck, but a Subaru is a perfect car for transporting dogs.

I assume they did similar research before launching their all text not subtext campaign aimed at dog owners (of all sexual orientations) recently. My in-laws recently added a Subaru Outback to their Orvis dog furniture heavy lives to complete their upper class New Englander lab owner lifestyle.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:54 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Subaru Outback:Western Montana::Toyota Prius:Northern California
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:55 AM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


Cheese, in my time in western Montana, I found there's just as many Jeeps as Subarus. Eastern Montana is nothing but pickups. Pickups as far as the eye can see.
posted by Ber at 8:58 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


I think Vermont has been Subaru Central for much, much longer, so I accede to your claim on the title.

I was on my way to Canada and stopped in on a friend in Vermont. I pulled into her driveway and her car, her boyfriend's car, and my car were all Subarus.

Later, on the ferry over Lake Champlain, I took a picture of my Subaru with a kayak strapped to the top. It was one Phish song away from being the most Vermont picture ever taken.
posted by bondcliff at 9:01 AM on May 24, 2016 [12 favorites]


Just dropping by to say that the website where this Subaru story is posted, Priceonomics.com, is a "content marketing" service. As it says at the bottom of the story: "Note: If you’re a company that wants to work with Priceonomics to turn your data into great stories, learn more about the Priceonomics Data Studio."

In other words, Subaru paid for this story to be written. And we're doing what we're supposed to do, sharing and discussing it.

In other words, just as Subaru was very smart and subtle about marketing to lesbians, they are now being very smart and subtle about the story that they were smart and subtle about marketing to lesbians, and we're buying it.
posted by beagle at 9:04 AM on May 24, 2016 [52 favorites]


I feel bad about my previous comments in the thread. I skimmed and failed to thoroughly read. And I just spouted my biases. Advertising generally sucks, and I failed to see this as an example of it being more thoughtful.

Even the damn article expresses my concerns at the end. I'm such a bonehead, sorry guys.

Hasty Edit: And then the comment above me is posted as I wrote this, again making me question everything. :(
posted by OwlBoy at 9:05 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Jeeps are for the male gay people then?
posted by asok at 9:08 AM on May 24, 2016


I'm not worried about it. I enjoyed the article. And we have two Subarus and we're very pleased with both.
posted by kingless at 9:09 AM on May 24, 2016


But I can't shake my bias that they are just efficiently targeting a demographic for profit.

Well, yes, they were, but recall that this was 1991. The more likely reaction by car company ad execs upon learning that their brand is associated with t3h gay would be to burn the factory down for the insurance money. For the time, "pandering shamelessly to lesbians" was about as progressive a stance as you could hope for.
posted by Mayor West at 9:09 AM on May 24, 2016 [7 favorites]


I did not know that at all, and I'm kind of annoyed now. I've been eating every morning just to line the pockets of Big Breakfast!

It goes deeper. Big Breakfast was a front for Big Bacon:
Cured pork/bacon had been a staple of the European diet for centuries but it was not considered a breakfast food. Until the 1920s most Americans had a relatively light breakfast, usually coffee, a roll and orange juice. In 1925 the Beech-Nut Packing Company hired Edward Bernays to increase bacon sales.

Instead of simply telling people to eat more bacon he commissioned a “scientific study” in which 5,000 physicians were asked if a “hearty" breakfast was better than a "light" breakfast to replace the energy lost by the body at night. As expected, most doctors said a “hearty” breakfast was better. These “results” were reported back to doctors throughout the country, and in the print and broadcast media, along with advertising for Beech-Nut’s bacon. Bacon and eggs were presented as the “hearty” breakfast to boost energy and vitality. [...] Beech-Nut’s profits soared and the “all-American breakfast of bacon and eggs” was born.
You can blame Freud.
posted by Freelance Demiurge at 9:12 AM on May 24, 2016 [9 favorites]


IIRC Priceonomics were a YC company who started out intending to piggy-back on their price analysis of markets for second hand goods, but couldn’t make a go of it so pivoted into doing some kind of marketing tracking service. I could be wrong about that though. Anyway, there’s a giant post about their business model here.

