CASE STUDY

ENTIRELY COMFORTABLE WITH ITS ORIENTATION: SUBARUS SUCCESSFUL HISTORY OF GAY/LESBIAN INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

01/05/2010

ABSTRACT: This case study examines an integrated marketing communications success story: Subarus 14-year unwavering, authentic relationship with the gay and lesbian communities during which sales have doubled. Subaru reached out to the gay and lesbian consumers in 1995, beginning with corporate sponsorship of the Rainbow Card, followed by gay and lesbian-specific advertising campaigns and numerous strategic sponsorships. Subarus corporate communication efforts were and continue to be revolutionary considering U.S. public opinion of gays and lesbians at the time, the potential for consumer backlash, and the media landscape. Subarus activities are compared with outreach from the Ford Motor Co., including the latters mishandling of a boycott by the American Family Association (AFA).

TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview..4 The U.S. Automotive Industry.5 Industry Marketing Expenditures6 Brief History of Gay and Lesbian Marketing..7 Providing Context: Gay Marketing, Circa 1996..9 IKEA, AT&T, and John Hancock Receive Conservative Backlash..10 Gay and Lesbian Automotive Ads.10 Subaru....11 Company History.......11 Sales Figures......12 2010 Product Lineup......13 Market Research Reveals Lesbian Niche Market......13 External Communication Efforts...14 Profile of a Subaru Owner: Brand Loyalty....14 Brief History of Subarus Gay and Lesbian IMC Efforts......15 Founding Sponsor Card..15 of Rainbow

Progressive Advertising in Gay Media..15 Sponsoring Gay and Lesbian Events.17 TV Brand Integration: Team Eco-Subaru and The L Word.......17 Partnering for AIDS Research...18 Founding Sponsor of Sirius OutQ and Logo.18 Gay Organizations Recognize Subarus Efforts....19 Consumer Feedback for Gay and Lesbian Outreach.....20 Increased Sales Due to Outreach...21 Ford Motor Company21 Fords Gay-Friendly History..21
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Gay Organizations Recognize Fords Efforts....22 Jaguar, Volvo, and Land Rover Begin Advertising in Gay Media...23 AFA Boycotts Ford for Homosexual Agenda...24 Contrasting Subaru and Ford Motor Company..26 Subarus Current Dilemma: IMC Sustainability27 Appendix I.28 Appendix II29 Appendix III...30 Appendix IV...31 Appendix V32 Appendix VI...34 References......35

ENTIRELY COMFORTABLE WITH ITS ORIENTATIONa: SUBARUS SUCCESSFUL HISTORY OF GAY/LESBIAN INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

Companies cant just throw one ad at gay consumers and think theyre done. Mike Wilke, Founder and former Executive Director of the Commercial Closet Association1

OVERVIEW In 1994, Subarus market research team discovered a core consumer base they had not previously identified: lesbians. Market research indicated that lesbian Subaru owners had a high socioeconomic status and an active lifestyle, complimenting Subarus four existing consumer bases,2 and were four times as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to own a Subaru.3 Armed with this knowledge, in 1995 Subaru embarked on a new integrated marketing communication strategy designed to reach lesbians and gay men. The first step was corporate sponsorship of the Rainbow Card, followed by gay and lesbian-specific advertising executions and numerous strategic sponsorships. Despite the myriad industries advertising in gay media circa 1996, relatively few companies overall were willing to risk potential consumer backlash, particularly traditionally conservative automotive companies. IKEA, AT&T, and John Hancock all received intense consumer backlash for their gay and lesbian marketing efforts and pulled their campaigns immediately, causing other companies to avoid the market altogether. To understand the risk involved in Subarus decision, a brief history of gay and lesbian marketing is included, with special emphasis placed on the automotive industry. During Subarus 14-year history with the gay and lesbian communities, the company has cultivated an unwavering, authentic relationship with key external stakeholders. While Ford Motor Company has also partnered with the gay and lesbian communities for over a decade, its track record is troubled. Ford was entangled in a 2005-06 battle over gay advertising with two opposing stakeholders: the conservative American Family Association (AFA) and numerous gay organizations. Despite its gay-friendly outreach, Ford handled the boycott in a secretive, indirect manner that led to many questions from both stakeholder groups. To understand why Ford was the target of a boycott while Subaru was not, four factors should be considered: 1) sizes of the Japanese and American auto manufacturers; 2) sales; 3) target markets; and 4) ad spending. As competition increases and more automotive companies are developing relationships with gay and lesbian stakeholders, Subaru will need to retain its competitive advantage using corporate communication tactics. In the highly competitive automotive industry, it is necessary for Subaru to prove that its IMC strategy is sustainable into the next decade as well. Furthermore,

This phrase is a tagline used in a 1998 Subaru print advertisement. See Appendix I.

Subaru needs to grow its consumer base by pursuing other niche markets without damaging the relationships it has cultivated thus far.

