How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians - The Atlantic</tle><meta name="scriptn" ntent="The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago."/><meta property="kx:tle" ntent="How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians - The Atlantic"/><meta property="kx:scriptn" ntent="The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago."/><lk rel="nonil" href="><lk rel="image_src" href="><meta name="thor" ntent="Alex Mayyasi, Priceonomics"/><lk rel="ia:markup_url" href="><meta property="article:publisher" ntent="><meta property="article:opn" ntent="false"/><meta property="article:ntent_tier" ntent="metered"/><meta property="article:tag" ntent="bs"/><meta property="article:sectn" ntent="Bs"/><meta property="article:published_time" ntent="2016-06-22T11:00:00Z"/><meta property="article:modified_time" ntent="2021-05-26T17:41:59Z"/><meta name="robots" ntent="x, follow, max-image-preview:large"/><meta property="og:tle" ntent="How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians"/><meta property="og:scriptn" ntent="The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago."/><meta property="og:url" ntent="><meta property="og:type" ntent="article"/><meta property="og:image" ntent="><meta property="twter:rd" ntent="summary_large_image"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="The Atlantic" href="/feed/all/"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="Bt of The Atlantic" href="/feed/bt-of/"/><meta name="referrer" ntent="unsafe-url"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-pable" ntent="y"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-stat-bar-style" ntent="black"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-tle" ntent="The Atlantic"/><meta name="keywords" ntent="Suba of Ameri executiv, gay ctomers, pany’s attempts, Gay , hip ad agency, larger r pani, Suba rs, gay characters, lbian Suba owners, l of marketg, gay-iendly advertisg, niche groups, early 2000s, foc groups, pany’s marketers, gay market, Ellen Degener, Rabow Card, first luxury r, gay uple, LGBTQ issu, show Ellen, Suba’s marketg team, license plat, Tim Bent, gay pany, target dience, lbians, rare exceptn, 35-year-olds, Suba, Pl Poux, marketg mpaign, cred rd, lbian dienc, support of a hort of straight alli, re groups, half of the pany, Huffgton Post, bomb threat, sexual orientatn, medil profsnals, AIDS rearch, r, people, senr management, sgle person, wheel drive standard, wheel drive, ld lls" emID="#keywords"/><meta name="news_keywords" ntent="Suba of Ameri executiv, gay ctomers, pany’s attempts, Gay , hip ad agency, larger r pani, Suba rs, gay characters, lbian Suba owners, l of marketg, gay-iendly advertisg, niche groups, early 2000s, foc groups, pany’s marketers, gay market, Ellen Degener, Rabow Card, first luxury r, gay uple, LGBTQ issu, show Ellen, Suba’s marketg team, license plat, Tim Bent, gay pany, target dience, lbians, rare exceptn, 35-year-olds, Suba, Pl Poux, marketg mpaign, cred rd, lbian dienc, support of a hort of straight alli, re groups, half of the pany, Huffgton Post, bomb threat, sexual orientatn, medil profsnals, AIDS rearch, r, people, senr management, sgle person, wheel drive standard, wheel drive, ld lls"/><meta name="" ntent="bs"/><meta name="" ntent="Alex Mayyasi, Priceonomics"/><meta name="" ntent="2016-06-22T11:00:00Z"/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><script type="applitn/ld+json">{"@ntext":","@type":"NewsArticle","headle":"How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians","alternativeHeadle":"How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians","scriptn":"The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago.","url":","datePublished":"2016-06-22T11:00:00Z","dateModified":"2021-05-26T17:41:59Z","isAccsibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccsibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".article-ntent-body"},"publisher":{"@id":"},"maEntyOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"},"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":720},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":405},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1080},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1080},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1200},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":900},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1600},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":900},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":960},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":540},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":540},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":540},"url":"}],"thor":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Mayyasi","sameAs":"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Priceonomics","sameAs":"}],"articleSectn":"Bs"}</script><lk rel="preload" as="image" href=" imageSrcSet=" 750w, 828w, 960w, 976w, 1952w" imageSiz="(m-width: 976px) 976px, 100vw"/><meta name="next-head-unt" ntent="61"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-g=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><noscript data-n-css=""></noscript><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/></head><body><div id="__next"><div data-tegory="story page"><div></div><nav class="Nav_root___6bX9" aria-labelledby="se-navigatn" data-tegory="Se Nav" data-event-module="se nav" id="ma-navigatn"><div class="Nav_maNav__yofcm"><a href="#ma-ntent" class="Nav_skipLk__Evjjd">Skip to ntent</a><h2 id="se-navigatn" class="Nav_visuallyHi__AbSDF">Se Navigatn</h2><div class="Nav_flexContaer__Q3LKQ"><ul class="Nav_leftContaer__cPQgJ"><li class="Nav_navListItem__cEyWT Nav_visuallyHiOnMobile__hxCGG"><a href=" class="Nav_navLk__5SUAA"><svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 87.83 134" class="Nav_bigA__XvGGC"><tle>The Atlantic