It’s quite possible that Subaru are paying them for their service but their blog posts seem to be more about demonstrating the quality of their service than anything else: “Look at the kind of great content we could be writing for *your* company”, that kind of thing.
posted by pharm at 9:13 AM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


My in-laws recently added a Subaru Outback to their Orvis dog furniture heavy lives to complete their upper class New Englander lab owner lifestyle.

And when one of my mom's friend's said "A Subaru? Isn't that a lesbian car?" my mom said "I got an OUTBACK, not a FORESTER".
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:13 AM on May 24, 2016 [10 favorites]


(Maybe they weren’t YC, but they did turn up on HackerNews from time to time IIRC?)
posted by pharm at 9:13 AM on May 24, 2016


This was a very interesting article. I love reading about successful companies who spend time trying to understand what is important to their core customers.

[As far as cities go, both Spokane and Seattle have higher Subaru density.
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/does-everyone-in-seattle-drive-a-subaru/
Hartford doesn't surprise me at all - Subaru is typically toward the top of safety and reliability rankings, seems to make sense that insurance professionals would be all over that!]
posted by stowaway at 9:15 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


In other words, Subaru paid for this story to be written.

I doubt Subaru paid for this article, even though Pricenomics is a content marketing agency. There is no benefit to Subaru touting how clever they were in marketing their vehicles to lesbians, but there is a benefit to Pricenomics to show that they are able to appreciate the use of subtext in marketing materials, since that's what they are paid to do.
posted by furtive at 9:17 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Trucks are often uncomfortable for women to drive because they are so big.

Hm, not sure we're friends with the same lesbians. Because practical (i.e. non-gigantic) Japanese-make pickups run a close second to Subarus in my mind for "typical lesbian vehicle."
posted by aught at 9:17 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


kirkaracha: I have a 1998 VW Beetle, which I bought new. It's been described as "the number one chick car that no man should ever drive" and the #1 gay gay car of all time.
The original VW Beetle was a much beefier incarnation of this model.... The original Beetle had its origins as a rugged vehicle during World War II and hit the United States in the years following the war with very few changes to its rugged nature.
"Okay, this is now a girl car, but the old car was Nazi and they were manly and rugged so that one's okay. But not this new one, it's not a Nazi car at all."
posted by clawsoon at 9:22 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


This so cool. FWIW, I've been noticing a lot of subtle "there's no way this would have flown twenty years ago" advertising over the past few years, and it's both really interesting and really damned awesome (even though, yeah, it's advertising. Still...)

One of the changes I've noticed, that would have made my parents' generation spit nails, has been the proliferation of inter-racial and multi-ethnic couples and families in ads. The cool thing is it isn't played-up at all. It's just a normal ad, which happens to not feature a pure-white young couple.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:24 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


One of the changes I've noticed, that would have made my parents' generation spit nails, has been the proliferation of inter-racial and multi-ethnic couples and families in ads.

You mean like the shit that went down over this adorable Cheerios commercial?

Also, as an aside, there is not a hell hot enough for Edward Bernays to burn in. Truly an evil genius.
posted by briank at 9:34 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


I am a queer lady who recently bought her first car in decades: a Subaru Crosstrek. I bought it in Colorado, which as others have noted, is also a top contender for Subaru Central -- enough so that when I mentioned to the sales person at the dealership that I was about to move to Minnesota, he was seriously seriously concerned that they may not sell Subarus up there, and that I should stay in Colorado where the Subaru dealerships grow plentiful. I bought it for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it seemed like the car someone like me should drive. Which identity I was relating to more at the time (lesbian? Coloradan? vaguely outdoorsy? liberal?), I'm not sure.

As an aside, I just got some mail from Subaru offering me a free badge of ownership - something to stick on my car to display my interests to other Subaru owners. One of the icons I can get is the "diversity" one - which is, of course, a rainbow.
posted by heurtebise at 9:39 AM on May 24, 2016 [9 favorites]


I am a hetero-married bisexual lady who always gets read as straight, even if my hubs isn't around. I am SO excited to trade in my mom-van for a Subaru next year. Nice to mix it up a little bit.
posted by Biblio at 9:48 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


Obligatory:

Welcome to hell, Mr. Smuckles.
posted by Mayor West at 9:58 AM on May 24, 2016


I will note that here the Subaru stereotype is more just generally liberal bougie (in my parents' neighborhoood we joke that they come from the dealwership with COEXIST bumper stickers and in my neighborhood they come automatically with Obama 2012 bumper stickers) than a particular sexual orientation.

