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="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="60"/><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

gay forester

Learn how to approach and flirt wh gay guys at clubs, bars, or other venuMeetg gay guys is hard. First you have to terme if the guy you're terted is gay or straight. Then you have to approach him and strike up a...

Contents:

NEW GAY CAMPGROUND OPENS OREGON — BAMBOO ACR BRGS WT COAST EXCEMENT

A new gay mpground has opened Southern Oregon. Bamboo Acr Talent is the newt men's-only rort for RVs, tents, and diva trailer lodgg. * gay forester *

Asi om TRC Washgton and Copper Cact near Phoenix, there are no gay mpgrounds that we know of Wt of the Rocki.

While there are some LGBT-welg mpgrounds the area, this is the first new gay-specific spot the area. It was such an unual cisn—and such a succs—that helped ph gay and lbian advertisg om the g to the mastream. Mastream movi and TV shows wh gay characters—like Will & Grace—were still a few years away, and few celebri were openly gay.

When Ellen Degener beme a rare exceptn 1997, and her character the show Ellen me out as gay an episo of the s, many pani pulled their ads. When a 1994 IKEA ad featured a gay uple, the Amerin Fay Associatn, a nonprof, mounted boytts, and someone lled a (fake) bomb threat to an IKEA Poux explas, the attu of most bs toward LGBTQ advertisg was: “Why would you do somethg like that? “All the l of marketg went out the wdow at this fear” of marketg to gays and lbians, he says.

LOVE OF THE OUTDOORS AND SUPPORT OM IENDS, LLEAGU SPIRE GAY DEC FORTER

Forster’s novel featured a rare happy endg for gay characters. William di Canz’s new book, “Alec,” picks up and ntu their story. * gay forester *

Wrg The Huffgton Post, the reporter Ron Dicker ptured some of the cultural nfn that followed:When one Suba ad man … proposed the gay-targetg ads talks wh Japane executiv, the executiv hurriedly looked up “gay” their dictnari. While Bent, who is gay, didn’t reveal his sexual orientatn for fear of overshadowg the effort, he nohels rells holdg pany meetgs wh nam along the l of “Who Are Gays and Lbians? Suba of Ameri knew had to support s gay and lbian employe if wanted to appeal to lbian ctomers, so they schled a meetg wh a senr Japane executive to make the se for domtic-partnership benefs.

”By 1996, Suba ads created by Mulryan/Nash were appearg both gay publitns and mastream media.

A NEW NOVEL REVENTS E.M. FORSTER’S CLASSIC GAY LOVE STORY ‘MRICE’

Ford builds Very Gay Raptor out of a Ranger Raptor Special Edn a strong stance agast homophobia. It buts at Christopher Street Day Cologne. * gay forester *

In rponse to the ads, Suba received letters om a grassroots group that acced the rmaker of promotg homosexualy. Like nerds who grow up to nont their bulli, Suba executiv me to realize that the people opposg the acknowledgment of gays and lbians were not as imposg as they of the reasons that, the days, the rmaker’s role cultivatg s lbian-iendly image is ls well known is that so many straight people were bld to the subtext of the s first Suba ads, Mulryan/Nash hired women to portray lbian upl.

”The light among niche dience groups “dg” the hts Suba ads surprised the marketg team—and the se of s gay-iendly ads, so did straight dienc’ ignorance. While many gay and lbian nsumers loved the shout-outs the license plat, straight people would only notice featur like a bike rack.

GAY SEX HALTED E.M. FORSTER'S CAREER

"In the 70s, society labeled gay men irrponsible hedonists, so we proudly owned and by clarg our love of sex we ma a polil statement." * gay forester *

Poux, who helped e up wh the license-plate ia, says he held foc groups wh straight dienc where he’d show ads featurg gay upl. Even after an hour of talkg about gay issu, they’d thk a man was shoppg wh his articl at the time, Suba executiv said they felt uncerta about the “trigue” created by the perceptn of “secret dg.