THE U.S. AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY According to JD Power and Associates, there are over 40 automotive makers selling vehicles in the United States today.4 The United States, the largest market for light vehicles in the world, saw sales of over 13.2 million vehicles in 2008. One year prior, sales exceeded 16.1 million vehicles.5 See Table I for a breakdown of 2008 U.S. sales by company:

Source: Wards Automotive6

The automotive industry, one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States today, has been in turmoil for the past few years due to factors such as the economic recession, increased oil prices, and poor management decisions. By February 2009, U.S. automotive sales were the lowest they had been in the past 25 years.7 American-owned General Motors and Chrysler received a combined $17.4 billion bailout from the U.S. government in December 2008.8 A few months later, Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 30, 2009;9 General Motors followed suit on June 1, 2009.10 In 2008, Japanese auto manufacturers led U.S. sales, comprising 47.5% of the market. American manufacturers comprised 34.8% of total U.S. sales, followed by other foreign imports (primarily European) at 17.7%.11 To stimulate sales, the U.S. government initiated the car allowance rebate system (CARS) on July 1, 2009,12 commonly referred to as cash for clunkers. Under the program, in exchange for trading in a drivable vehicle 25 years old or newer that received 18 miles per gallon or fewer, consumers could receive a credit of between $3,500-$4,500 on the purchase of a new, more fuel efficient vehicle.13 The program lasted until August 25, 2009; 700,000 vehicles were
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traded in for government rebates totaling $2.9 billion.14 Japanese manufacturers accounted for 7 of the top 10 models purchased under the stimulus program.15

INDUSTRY MARKETING EXPENDITURES Automotive companies typically devote approximately 10% of their total sales revenues to marketing efforts, of which advertising comprises just one portion. However, due to the economic recession and rising fuel costs, both of which have significantly reduced new auto sales in the latter part of the decade, automotive companies have spent an average of 14% of their total sales revenues on marketing efforts.16 The automotive industry is the leader in total ad spending,17 allocating nearly $10.1 billion to advertising in 2008. Despite a decrease of 15.5% over 2007s expenditures, the industry continues to lead ad spending even in its current economic state.18 Ad spending for the top 10 product categories is shown in Chart I:

Chart I: 2007-08 Top 10 Advertisers, By Product Category

Product Category Automotive (Factory & Dealer Assoc.) Pharmaceuticals Local Auto Dealerships Quick Service Restaurants Department Stores Wireless Telephone Services Motion Pictures Direct Response Products Restaurants Furniture Stores Total: Top 10 Product Categories 2008 (millions) $10,016.1 $4,344.1 $4,198.3 $4,080.5 $3,809.9 $3,431.4 $3,322.1 $2,576.9 $1,618.6 $1,580.8 $39,060.0 2007 (millions) $11,854.4 $5,325.3 $4,604.6 $3,932.8 $3,994.2 $3,731.6 $3,750.6 $2,358.9 $1,619.4 $1,636.2 $42,808.1

Source: The Nielsen Company19

Five automotive companies made it onto Nielsens 2008 list of top advertisers, across all industries GM, Toyota, Ford, Honda, and Chrysler. See Chart II for a complete breakdown of top 10 companies 2007-08 ad spending, in millions:

Chart II: 2007-08 Top 10 Advertisers, By Parent Company

Parent Company Proctor & Gamble Co. General Motors Corp. AT&T Inc. Verizon Communications Inc. Toyota Motor Corp. Ford Motor Co. Johnson & Johnson Time Warner Inc. Honda Motor Co. Cerberus Capital Management Average Ad Spending 2008 (millions) $2,848.2 $2,117.7 $1,662.7 $1,614.8 $1,555.0 $1,416.1 $1,211.0 $1,077.4 $1,016.6 $1,002.6 $1,552.2 2007 (millions) $3,531.1 $2,488.6 $1,792.1 $1,636.3 $1,665.0 $1,981.6 $1,280.1 $1,411.4 $1,045.9 $1,456.7 $1,828.8

Source: The Nielsen Company20

BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY AND LESBIAN MARKETING To reach niche markets efficiently and cost-effectively, marketers run ads in niche media and/or sponsor events unique to that market. When companies began reaching out to gay men and lesbians in the 1980s, they ran ads in gay print media and sponsored gay/lesbian pride events.21 Later, gay marketing expanded into mainstream media by including gay and/or lesbian spokespersons in ads,b without necessarily targeting the niche markets.22 As will be discussed later in the study, while Subaru has largely tailored its efforts to gay and lesbian media, Subaru has crossed over into mainstream media, most notably by using a lesbian spokeswoman: tennis champion Martina Navratilova.23 Financial data about ads featured in gay and lesbian media was first collected in 1994, through the joint efforts of New York-based multicultural advertising agency Prime Access and New Jersey-based media placement firm Rivendell Media, Inc. Titled The Gay Press Report, the firms jointly publish an annual state of the industry report with breakdowns of ad spending in gay media. As illustrated in Table II, ad spending more than tripled between 1994 and 2007 from $53 million to $182 million, respectively. As with mainstream media, gay and lesbian media felt the financial impact of September 11, 2001, as companies poured less money into advertising, and again from 2007 to the present, as the U.S. battles an economic recession. Prior to the recession, 2006 saw record-breaking revenues of $223.3 million, no doubt impacted by MTV Networks introduction of Logo, a cable television channel that provided marketers with direct access to