advertising to the gay community

A new nned cktail lled Gay Water is lookg to attract LGBTQ drkers and avoid the pfalls of Bud Light's disastro marketg partnership wh transgenr fluencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Contents:

NEW ‘GAY WATER’ LOOKS TO AVOID BUD LIGHT DISASTER

Dpe the fact that an overwhelmg majory of Amerins support same-sex marriage, acrdg to Gallup — and rabow-studd advertisg is mon — marketg mpaigns featurg queer people are still provokg ’s look at how we arrived early years: 1970 to 1990Major rporatns’ earlit efforts to urt queer nsumers happened after the 1969 Stonewall uprisg and the first Pri march 1970, a major turng pot the visibily of LGBTQ+ people and the early years of the morn gay rights me the spirs.

TV mercial pictg a gay uple 1994. But s n was short-lived, as the ad was subjected to backlash, provokg lls for boytts and bomb threats agast Ikea sire to urt queer nsumers while avoidg public blowback led to a stra of advertisg known as “gay vague, ” g subtle elements that would register wh LGBTQ+ people while flyg over the heads of heterosexual dienc. The ads would often feature people of the same sex domtic ntexts whout specifyg the nature of their market rearch revealed that lbians ma up a pillar of Suba’s ctomer base, the Japane pany leaned to the “gay vague” approach.

One mid-1990s prt mpaign featured Subas wh license plat such as “XENALVR” (an alln to “Xena: Warrr Prcs, ” a show loved by some lbians) and “PTOWNIE” (a reference to Provcetown, Mass., a popular queer vatn spot) classic “gay vague” mercial om German tomaker Volkswagen buted durg the g-out episo of “Ellen” 1997. While queer viewers terpreted the men as a uple, straight viewers saw them as iends or Volkswagen didn’t tend for the ad to pict a gay uple, the pany’s rponse was unique bee “they said they didn’t md if people read that way, ” said Michael Wilke, a former Ad Age reporter and founr of AdRpect, a nonprof archive of queer reprentatn advertisg.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* ADVERTISING TO THE GAY COMMUNITY