As a frequent attendee of Unitarian Universalist churches in New England--a hotbed of both GLBT and generally liberal bougie folks--I saw parking lots FILLED with Subarus on a regular basis. There have been SubarUU jokes.
posted by dlugoczaj at 10:17 AM on May 24, 2016 [6 favorites]


Obligatory #2:

Yeah, I'm callin' 'bout the Subaru Baja.
posted by cadge at 10:20 AM on May 24, 2016


I'd been thinking of getting a small SUV for snow reasons for a while, and when I totalled my Corolla last fall I decided it was time to make the jump instead of going for another sedan. I decided the Subaru Crosstrek was the most practical for the price after a ton of research. I love mine so far. I had no idea about the affiliation though. The irony is that I joke all the time about how I might have been a lesbian in the past life (I'm a straight cis Asian male), because I don't identify with all the things that most straight cis male consider "manly". So the first time I gave my lesbian friend a ride in the Crosstrek, she commented "wow, you're really embracing your inner lesbian aren't you?" That was the first time I'd heard about the association. She had to explain the joke, but, yes, I suppose I do really embrace it now :) .

As an aside, I just got some mail from Subaru offering me a free badge of ownership

How long after did they send that to you? Either I trashed it thinking it was junk mail or they forgot me :(
posted by numaner at 10:30 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


As an aside, I just got some mail from Subaru offering me a free badge of ownership - something to stick on my car to display my interests to other Subaru owners. One of the icons I can get is the "diversity" one - which is, of course, a rainbow.

My dad just the other day proudly showed me his "4th" badge with, I believe, biking and outdoor sports. I laughed pretty loud and long buuuut now that I see those are free I am busily building my "3rd" one. Hmmmm. What to choose what to choose. Is there an anarchist symbol one?
posted by soren_lorensen at 10:31 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Like, Subaru is just saying what they need to to get the demographic to like them. It's not like they are adding features for that demographic. What's a gay car feature?

It's cool that they are comfortable talking about these issues. But I can't shake my bias that they are just efficiently targeting a demographic for profit.


Eh, I'm at a point where I give no fucks about corporate motives, because they're all the same--make more money. If they realize they can make more money by acknowledging my existence, then they're doing the right thing. (The reverse is e.g. Axe, which got its start amongst gay male clubbers and circuit boys. The moment they got big, they ditched all the gay advertising and went straight to All Brotastic All The Time. Fuck you, Axe.)

That said, it's kinda weird to be seeing here in this thread an almost defensive "well I'm a straight guy and I bought a Subaru" with the subtext, intended or not, being "so they're not really lesbian cars." Which, like, ok? Nobody's saying they are exclusively for lesbians? This was a pretty specific marketing thing that happened, and that was literally mindblowing for its time, and it happened because the producer listened to the people who actually bought their product.

I don't think you can understand, if you haven't been there, what it was like to be a queer kid in the 90's and see these glimmers of acceptance flickering here and there, and then to flick past yet another car ad in a magazine and *record scratch* was that a rainbow flag and a reference to coming out? Seriously? It was huge, and while it wasn't aimed specifically at me, being a) teenaged, b) broke, c) not lesbian, it was still aimed squarely at people like me, and showed an understanding of subtext. They showed that they really paid attention to the codes that we already paid attention to. To the point where I still, twenty years later, see a rainbow flag in a store window or on a car or wherever, and instantly go "THAT IS A SAFE SPACE!! STRAIGHT PEOPLE WON'T NOTICE!!"

Subaru, with those ads, was saying that they are a safe space. Was it cynical and serving only to make money? Yup. Do I care about that, when their effects are what matter? Not one little bit.

