Gay-Coded Subaru Ads Return to Mainstream

By Michael Wilke

When a gay-targeted campaign from Subaru using light-hearted license plates
began appearing in general outdoor advertising, the news media raced to
understand the plates' seemingly "coded" messages, including "XENA-LVR,"
"P-TOWN" and "CAMP OUT."

While few at Subaru thought of their campaign as secret coding, the idea has
now caught on with a more deliberate, tongue-in-cheek reprise. The veteran
LGBT marketer introduces a new effort this month that offers a play on
classic movie lines.

Taking a cue from Norma Desmond and "Sunset Boulevard," one new ad carries
the headline, "I'm ready for my closeup" -- accompanied by a close view of
the hood of a Subaru WRX. A forthcoming example references Faye Dunaway in
"Mommy Dearest," with the line, "Put a window where it ought to be," meaning
a sunroof.

"The gay community has a sense of ownership of literature and films,"
explains John Nash, who has been the creative director for Subaru's gay ads
since the beginning, first for the defunct Mulryan/Nash Advertising, and now
for Moon City Productions. "We thought that it would be fun to casually and
thoughtfully align movie lines with the cars."

The campaign will run in gay titles as well as Movieline magazine, which
reaches over 500,000 readers and brings the gay-targeted ads back into
mainstream media. Subaru is also sponsoring postcard racks and medium-sized
gay film festivals in Austin, Provincetown, Seattle and Washington DC.

While companies regularly run mainstream ads in gay media, they rarely run
gay-targeted ads in the mainstream, since the expense is greater and there
is risk of turning off other consumers. Little research exists on how
general audiences respond to gay-targeted messages.

Playful Coding Appreciated By Consumers, and Accepted by Subaru

"Each year we've done this, we've learned more about our target audience,"
says Nash. "We've found that playful coding is really, really appreciated by
our consumers, they like deciphering it."

Although Movieline is a general magazine, its demographics do not entirely
stray from gay readers. Nash says that half of the readership is single and
42% are male. "You can assume we're speaking to consumers that matter," he
adds, with his own bit of coding.

The whole coding concept began quite incidentally. Subaru's first campaign
in 1995 used images of wholesome looking men and women, but consumer
research found that people didn't relate to those pictured. The car marker
shifted gears to just showing the vehicles that emphasized the individuality
of its consumers through vanity license plates -- which was then perceived
as "secret coding" that straight audiences didn't get.

The company wasn't exactly comfortable with the inadvertent intrigue at the
coding concept at first, but are now lightheartedly embracing it. Nash
explains, "They've taken a collective sigh and asked, 'What's the worst that
can happen with this?' They are now having fun with this."

Subaru has eased into the LGBT market over the years. The company's interest
began when research revealed a large lesbian following, followed by ads in
1995, then a partnership with the gay affinity card part owned by tennis
champion Martina Navratilova, the Rainbow Card. Subaru later invited
Navratilova to appear in a TV campaign, her first major sponsorship deal
since coming out in the 1980s.

The license plate campaign appeared in 1999 and was followed by similar word
play effort, with slogans such as "Get out. And stay out." , "Entirely
comfortable with its orientation." and "Bobsprit owns one."

While Subaru was not the first auto company to reach out to gays (it shortly
followed Saab's November 1994 debut), the brand remains to this day the only
one to create gay-targeted ads. Says Tim Bennett, Subaru's director of
marketing programs in Cherry Hill, NJ, "Every company markets to gays and
lesbians, we just admit it."


"Capt.Mooron" wrote in message
news:4g3lf.140248$S4.132554@edtnps84...
I think your a miserable S.O.B..... but I always considered that a
redeeming quality in a sailor!!
:-)

CM


"Joe" wrote in message
ups.com...
Making others happy would do that.
I'm pretty happy as it is. And feel blessed.

Something make you think I'm not happy Reverand Crantz?

Joe