FORD ACTUALLY BUILT A 'VERY GAY RAPTOR' RPONSE TO AN TER TROLL

As more pani began marketg to LGBTQ dienc, such dg—which fell unr the tegory of the new marketg term “gay vague”—beme a way for pani to reach queer dienc wh mimal risk of a nservative said, Suba did not hi s support of gay and lbian ctomers. While Volkswagen played y about whether an ad perceived as gay-iendly really portrayed a gay uple, Suba sponsored events like gay-pri paras, partnered wh the Rabow Card, a cred rd that stead of sh back offered donatns to gay and lbian , and hired Marta Navratilova, a former tennis pro and a lbian, to appear Suba ads. She had been outed agast her will, and while she spoke hontly about her sexual orientatn, she had lamented that gay athlet had “to hi the closet to sell [themselv] to Madison Avenue.

GAY FORTER (AUTGA COUNTY, ALABAMA)

” For her to bee the face of a r pany durg her retirement, says the Rabow Card -creator Pam Derrian, was a betiful, full-circle ’s gay-and-lbian–foced marketg mpaign was a h, and the pany’s efforts ntue today. In foc groups and onle polls, gay and lbian nsumers nsistently choose Suba vehicl as their favore rs or Suba as the most gay-iendly brand.

”Lbians buyg Suba rs did not sgle-handly rurrect the rmaker, but the gay market was one of the bt for Suba.

WRER AND PHILANTHROPIST CHUCK FORTER ON GAY SEX THE 1970S

Every year, Tim Bent says, the LGBTQ anizatns were the top five terms of rs was not the first pany to create advertisements for gay and lbian nsumers, but was the first major pany the Uned Stat to do so transparently and nsistently. Suba’s lbian-foced ad mpaign was wily discsed, and s succs helped spur growth gay and lbian marketg. By the early 2000s, marketers were wrg articl that lled gays and lbians an “unrserved market” and “perfect nsumers.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTCTNS FOR SHOOTG YOUR SHOT WH GAY GUYS

The perceptn of the gay market as a gold me relied on the misperceptn that all gay people were well-off and part of dual-earner hoeholds whout children. A number of amics cricized rporate Ameri’s embrace of the LGBTQ muny: While pani wanted the profs that me om marketg a gay sense of style, they foced on upper-class and whe gay inti—rarely gay people of lor or those unable to afford medil treatment for HIV/ acrdg to Derrian, that perspective unrtimat the telligence of LGBTQ nsumers. To show that Suba red about s gay and lbian ctomers, she says, the rmaker supported that they red about.

Moreover, Derrian, like many LGBTQ people who see a pany pchg to the gay market, vetted firms terted sponsorg the Rabow Card by lookg to the polici they had for their employe, like benefs for same-sex partners. This led to a trend of pani makg their ternal polici more gay-iendly when they wanted to advertise to gay ctomers.

GAY FORTER (DORSET, TASMANIA)

When Ford created gay-iendly ads, revised s polici for s more than 100, 000 a sense, all Suba did was notice a group of ctomers who often felt unwele and visible, and create ads for them. Forster’s “Mrice” offered a rarefied view of queer possibily: a happy endg for gay men, wh the book’s protagonist, the wealthy and well-ted stockbroker Mrice Hall, fdg love wh the young groundskeeper Alec Scudr. Th, he watched his ially ntemporary novel age to an embalmed perd piece about the cripplg, self-nnibalizg anxieti that homosexual men lived wh early-20th-century England.

Forster that bee he, Forster, was celibate, he didn’t know what he was talkg about Mrice, his novel of gay love triumphant. He had put away his one gay novel, among a lot of other unpublished work, but Mrice appeared prt almost as soon as he died, wh revisns suggted by his iends down through the years. That was unlike other gay novels I was readg at the time, which end wh the guillote, murr around the mpfire, lonely overdos, exhsted partur, or the long farewell of lookg back on lost love.

The mornist gay past was still prent, livg Santa Moni or the Chelsea Hotel, and Aun would never die. Gentlemen of a certa age iated young men to the sly yet pensatory elism of big cy culture—the opera, the philharmonic, the theater, mms, art galleri, classic cema, readg lists—and the later got, boys would be boys, boys would be the offsprg of the Beats, to a different kd of mic, a different kd of darkns, downtown, the East Village, where much of the New Wave was gay and all of high.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY FORESTER

Love of the outdoors and support om iends, lleagu spire gay DEC forter .

TOP