So guys, maybe before chiming in with "well I'm a straight guy and I have a Subaru," maybe take a moment to consider that this was kind of a Big Deal event and like, not.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:37 AM on May 24, 2016 [28 favorites]


There's a current vote for the next badge! I really dig the reading one.
posted by numaner at 10:37 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


As an aside, I just got some mail from Subaru offering me a free badge of ownership - something to stick on my car to display my interests to other Subaru owners. One of the icons I can get is the "diversity" one - which is, of course, a rainbow.

We got that mail too. I was almost going to follow up on it, but it felt a bit cultish. Still, I appreciated the sentiment.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 10:41 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


The coded advertising thing is pretty cool. Are there other examples where marketers explicitly use coded messaging to speak to a particular subgroup? Not like the VW add in the article where it was interpreted to be LGBT friendly, but where a marketing firm was intentionally trying to reach a particular group without signalling the rest of the population?
posted by Think_Long at 10:45 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Think_Long: this is just a google search, but it looks like there's a lot written on the topic.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:54 AM on May 24, 2016


How long after did they send that to you? Either I trashed it thinking it was junk mail or they forgot me :(

I got mine around the first anniversary of buying the car. I still haven't decided whether I want to get one or not.
posted by heurtebise at 10:57 AM on May 24, 2016


Mod note: A few comments deleted; how about we skip an irritable excursus on whether it's of interest that some Subaru owners are not lesbians.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:01 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


This looks like a pretty good, if shallow and meandering, overview of queer coded messaging in advertising. This is a much more academic treatment, looks like.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:08 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


My wife's Honda Civic was totalled in 2014. Our financial situation at the time meant she had to drive my old pickup for a while. When we were in better position to get a new car for her, she was keen to get another Civic.

I asked her if she would consider a Subie, and she joked that I was asking for *me*, not her. Once we test drove the Outback tho, she was absolutely sold.

She's not a lesbian, but she's a liberal STEM she-nerd. Great cars.
posted by notsnot at 11:11 AM on May 24, 2016


The collection of ownership badges is basically a codification of all my stereotypes about Subaru owners.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:16 AM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


I was a single lady who bought a Subaru Forester in her 30s. I went to school in SF and I wore Birkenstocks. And boy, did I get Knowing Looks. I didn't find out until YEARS later that I had bought a "Lesbaru".

I'm actually pretty hetero (at least, all my partners up to this point have identified pretty solidly with the opposite sex) but also a huge tomboy who has lived comfortably with several same-sex couples in her past, and at one point I worked on a Xena video game, so I guess I'm the target audience by proxy.

Anyway, like RolandOfEld, husband and I are on our way to baby #2, and I'm eyeing an Outback or another Forester to accommodate all that camping equipment plus two carseats. I bought a VW TDI to replace the Forester four years ago. Recent developments with that vehicle have made me wish I'd stayed a Subaru customer. The vehicle was mostly great, though after ten years it started showing noticeable wear and tear. But fun to drive. And a good choice, overall.
posted by offalark at 11:30 AM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


A friend of mine had a Subaru with the license plate "LESBARU" for a while.
posted by rmd1023 at 11:41 AM on May 24, 2016


Subaru Outback:Western Montana :: Toyota Prius:Northern California

Priuses don't handle offroading as well as Subarus. And it's tough to cram two carseats and a few boxes of produce from the farmers' market.

(And when my kiddo was tiny, we managed to get her car seat plus a week's worth of camping supplies into our Subaru Impreza hatchback -- which is approximately Prius-sized -- but the front-seat passenger had no knee room. Outbacks = better for balancing family and outdoorsy pursuits.)

My NorCal island is another dot on the Subaru Uber Alles map. My kiddo delights in shouting out every time she sees another green Outback like ours. It makes for shouty trips across the island.
posted by sobell at 11:45 AM on May 24, 2016


Subaru has equalled "lesbian vehicle" for my brain for so long that it's odd to remember that it wasn't true

And how! Remember when we were surprised to discover that Peter Murphy drove a Subaru?
posted by octobersurprise at 11:55 AM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Joe Clark put together a piece called Gay Money: The truth about lesbian & gay economics , which summarizes the income question:

Most of the dozens of studies of income and earnings of gay men and lesbians show consistent results. There are two ways to state these results.

