Subaru Case Study - The Arthur Page Society

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the Denver Gay Pride Parade in 1996. 141 In 1999, Subaru sponsored a booth at Philadelphia’s PrideFest, 142 and two years later, Subaru corporately-sponsored the Los Angeles Gay Pride Festival. 143 Subaru sponsored Atlanta’s pride events in 2006 144 and Milwaukee’s events in 2009. 145 In 1999, Subaru sponsored Out Takes Dallas, the city’s annual gay and lesbian film festival. 146 Likewise, Austin, TX, Provincetown, MA, Seattle, WA, and Washington DC’s film festivals were sponsored by Subaru,   147 as was the 2003 Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival 148 . Appealing to the outdoor lifestyles of its gay and lesbian consumers, Subaru sponsored both GLAAD’S Ski Week in Telluride, CO 149 and The Advocate Golf Classic in 2004. 150 TV BRAND INTEGRATION: TEAM ECO-SUBARU AND THE L WORD In 2002, Subaru signed on as the sole corporate sponsor for Eco-Challenge Fiji, a competition-centric reality show on cable channel USA. The company sponsored Team Eco- Subaru, 151 a team composed entirely of gay and lesbian athletes. 152 The L Word, a premium cable television drama that ran on Showtime between 2004 and 2009, featured a prominent Subaru product placement in multiple episodes. In a case of art imitating life, Season 1, Episode 8 features a storyline in which a lesbian professional tennis player is offered the opportunity to serve as the spokeswoman for a new Subaru campaign, playfully winking at Martina Navratilova’s real-life 2000 celebrity sponsorship. 153 In a later episode, Subaru reappeared as the corporate sponsor of the “Pink Ride,” a mock breast cancer fundraising bicycle ride. 154 Additionally, a Subaru vehicle appeared in multiple episodes throughout the show’s six season run. Queer as Folk, Showtime’s earlier gay-themed series, also incorporated a Subaru tie-in. To promote sales of the Season 1 DVD set, Subaru ran a sweepstakes offering a vehicle as the grand prize. 155 Further extending their support of gay television, Subaru executives served on The Ad Club’s November 2005 panel “The Queer Eye and What They Buy: Advertising to the Gay Market.” Few companies could rival Subaru’s expertise, given the company’s 10 year history of marketing to the communities by that point. 156 PARTNERING FOR AIDS RESEARCH Although the “Pink Ride” was a fictitious event created for The L Word, Subaru began sponsoring the AIDS/LifeCycle in 2004. The 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles brings attention to the disease and raises money for additional research. 157 Additionally, Subaru hosts Dining Out for Life, an annual AIDS research fundraising event taking place in over 70 U.S. cities. 158   18 
FOUNDING SPONSOR OF SIRIUS OUTQ AND LOGO Keeping with the standard set by the Rainbow Card, Subaru signed on as a founding sponsor of Sirius Satellite Radio’s OutQ in 2004, a channel devoted to gay and lesbian content. The partnership included traditional advertising messages, event sponsorship, and on-air endorsements by host John McMullen, who was given a 2005 Subaru Outback XT. Referencing Howard Stern’s previous partnership with Snapple in stating that radio endorsements are not new, McMullen mentioned his initial hesitation regarding product endorsement, for the sake of authenticity: “I took the time to actually go out there and rent one so I didn’t get us into a deal I didn’t believe in.” 159 One year after signing on as the founding sponsor of Sirius’ OutQ, Subaru joined Orbitz and Paramount Pictures as one of three founding sponsors of MTV Network’s new cable channel, Logo. 160 Nash, Creative Director of Moon City Productions, offered insight into the sponsorship by stating that, “Category clutter is something this brand avoids at all costs. Logo presented a way to recapture the lead we had 10 years ago.” 161 Initially, Subaru ran mainstream ads on Logo that were created by then-agency DDB Worldwide. 162 But true to form, the company introduced three brand new gay- and lesbianspecific commercials in October 2005, a few months after Logo’s launch, along with corresponding print ads in The Advocate and Out and an online contest. 163 By November 2005, Subaru was discussing future plans for more commercials, despite the fact that the channel was not yet Nielsen-rated. 164 In addition to the standard :15, :30, and :60 second television spots, Logo also presented advertisers with a new form of communication – interstitials. Interstitials run for the duration of a commercial break and are sponsored by one company. Subaru and MTV Networks co-created two-minute interstitials featuring stories of real-life gay men and lesbians; Subaru branding was flashed at the end only. 165 As Hank Close, President for MTV Networks’ Ad Sales explained, “The whole goal here is to blur the line between content and advertising message.” 166 In October 2009, Subaru launched the Logo Legacy Campaign, a six-month branding campaign extending interstitials to three minutes. The campaign is a play on words, referencing Subaru’s launch of the 2010 Legacy model and the legacy of gay and lesbian entertainers. The interstitials once again feature real-life gay men and lesbians discussing their lives, with Subaru branding appearing at the beginning only. Viewers are guided to LogoOnline.com for more information about Subaru’s products as well as a showcase of Subaru’s previous gay and lesbian ads. Lisa Sherman, Senior VP and General Manager of Logo proclaimed, “We are proud to partner with Subaru, a company that has truly raised the bar with the work they have done with and for the community to offer this meaningful campaign to our viewers.” 167 GAY ORGANIZATIONS RECOGNIZE SUBARU’S EFFORTS Gay organizations began formally recognizing Subaru’s efforts in 2002, starting with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). HRC, the United States’ largest gay and lesbian advocacy organization, ranks the employment policies of public and private companies nationwide in its annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The HRC bases its rankings on the existence of non-   19 
Page 1 and 2: CASE STUDY ENTIRELY COMFORTABLE WIT
Page 3 and 4:   Gay Organizations Recognize For
Page 5 and 6: Subaru needs to grow its consumer b
Page 7 and 8:   Chart II: 2007-08 Top 10 Advert
Page 9 and 10: PROVIDING CONTEXT: GAY MARKETING, C
Page 11 and 12: After running an ad during a 1994 e
Page 13 and 14: Yoshio Hasunuma is the Chairman, Pr
Page 15 and 16: PROFILE OF A SUBARU OWNER: BRAND LO
Page 17:   • License plate: XENA LVR - a
Page 21 and 22: By 2000, Subaru was receiving feedb
Page 23 and 24:   23  Source: HRC 186 In 2003,
Page 25 and 26: After the memo was distributed, For
Page 27 and 28: considered. First, Subaru is a smal
Page 29 and 30:   APPENDIX II 29 
Page 31 and 32: Sep 21, 2009 [USA] Cherry Hill, NJ,
Page 33 and 34: Chicago Tribune 12/07/2005 Rick Pop
Page 35 and 36: American Family Association Contact
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