An example of this type of mainstream advertising is the 2009 CoverGirl Simply Ageless campaign; Ellen, an out lesbian, is featured in the campaign, but lesbians are not the primary market.

millions of gay men and lesbians. See Table II for a historical overview of ad spending in gay and lesbian media:

Source: Prime Access, Inc.24

Table III illustrates the percentage change in ad revenue between each year. 1997 and 2000 both saw large increases, upwards of 36%, illustrating the pre-9/11 boom:

Source: Prime Access, Inc.25

PROVIDING CONTEXT: GAY MARKETING, CIRCA 1996 Around 1996, when Subaru began advertising to the gay and lesbian communities, companies in several industries were targeting gay and lesbian consumers, namely: Alcohol: o Absolut Vodka (1987)26 o Miller Brewing (1987)27 o Tuaca (1995)28 o Bud Light (1996)29 o Sauza Tequila (1998)30 o Beefeater Gin (1998)31 o Johnnie Walker Red Label Scotch (1999)32 Financial: o Wells Fargo (1980s)33 o AMEX (1992)34 o Aetna (1998)35 o Chase Manhattan Corporation (1998)36 o Citibank (1998)37 o Merrill Lynch & Company (1998)38 Furniture: o IKEA (1994)39 Telecommunications: o AT&T (1994)40 Apparel: o Diesel jeans (1995)41 o 2(x)ist underwear (1996)42 o Levis (1999)43 Airline: o Virgin Atlantic (1995)44
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o United Airlines (1997)45 Tobacco: o R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (1996)46 o Philip Morris (1999)47 Computer: o IBM (1997)48 Pharmaceuticals: o Merck (1997)49 o SmithKline Beecham and Abbott Laboratories (1997)50 o Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (1997)51 Insurance: o The Hartford (1998)52 o John Hancock (2000)53

Despite the wide array of industries advertising in gay media, relatively few companies overall were willing to risk potential consumer backlash, particularly automotive companies. Harry Taylor, publisher of leading gay magazine Out, explained that automotive companies politely declined Outs request for ads in 1996.54

IKEA, AT&T, AND JOHN HANCOCK RECEIVE CONSERVATIVE BACKLASH Marketers may have been reluctant to advertise in gay media based on the backlash experienced by IKEA, AT&T, and John Hancock. After running a mainstream television commercial featuring a gay couple in 1994, IKEA received a bomb threat at one of its stores. Kathy Delaney, President/Chief Creative Officer of Deutsch (IKEAs ad agency) explained, We knew it was going to be a polarizing decision but we thought it was the right one. IKEA ceased using same-sex couples in its television advertising until 2006 when the company debuted a second commercial featuring a gay couple, this time with a child in tow.55 Also in 1994, AT&T sent direct mail pieces with tailored messaging to gay and lesbian consumers for the first time. Conservative organizations learned of the telecom companys marketing activities and protested. AT&T pulled the campaign after mailing one piece of collateral,56 steering clear of the market until 1999.57
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After running an ad during a 1994 episode of Roseanne that featured a kiss between Mariel Hemmingway and Roseanne Barr, Mazda received stern disapproval from conservative viewers.58 Fearing a repeat of earlier events, Mazda owned by the Ford Motor Company pulled advertising from Ellen DeGeneres 1997 coming out episode on the sitcom Ellen. Linda Colleran, Senior VP/Media Director at Foote, Cone & Belding, Mazdas agency of record at the time, explained, Its not the Ellen character - I like to see TV reflect reality its all the press around it.59 Following Mazdas precedent, GM and Chrysler also pulled ads scheduled to run during the now famous Ellen episode. Before pulling out, Chrysler created a special toll-free number in anticipation of intense viewer backlash.60 In 2000, insurance company John Hancock featured two lesbian mothers in a TV ad and referenced the couples newly adopted baby. After its initial run, John Hancock edited future versions of the commercial to appease conservative protesters. Refuting the fact that the company had given into protestors, Stephen Burgay, VP of Advertising and Corporate Communications at John Hancock argued, We dont target a segment. We speak to a need, an emotion, a financial uncertainty or opportunity.61