Weak statement: Neither gay males nor lesbians earn more than straight people.

Strong statement: Gay males earn less than straight males, often much less. Meanwhile, lesbians earn more than straight females.


In that light, if you're selling stuff, it seems to make obvious sense to market to lesbians as a purchasing demographic — for Subarus or whatever — if they have more money to spend, on average.
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:01 PM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


I grew up in Asheville and now live in Pittsburgh. . . we bought an Outback last year. My wife knew about the stereotype of lesbian Subaru owners, but I hadn't heard about it before researching the car.

RolandOfEld: We were in a similar situation (with a second child due when we bought the car) and went for the Outback in part because the back seat is a couple of inches wider -- I often sit in back with both kids (another reason was that the Eyesight collision avoidance system on the Outback was a generation more advanced than the Forester's -- quite possibly that's changed now).
posted by janewman at 12:08 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


But the marketing team quickly discovered that none of the people threatening a boycott had ever bought a Subaru. Some of them had even misspelled “Subaru.”

Is there any statement in the history of angry "marginalized" jackholes threatening boycott that is more true than this one?
posted by phearlez at 12:17 PM on May 24, 2016 [7 favorites]


Jalopnik's buyer's guide for the Subaru XV Crosstrek begins like this:
Do you live in Vermont? If you do you might be surprised to learn you already own an XV Crosstrek.
posted by schmod at 12:18 PM on May 24, 2016 [7 favorites]


But the marketing team quickly discovered that none of the people threatening a boycott had ever bought a Subaru. Some of them had even misspelled “Subaru.”

Is there any statement in the history of angry "marginalized" jackholes threatening boycott that is more true than this one?


Ghostbusters 2016?
posted by Carol Anne at 12:27 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


"we have isn't cutting it as well these days for when we need to road-trip to see family with the wife, kid, and 2 doggies, and kiddo number 2 isn't going to help matters."

We run in the minivan crowd and the joke among our friends is "college-educated urban liberal, two kids, no dogs = Mazda 5; college-educated urban liberal, two kids, two dogs = Subaru Outback."

When you go to the preschool parking lot, the folks in the Mazda 5s and the Subarus are the ones you're going to see at the progressive organizing meeting against the toxic waste dump expansion later that week. The ones with the Subarus will have dogs.

That was a really interesting article, I am now going to be checking the license plates in all car ads for the subliminal messages!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:35 PM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


Also, I was *utterly* unsurprised to discover that my ex who is travelling around the country with her dog in a car towing a small camper-trailer is driving a Subaru. After all, she's a gay woman moving to Colorado.
posted by rmd1023 at 12:49 PM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


I live in Subaru ground zero (Pittsburgh), due to a combination of winter and challenging topography.

Huh, I've lived here for decades and never noticed a preponderance of Subarus. A lot of my family lives in Western Mass and there are so many more of them up there. We barely even have winter here in Pittsburgh as compared to New England; I've never found the need for four-wheel drive.
posted by octothorpe at 12:55 PM on May 24, 2016


I'm enjoying that this thread has descended into a battle for the ranking of Subaru Central.
posted by srboisvert at 1:06 PM on May 24, 2016 [4 favorites]


Does the glee with which I anticipate showing this article to my Subaru-Forrester-Owning-Homophobic-Dad, make me a bad person?
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:51 PM on May 24, 2016 [9 favorites]


My husband's daughter has a certain evil genius for collecting traffic tickets. When I got a new Subaru last year, she got my ten year old Subaru. Navy blue blue Subaru wagon, the closest thing to an invisible car in this college town. Even more stealthy than a Prius. She hasn't gotten any tickets in it. What cop is going to give it a second look? She'd rather be driving a pickup but I think she's developing an appreciation for its boring practicality.