How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians - The Atlantic</tle><meta name="scriptn" ntent="The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago."/><meta property="kx:tle" ntent="How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians - The Atlantic"/><meta property="kx:scriptn" ntent="The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago."/><lk rel="nonil" href="><lk rel="image_src" href="><meta name="thor" ntent="Alex Mayyasi, Priceonomics"/><lk rel="ia:markup_url" href="><meta property="article:publisher" ntent="><meta property="article:opn" ntent="false"/><meta property="article:ntent_tier" ntent="metered"/><meta property="article:tag" ntent="bs"/><meta property="article:sectn" ntent="Bs"/><meta property="article:published_time" ntent="2016-06-22T11:00:00Z"/><meta property="article:modified_time" ntent="2021-05-26T17:41:59Z"/><meta name="robots" ntent="x, follow, max-image-preview:large"/><meta property="og:tle" ntent="How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians"/><meta property="og:scriptn" ntent="The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago."/><meta property="og:url" ntent="><meta property="og:type" ntent="article"/><meta property="og:image" ntent="><meta property="twter:rd" ntent="summary_large_image"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="The Atlantic" href="/feed/all/"/><lk rel="alternate" type="applitn/rss+xml" tle="Bt of The Atlantic" href="/feed/bt-of/"/><meta name="referrer" ntent="unsafe-url"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-pable" ntent="y"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-stat-bar-style" ntent="black"/><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-tle" ntent="The Atlantic"/><meta name="keywords" ntent="Suba of Ameri executiv, gay ctomers, pany’s attempts, Gay , hip ad agency, larger r pani, Suba rs, gay characters, lbian Suba owners, l of marketg, gay-iendly advertisg, niche groups, early 2000s, foc groups, pany’s marketers, gay market, Ellen Degener, Rabow Card, first luxury r, gay uple, LGBTQ issu, show Ellen, Suba’s marketg team, license plat, Tim Bent, gay pany, target dience, lbians, rare exceptn, 35-year-olds, Suba, Pl Poux, marketg mpaign, cred rd, lbian dienc, support of a hort of straight alli, re groups, half of the pany, Huffgton Post, bomb threat, sexual orientatn, medil profsnals, AIDS rearch, r, people, senr management, sgle person, wheel drive standard, wheel drive, ld lls" emID="#keywords"/><meta name="news_keywords" ntent="Suba of Ameri executiv, gay ctomers, pany’s attempts, Gay , hip ad agency, larger r pani, Suba rs, gay characters, lbian Suba owners, l of marketg, gay-iendly advertisg, niche groups, early 2000s, foc groups, pany’s marketers, gay market, Ellen Degener, Rabow Card, first luxury r, gay uple, LGBTQ issu, show Ellen, Suba’s marketg team, license plat, Tim Bent, gay pany, target dience, lbians, rare exceptn, 35-year-olds, Suba, Pl Poux, marketg mpaign, cred rd, lbian dienc, support of a hort of straight alli, re groups, half of the pany, Huffgton Post, bomb threat, sexual orientatn, medil profsnals, AIDS rearch, r, people, senr management, sgle person, wheel drive standard, wheel drive, ld lls"/><meta name="" ntent="bs"/><meta name="" ntent="Alex Mayyasi, Priceonomics"/><meta name="" ntent="2016-06-22T11:00:00Z"/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><lk rel="preload" as="font" type="font/woff2" href=" crossorig=""/><script type="applitn/ld+json">{"@ntext":","@type":"NewsArticle","headle":"How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians","alternativeHeadle":"How Subas Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lbians","scriptn":"The reputatn isn’t jt a stereotype—’s the rult of a lculated, highly progrsive ad mpaign lnched 20 years ago.","url":","datePublished":"2016-06-22T11:00:00Z","dateModified":"2021-05-26T17:41:59Z","isAccsibleForFree":false,"hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccsibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".article-ntent-body"},"publisher":{"@id":"},"maEntyOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"},"image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":720},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":405},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1080},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1080},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1200},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":900},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":1600},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":900},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":960},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":540},"url":"},{"@type":"ImageObject","width":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":540},"height":{"@type":"QuantativeValue","unCo":"E37","value":540},"url":"}],"thor":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Mayyasi","sameAs":"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Priceonomics","sameAs":"}],"articleSectn":"Bs"}</script><lk rel="preload" as="image" href=" imageSrcSet=" 750w, 828w, 960w, 976w, 1952w" imageSiz="(m-width: 976px) 976px, 100vw"/><meta name="next-head-unt" ntent="61"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-g=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href=" data-n-p=""/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><lk rel="preload" href=" as="style"/><lk rel="stylheet" href="><noscript data-n-css=""></noscript><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/><lk rel="preload" href=" as="script"/></head><body><div id="__next"><div data-tegory="story page"><div></div><nav class="Nav_root___6bX9" aria-labelledby="se-navigatn" data-tegory="Se Nav" data-event-module="se nav" id="ma-navigatn"><div class="Nav_maNav__yofcm"><a href="#ma-ntent" class="Nav_skipLk__Evjjd">Skip to ntent</a><h2 id="se-navigatn" class="Nav_visuallyHi__AbSDF">Se Navigatn</h2><div class="Nav_flexContaer__Q3LKQ"><ul class="Nav_leftContaer__cPQgJ"><li class="Nav_navListItem__cEyWT Nav_visuallyHiOnMobile__hxCGG"><a href=" class="Nav_navLk__5SUAA"><svg xmlns=" viewBox="0 0 87.83 134" class="Nav_bigA__XvGGC"><tle>The Atlantic .

TOP