GAY AND LESBIAN AUTOMOTIVE ADS In November 1994, Saab, a Swedish luxury car manufacturer owned by GM, made history as the first automotive company to run an ad in gay and lesbian media. The ad was featured in Genre magazine62 and then Out magazine the following month.63 Six months later, Saturn also owned by GM broke into gay and lesbian media with an advertisement in Out.64 But after just one ad, Saturn ceased advertising in gay and lesbian media for nearly 4 years.65 The impact of Saturns one ad was phenomenal: gay men and lesbians selected Saturn as their automobile brand of choice in a Simmons Market Research Bureau study conducted shortly after the press run.66 In March 1996, Subaru followed Saab and Saturns lead when it began advertising in gay newspapers.67 Despite not being the first automotive company to target gays and lesbians, Subaru holds the record for the longest consistent history of gay and lesbian advertising.68 Furthermore, Subaru was first in the automotive industry to design gay- and lesbian-specific ad creative, rather than running the same ads featured in mainstream publications.69 Subarus efforts bucked the trend of automotive ads at the time that were arguably formulaic and conservative, consisting of one-dimensional depictions of winding roads, dream sequences, and red cars.70 Volkswagen stepped in to fill the void left by Mazda, GM, and Chrysler during Ellen, airing its famous Da Da Da spot in 1997. Although VW spokesperson Tony Fouldapour declined to admit gay undertones by stating a lot of our commercials can be seen differently by peoplewere saying theres no real (straight) story behind it either, members of the gay community interpreted the commercial as a subtle inclusion of gay imagery.71 The commercial was the first of what would later become known as gay vague advertising, a term coined by Mike Wilke, a former writer for Advertising Age and founder of the non-profit Commercial Closet Association. Gay vague refers to ads in which the actors/models sexuality can be interpreted differently depending upon the viewer.72
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German-owned BMW, despite awareness that gay men accounted for a portion of their sales, declined to advertise to the community. As KarenVonder Meulen, former Sports and Cultural Communications Manager for BMW, stated in 2001, We dont do any specific targeting to the gay community. The community already purchases our cars without having to target them individually.73 In 2004, GMs Cadillac began advertising in The Advocate and Out.74 Following Cadillacs lead, Audi created an ad in 2004 featuring lesbian songstress k.d. lang, under the tagline Never follow.75

SUBARU After providing an overview of the U.S. automotive industry and a brief history of gay and lesbian marketing, the focus now shifts to Subaru.

COMPANY HISTORY Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. (FHI), is the parent company of Subaru. FHIs roots extend back to 1917 with the founding of Nakajima Aircraft Co., Ltd., a manufacturer and distributor of aerospace equipment.76 Nakajima Aircraft Co. was renamed Fuji Sangyo Co., Ltd. in 1945, and eight years later, on July 15, 1953, FHI was created as a result of a six-way merger.77 Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and led by President Ikuo Mori, today FHI manufactures equipment for four business units: Aerospace, Automotive, Eco-Technologies, and Industrial.78 Inspired by a cluster of stars in the Taurus constellation named Subaru, FHIs first president, Kenji Kita, decided to name the newly-created automotive business Subaru in 1958. Subaru of Japan was founded on one automobile model: the Subaru 360. Employing techniques used in aerospace engineering, Subaru released a second model in 1966 the Subaru 1000 that featured a horizontally opposed engine. The Subaru 1000 was the first mass-produced automobile in the world to feature front-wheel-drive; it was soon followed by the 1972 introduction of all-wheel-drive (AWD), a feature that would become standard on all Subaru vehicles.79 In 1968, Subaru of America (SOA) was founded as the U.S. automotive extension of FHI. In March 1987, Subaru partnered with Isuzu Motors Limited to create Subaru-Isuzu Automotive (SIA), a joint venture based in Lafayette, IN. The joint venture dissolved in January 2003 as Subaru-Isuzu Automotive transitioned to Subaru of Indiana Automotive.81 In October 2005, Toyota Motor Corporation announced its purchase of an 8.7% stake in FHI from General Motors.82 GM owned 20.1% of Subarus parent company at the time, which is had purchased in 1999.83 In 2005, GM sold its remaining shares back to FHI.84 In 2007, Toyota started building Camrys at the SIA plant.85
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Currently headquartered in Cherry Hill, NJ, the private subsidiary of FHI has over 600 dealerships nationwide and two distributors.86 In addition to the NJ headquarters, Subaru has five regional offices in Atlanta, GA, Denver, CO, Westhampton, NJ, Itasca, IL, and Portland, OR.87
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Yoshio Hasunuma is the Chairman, President and CEO of Subaru of America, appointed on April 16, 2009.88

SALES FIGURES Based on annual report data, Subarus sales increased steadily between 1996 and 2002. Between 2002 and 2009, sales have remained relatively constant, hovering around 200,000 units.89 Refer to Table IV for a 16-year history of sales figures:

Source: Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd.90

During the first two quarters of 2009, Subaru sales increased by 4% while industry-wide sales nose-dived 32%.91 Subaru saw a 41% year-to-date sales increase in October 2009 as compared to October 2008.92 In August 2009, Subaru enjoyed the best sales month in the history of the company by selling 28,683 automobiles, marking a 52% increase over August 2008 sales.93 According to Tim Mahoney, CMO and Senior VP of Subaru, One of the reasons we are doing relatively well in this dismal auto market is that we know who we are and we speak of things that are relevant to our customers.94