Snake people don't care if their peers are gay and their parents don't care either. My parent's generation could learn from them.
posted by elizilla at 1:58 PM on May 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


Pretty much the first purchase I made when I moved from Socal to western Washington was an Outback. It does seem like Subaru has identified dog ownership as another one of their "niches" - my husband identifies more strongly as a dog owner than pretty much any other demographic he could be in and he loooooves Subaru commercials.
posted by town of cats at 2:25 PM on May 24, 2016


the funny thing is that now, in western mass, young men are picking up late model subbies and tricking them out like they used to with Hondas. mainly impreza hatch backs and legacy sedans, but I've seen a lowered Forrester with aftermarket body parts and the whole deal...
posted by ennui.bz at 2:36 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


1. some carwagons
2. lesbians
3. ?????
4. PROFIT!!!
posted by Doleful Creature at 2:38 PM on May 24, 2016


I SBRU B4 U.
posted by srboisvert at 2:43 PM on May 24, 2016


I can't speak for the Forester, but I bought my used right-hand drive* Legacy for my USPS rural mail route. The previous owner had some dubious work done that created a tendency for it to overheat; I suspected it was that he'd had a used US/domestic Subaru CPU replacement installed that was slightly off from the original one for the Japanese market. Still, despite that, I loved that car, and it stuck to the road like a goat, even on the muddy or underwater dirt roads immediately post-Katrina.

I wasn't aware of the coded messaging at the time, but I had just started seeing a therapist and starting HRT for my transition shortly before getting the USPS job. Coincidence?
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 4:32 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


MetaFilter: an irritable excursus
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:27 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Re. the VW ad: I didn't catch it at the time, but I suppose picking up the chair could imply that they were furnishing their apartment, yes?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:29 PM on May 24, 2016


"So today, in 2016, which group is next?"

Marketing to trans people comes to mind.
posted by oceanjesse at 6:18 PM on May 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


Even more stealthy than a Prius. She hasn't gotten any tickets in it.

I just traded my 2001 diesel New Beetle for a Prius C, and uh, if I'm not careful, I'm going to get a ticket. Helloooooo, zippy.
posted by joycehealy at 8:48 PM on May 24, 2016


soren_lorensen: "My parents own a Subaru Crosstrek and my dad's little zip-around-town car is a Miata. Neither of my parents are gay but boy do they drive some gay cars."

ROU_Xenophobe on the gayness of Miatas.
posted by Mitheral at 2:16 AM on May 25, 2016


Seconding the comment that in the UK, Subarus are "that rally car" (specially the Impreza). I don't think their estates (wagons) are common here though - Volvos, Audis, and BMWs seem to be the go-to estate car makes. But not being gay I have no idea if there's any other coded-as-gay-or-lesbian cars over here.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:16 AM on May 25, 2016


ROU_Xenophobe on

Great googly moogly it's weird to read that 11-year-old AskMe through a modern lens.

posted by cortex at 9:27 AM on May 25, 2016 [2 favorites]


like volvo station wagons we're teacher cars till Kurt Cobain started driving one...
posted by judson at 9:51 AM on May 25, 2016


Mod note: Seriously though yes let's not carry on with the "I'd go gay for Miata" thing. Reference to a decade old thread is one thing; picking the whole damn thing up anew here is another and one we should skip.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:15 AM on May 25, 2016


It does seem like Subaru has identified dog ownership as another one of their "niches"

I love their TV ad of the guy who has made a bucket list for his good old dog, complete with Willie Nelson soundtrack.
posted by bryon at 11:38 AM on May 25, 2016 [1 favorite]


I remember that Volkswagon commercial. Just viewed it again and I still don't see the hidden codes. Was it the palm trees?

It features two men who are so comfortable being together that they just hang out without talking, they move in sync to the music, and can decide with glances that they want a free chair for their [shared] apartment and then, just as easily, that they don't. Sure, they could be best friends who are also roommates, or even close enough friends to make quick judgements on the furnishings the other should have, but it seems likelier they're a couple. Especially adding in the racial difference -- in smaller communities with fewer gay people, you might be more likely to cross race and class lines to find one of the few people you were into. And possibly true in larger communities as well. Best friends of other races happen, but it seems like more on TV than in person.