2010 PRODUCT LINEUP Subaru offers six models in its 2010 product lineup, including the Impreza, WRX, Legacy, Outback, Forester, and Tribeca, consisting of sedans, wagons, and cross-over vehicles. Ranging in list price from $17,000-$37,000 with a fuel economy of 21-30 miles per gallon and seating for 5-7 passengers, nearly all models are available in either manual or auto transmission, with the exception of the Tribeca (auto only) and the Impreza WRX (manual only).95 Subaru is a proverbial small fish in the large pond that is the U.S. automotive industry, currently representing just 2.2% of U.S. automotive sales.96 To further illustrate this point, in
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2007 Honda sold more CR-Vs alone (219,160 units) than all Subarus models combined (190,276).97

MARKET RESEARCH REVEALS LESBIAN NICHE MARKET By the early-1990s, Subaru had established four core consumer bases healthcare professionals, educators, IT professionals, and outdoor enthusiasts. Through market research findings in 1994, Subaru discovered a fifth core base: lesbians.98 As Tim Bennett, Subarus Director of Marketing at the time stated, Anecdotally, we found that there were women heads of households that purchased our cars, and in most cases they identified as lesbian.99 Market research indicated that lesbian Subaru owners had a high socioeconomic status and an active lifestyle, complimenting Subarus four existing consumer bases,100 and were four times as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to own a Subaru.101 Subaru did not disclose how much it spent on the proprietary research.102 As Rick Crosson, Subarus VP of Marketing at the time asserted, The gay and lesbian community had already found us particularly the lesbian community. They had already selected us as a car that they used, that fit their lifestyle.103 But instead of sweeping the findings under the rug, Subaru decided to target both lesbians and gay men, a move that was rare in 1995 regardless of the industry. An unnamed Subaru spokesperson revealed in 1996 that three years ago we were trying to be a competitor in the mainstream and that...wasnt working.104 At the time, Subarus sales comprised less than 2% of all U.S. automobile sales, in an industry dominated by the Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) who were responsible for 75% of all U.S. sales.105 John Nash, Creative Director of Moon City Productions, commented on the lesbian discovery: Lesbians were fiercely loyal customers of Subaru, and their word of mouth was like gold.106 EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION EFFORTS Carmichael Lynch is currently handling Subarus advertising, media planning, and media buying.107 Subaru had previously partnered with DDB Worldwide but decided to change shops on October 17, 2007, based on CMO Mahoneys previous success in working with Carmichael Lynch while serving as Porsches VP of Marketing. For gay and lesbian-specific marketing efforts, Subaru had used Mulryan-Nash until the shop closed in 1999;108 as of 2000, Subaru has employed Moon City Productions, a New York-based agency specializing in gay and lesbian creative.109 Although Subaru has typically used Moon City Productions to market its products to the gay and lesbian communities, in 2007 the company used the agency for a 2008 Impreza WRX general market campaign.110 Most public relations efforts are handled in house, led by CMO Tim Mahoney and Michael McHale, Director of Corporate Communications. In referencing Subarus relationship with the automotive media, McHale stated in 2007 that Subaru was well-known and liked.111 Subarus total ad spending has risen consistently over the past 17 years. Since Subaru is a private company that does not publicly release its ad spending figures, a snapshot of ad spending gathered from industry articles is shown in Table V:
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Source: AdAge112

PROFILE OF A SUBARU OWNER: BRAND LOYALTY Mickey Kaus, automotive expert and author of automotive columns on Slate.com, compared Subaru owners to Volvo owners in 2005, stating that Subaru represents what Volvo used to be a trusted, yet financially-obtainable vehicle for consumers who value performance and longevity.113 In 2008, John Colasanti, CEO of Carmichael Lynch, confirmed Kaus claims and discussed the brand loyalty of Subaru owners in the New York Times. Through extensive market research, Subarus agency or record discovered that Subaru owners tend to drive their vehicles for longer periods of time, as compared to other car brands. Colasanti added, They see their car as an enabler, an accomplice on their journey of life, and the more experiences you have, the deeper the relationship you have with the vehicle.114 Wes Brown, a marketing analyst who has worked with Subaru for over a decade, explains that current sales increases are not a fluke. Based on findings from earlier research in Portland, OR, Subaru customers are more likely to pay for their vehicles in cash and complete their paperwork ahead of time.115 In fact, 40% of Subaru owners pay cash for their vehicles, doubling the industry average of 20%.116 As Mahoney stated, We know who we are, and we do it consistentlythe landscapes littered with companies that dont know who they are or dont execute against that brand promise.117 Mahoney continued, We spent a lot of time defining who our customers are and having a relationship with them.118 Brandweek reporter Becky Ebenkamp remarked that Subarus brand loyal and financially savvy customers are part of the New Economic Order (NEO), consumers who value quality over low prices alone and continue to spend during recessions.119

BRIEF HISTORY OF SUBARUS GAY AND LESBIAN IMC EFFORTS

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As a result of the market research findings, Subaru embarked on a new marketing path in 1995 to reach lesbians and gay men, beginning with corporate sponsorship of the Rainbow Card, followed by gay and lesbian advertising and numerous strategic sponsorships.120

FOUNDING SPONSOR OF THE RAINBOW CARD In 1995, Subaru partnered with British Airways to co-sponsor Martina Navratilovas Rainbow Card, a credit card that donates a portion of every purchase to gay and lesbian charities and non-profits through The Rainbow Endowment. In its first year, the Rainbow Card raised $50,000 for gay and lesbian causes. After five years, the card had raised over $1 million.121 In the past, Subaru gave discounts of up to $3,000 on automobile purchases to Rainbow Card members.122

PROGRESSIVE ADVERTISING IN GAY MEDIA Following the Rainbow Card sponsorship, Subaru became the first Japanese automaker to advertise in gay media in March 1996 when it began running newspaper ads.123 Shortly after, Subaru placed ads in The Advocate, the leading gay and lesbian magazine, featuring both imagery of gay men and lesbians124 and language authentic to the communities; rather than running the same ads previously placed in mainstream publications, Subaru developed unique creative executions early on.125 When the media asked Subaru to discuss its gay and lesbian advertising campaign, Subaru refused to do so, stating that the campaign was a regional test and that it did not want to reveal proprietary information.126 Subarus ads feature unconventional taglines coded for gay and lesbian interpretation, such as Entirely comfortable with its orientation, Its not a choice. Its the way were built, and Get out and stay out.127 Early copy testing showed messaging that used non-descript male and female models did not resonate with gay and lesbian consumers. Subsequently, Subaru shifted gears to include coded imagery. Although the company was initially hesitant to run the coded ads, by 2002, anxiety had waned based on the campaigns successes. Bennett first remarked: If we were going to target-market, we decided to go after a niche that had already found us,128 closely followed by Every company markets to gays and lesbians, we just admit it.129Subaru is one of the few companies, automotive or otherwise, that has specifically targeted lesbians in its advertising messaging rather than simply gay men.130 An example of such an ad is the 1999 print ad featuring the tagline Different Drivers. Different Roads. One Car., included in Appendix II, that featured three Subaru vehicles with the following attributes: 1. Car #1 shows two mens bikes on the roof rack and a rainbow sticker on the bumper; the rainbow is a symbol of the gay and lesbian community. License plate: CAMPOUT a play on the words camp and out, where out refers to living life openly as a gay/lesbian individual

2. Car #2 features a kayak on the roof rack but is relatively non-descript, except for the license plate.
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License plate: XENA LVR a reference to the popularity of the television program Xena: Warrior Princess within the lesbian community at the time

3. Car #3 has a blue Human Rights Campaign (HRC) equality sticker on the bumper. License plate: P TOWNIE stands for Provincetown, a popular gay and lesbian vacation destination in Massachusetts

The ad copy referenced Subarus support of the gay and lesbian communities, specifically the HRC and Rainbow Endowment sponsorships. The campaign was featured in gay print media as well as on buses and billboards in the gay neighborhoods of select U.S. cities,131 such as Washington DCs Dupont Circle.132 Echoing earlier sentiment of Subarus covert gay and lesbian marketing efforts, in response to the coded imagery, Bennett articulated, Its sort of like our little secret. Its clever and not offensive, and if youre in-the-know, you chuckle.133 During Subarus Get out and stay out campaign, assumingly heterosexual online message board posters offered their opinions about being associated with an automotive company that marketed to gays and lesbians: They can call my car gay, but they will be looking pretty dumb when my gay car blows their doors off, and Got mad for a while after that show aired. Made me very pissed for some dumb-ass to call my car gay. Bennett responded by noting the overall success of the campaign and the fact that feedback of this sort had had a minimal impact, at best.134 Nearly one year after the incident, Bennett elaborated on negativity received from consumers and non-consumers alike: Look, we know that our owner base and our consumers are extremely well educated, and they celebrate diversity. A person who would be offended by our advertising probably would not have bought our car anyway.135 Acknowledging the fact that many gay and lesbian couples have children, Subaru started advertising in a new gay and lesbian-targeted magazine called Alternative Family in 2000.136 During this time, Subaru extended same-sex domestic partnership benefits to its employees.137 In 2001, Subaru crossed over into mainstream publications by running ads in Movieline geared toward gay and lesbian consumers. Similarly, in the December 2003 issue of Vanity Fair, which profiled gay and lesbian television entertainers, Subaru strategically targeted gay and lesbian consumers once again using mainstream media.138 In referencing the companys 2003 partnership with Lance Armstrong, Bennett characterized Subarus advertiser attributes as freedom, adventure, free-thinking, independent spirit.139 Yet, the attributes clearly extend beyond Subarus mainstream marketing efforts. When other automotive companies began advertising in gay media in the early 2000s, particularly Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo, Subaru was surprised the competition had waited so long to do so. Offering insight to his competitors, Bennett warned, You cant be a poser or pretender. This is a very sophisticated, intelligent market - not all that different from other niche markets we market to - so we probably have a leg up on the competition in that regard.140