Though if anyone can help me find stats/studies to prove or disprove my impressions here, that'd be cool.
posted by Margalo Epps at 2:36 PM on May 25, 2016 [1 favorite]


And that's kinda the point of this coded advertising. It's speaking a language that not everyone recognizes. It's like subtweeting or 'confirmed bachelor/spinster' or the gay relationship in Four Weddings and a Funeral. The latter, especially, was beautifully hidden in plain sight.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:12 AM on May 26, 2016


In talking about this article with my wife, I used the term "dog whistling," but then we both realized that actual term has been, to the best of our knowledge, only used to describe right-wingers signaling terrible things in an under-the-radar way.

The Subaru messaging is kind of the same thing, but I don't know if I want to use the same word for it.
posted by uberchet at 8:56 AM on May 26, 2016


Despite the popularity of Subaru wagons with dog owners, we were sort of miffed to find that we couldn't fit two intermediate-size dog crates side by side in the back of our 2012 Outback. You almost could, but it was about an inch too tight. No biggie, one of our dogs is more petite so we just used a slightly smaller crate for her.

But the 2016 Outback we just got? Fits two intermediate-sized Petmate crates like a glove. Exactly the right amount of room, no more, no less. Almost as if someone complained about not being able to fit in two crates and they fixed it in the new model. Which may well be what actually happened, if a dog-owning Subaru employee didn't bring it to the company themselves. This is why we'll keep buying Subarus.

(Our 2016 Outback is not actually a replacement for our 2012 Outback. We replaced the 2012 Outback with a 2015 Dodge Durango, which is also an excellent dog vehicle if you have lots of dogs. We are breeders, so often need to transport four dogs, a grooming setup, and a couple of suitcases to out-of-town shows. The 2016 Outback is actually a replacement for my old 2003 Hyundai Elantra.)

We live near Seattle so it is very likely we would have ended up with a Subaru anyway (they are ubiquitous here, they're so practical and, in the last decade or so, have grown up to be actually nice vehicles as well, with most of the bells and whistles you expect on other brands) but the dog friendliness seals it.

To be a little more on topic, their advertising also targets dog owners pretty substantially.
posted by kindall at 11:21 AM on May 27, 2016


Somewhat related, I just went into my local Target and they have a pride section.

I feel marketed to, and at the moment, that's pretty cool.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:07 PM on May 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


I guess not much love for the Brat.

i was a fan of the 'level' on the dashboard :P

ROU_Xenophobe on the gayness of Miatas.

the MX-5 RF looks pretty sweet!

We live near Seattle so it is very likely we would have ended up with a Subaru anyway (they are ubiquitous here, they're so practical and, in the last decade or so, have grown up to be actually nice vehicles as well, with most of the bells and whistles you expect on other brands) but the dog friendliness seals it.

outbacks are the state car of washington.
posted by kliuless at 5:59 PM on May 27, 2016


My current and previous cars have been Legacies. I'm neither lesbian nor particularly outdoorsy but if you want something with awd for the help it give in snow and at the same time isn't as large as an suv, it's hard to beat subarus on price/reliability.

Funny story...my folks have a rental property that they try and rent to Japanese execs when possible (because, stereotyping here, they tend to be neater, but also if they do happen to be problematic, they are in town for a limited time and get shifted out eventually, because evicting is a nightmare process). One of these happened to be a Mitsubishi guy...when it came time for him to buy a car to use locally, what did he get? A Subaru, of course.
posted by juv3nal at 6:59 PM on May 27, 2016


Mom traded in Dad's old VW bus for a Subaru wagon when I was in junior high, mostly because Uncle Bill was a mechanic at a Subaru dealership at the time. (1990 or so?) It was the family car of my teen years; I never got to drive it, but wow did mom haul a ton of my friends in it. Pretty sure we once fit 10 people in a car made to seat five.

What's interesting to me about the article is them noticing households "headed by single women", which would've actually included mom. (So. Many. Questions.)

And now I live in one of the other nexuses of Subaru-dom; it feels like less than it used to be, but still a ton, partially because they last approximately forever.
posted by epersonae at 11:22 AM on May 31, 2016


Kellogg's is now using Frosted Flakes in a Pride campaign. I remember "Frosted Flakes" being the punchline to a playground joke (which I didn't understand at the time) about homosexuality. Was that a coincidence, or did they know about that joke when they decided to use Frosted Flakes for the campaign?
posted by clawsoon at 9:44 AM on June 3, 2016


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