SPONSORING GAY AND LESBIAN EVENTS In conjunction with its advertising efforts, Subaru became an early sponsor of gay pride events at both the dealership and corporate levels, beginning with the donation of a Subaru for
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the Denver Gay Pride Parade in 1996.141 In 1999, Subaru sponsored a booth at Philadelphias PrideFest,142 and two years later, Subaru corporately-sponsored the Los Angeles Gay Pride Festival.143 Subaru sponsored Atlantas pride events in 2006144 and Milwaukees events in 2009.145 In 1999, Subaru sponsored Out Takes Dallas, the citys annual gay and lesbian film festival.146 Likewise, Austin, TX, Provincetown, MA, Seattle, WA, and Washington DCs film festivals were sponsored by Subaru, 147 as was the 2003 Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Festival148. Appealing to the outdoor lifestyles of its gay and lesbian consumers, Subaru sponsored both GLAADS Ski Week in Telluride, CO149 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 EcoSubaru,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 Navratilovas 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 shows six season run. Queer as Folk, Showtimes 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 Clubs November 2005 panel The Queer Eye and What They Buy: Advertising to the Gay Market. Few companies could rival Subarus expertise, given the companys 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

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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 Radios 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 Sterns 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 didnt get us into a deal I didnt 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 Networks 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 Logos 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 Subarus 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 Subarus products as well as a showcase of Subarus 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 SUBARUS EFFORTS Gay organizations began formally recognizing Subarus 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 non19

discrimination policies that include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees, diversity training, LGBT health benefits, employee resource groups, and respectful marketing efforts targeting the LGBT community.168 Subaru has scored a perfect 100 on HRCs CEI for three years straight. Although Subaru has been included in the HRC rankings since 2002, the company has published just one media release on its corporate website announcing its ranking, dated September 21, 2009.169 The media release is included in Appendix III. In 2009, Ikeda commented on the companys perfect score: We are very proud to accept this recognition. Due to the diverse insights, talents and perspectives our employees contribute, we have built a culture that is cohesive in operation, strong at heart, and a company where our employees work with pride. Together we hope to create a reputation of distinction, service and respect.170 The companys rankings from 2002-2010 are featured in Table VI:

Source: HRC171

In conjunction with HRC recognition, Subaru has been honored by various gay organizations for its efforts. On November 21, 2005, the Commercial Closet Association honored Subarus Tim Bennett with its first Visionary Executive Award in New York City.172 Four years later on October 27, 2009, GLAAD awarded Subaru the Corporate Responsibility Award.173 In 2008, MediaPost named Subaru Automotive Marketer of the Year for its general market campaign Love. Its what makes a Subaru, a Subaru and the Share the Love charity campaign. As Karl Greenberg, editor at Mediapost.com stated, Subaru is an anomaly in the auto business ... [with] the kind of brand equity and staunch loyalty you usually find in luxury marquees, which means they can keep their message on product and brand, not deals.174 In addition to the MediaPost honor, Subaru ranked third in the automotive industry on Brand Keys annual 2009 Customer Loyalty Insights Report.175

CONSUMER FEEDBACK FOR GAY AND LESBIAN OUTREACH

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By 2000, Subaru was receiving feedback from gay and lesbian consumers about its marketing efforts. 2000 MRI data showed that The Advocate and Out readers were one and a half times more likely to purchase a Subaru vehicle than other brands. During the next year, Subaru doubled its advertising efforts; through market research in 2002, the company learned that readers were now nearly three times more likely to purchase a Subaru than other brands.176 Further research showed that as Subaru expanded its marketing efforts and changed the design of its vehicles over time, by 2002 gay men exceeded lesbians in number of Subarus purchased.177 For its outreach, Subaru affectionately became known as gaybaru178 and lesbaru179 by those within the communities; while the media first reported these nicknames in 2002, it is likely that members in the communities referred to the vehicles accordingly prior to that. In 2009, NPRs Car Talk created a top 10 list of gay and lesbian vehicles, based on email feedback from gay and lesbian listeners. The Subaru Outback and Forrester ranked #1 and #2, respectively, for lesbians, while the top 10 list for gay men did not feature any Subarus.180 INCREASED SALES DUE TO OUTREACH Subarus reciprocal relationship with gay and lesbian stakeholders provides evidence of prosperity; between 1993 and 2004, Subaru more than doubled the number of cars sold. Although the increase to Subarus bottom line is not directly caused by its relationship with the gay and lesbian communities alone, Bennett definitively acknowledged the fact that Subarus relationship cultivation played a role in the upswing.181

FORD MOTOR COMPANY Like Subaru, Ford Motor Company has partnered with the gay and lesbian communities for over a decade. However, despite its long partnership history, Ford was entangled in a 200506 battle over gay advertising with two opposing stakeholders: the conservative American Family Association (AFA) and numerous gay organizations. Despite its gay-friendly outreach, Ford handled the boycott in a secretive, indirect manner that led to many questions from both sides. The events contrast Subarus boycott-free history. To provide context for understanding how the boycott arose, and subsequently Fords response to the events as they unfolded, a brief overview of the Ford Motor Co. follows. Significantly larger than Subaru, in 2008 Ford Motor Co. posted a net income of $14.7 billion182 and sold 2.3 million automobiles in North America alone.183 Ford accounted for 14.2% of all U.S. auto sales in 2008 and was the sixth largest advertiser is terms of ad spending, at $1.4 billion. Representing one-third of the Big Three U.S. automotive manufacturers, Ford Motor Co. is the only American manufacturer to have not received money in the government bailout. An abridged history of Fords relationship with the gay and lesbian communities is provided in the following sections.

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FORDS GAY-FRIENDLY HISTORY In July 1994, Ford employees Alice McKeage and Rob Matras began a letter-writing campaign to Fords CEO and VP of Employee Relations to broach the subject of forming a gay, lesbian, and bisexual employee group. Granting their request, one year later McKeage and Matra co-founded the Ford Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Employees (GLOBE) group. Later in 1995, Ford expanded its corporate diversity definition to include sexual orientation and ran ads during NBCs viewing of Serving in Silence, a made-for-TV movie about the life of lesbian Army Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer, discharged under the militarys Dont Ask, Dont Tell Policy in 1992. In 1996, Ford developed a GLOBE site on the company intranet, publicizing its efforts to internal stakeholders (now available through http://fordglobe.org). Externally, members marched in gay pride parades and collaborated with gay, lesbian, and bisexual groups at neighboring GM and Chrysler.184 GLOBE members added sexual orientation to Fords workplace diversity training in 1998 and delivered external speeches about Fords efforts to organizations in metro-Detroit. The following year, GLOBE started recruiting at gay and lesbian conferences and sponsored both Lambda Legals Michigan in March celebration and the 1999 Out and Equal Leadership Summit. Moreover, Ford vehicles were featured in pride events in Australia and Europe. In the early 2000s, Fords outreach to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and newly-extended transgender communities increased over time through corporate sponsorship of events like Working Out: Lesbian and Gay MBA Conference, National Coming Out Day, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) Michigan, Jaguar Gay Pride Month in New Jersey, Corporate Sponsorship of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards (Jaguar), Midwest BLGTA College Conference, and AIDS Walk Michigan. Ford also contributed large donations to the greater Detroit Affirmations Lesbian and Gay Community Center, and additional GLOBE chapters sprung up worldwide. Showing its commitment to internal and external stakeholders in a manner unmatched by competitors, in 2001 Ford opened a Beverly Hills dealership featuring all-gay employees. Ford advertised the new venture in Frontiers, a local gay magazine.185

GAY ORGANIZATIONS RECOGNIZE FORDS EFFORTS On June 8, 2000, Ford, GM, and Chrysler in conjunction with the United Auto Workers (UAW) extended same-sex healthcare benefits to employees; additional benefits, such as financial planning, legal services, and vehicle programs, were offered to LGBT employees the following year. For GLOBEs efforts, Ford was jointly-awarded the HRCs Corporate Equality Award along with GM, Chrysler, and UAW in 2000. In 2004 and 2005, Ford was the only automotive company to score a perfect 100 on the HRC CEI. A complete history of Fords CEI rankings is shown in Table VII:

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Source: HRC186

In 2003, Ford was named the top company for overall diversity by Diversity, Inc. and the second best company for LGBT employees. The company also received the GLAAD Fairness Award in 2003,187 honoring Fords commitment to employee equality. In reference to the Fairness Award, Jim Padilla, Fords COO, stated: This rating acknowledges Fords deep commitment to building and nurturing an inclusive and respectful culture in which all employees feel encouraged and able to contribute to their fullest potential. Not only is this the right thing to do, it is essential to the future of our business.188

JAGUAR, VOLVO, AND LAND ROVER BEGIN ADVERTISING IN GAY MEDIA Cindy Clardy of GLOBE cautioned Ford about reaching out to the gay and lesbian communities: We told Ford not to consider direct marketing to gay and lesbian consumers until they had their internal policies in place.189 Presumably heeding Clardys advice, after implementing gay-friendly policies in the mid-1990s, Ford hired Witeck-Combs (a Washington DC-based PR firm that specializes in reaching the gay and lesbian communities) to execute a survey of LGBT attitudes toward automotive companies.190 Results were shared with all Ford Motor Co. brands, including Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, and Volvo, but only three brands moved forward with ad creation and focus group testing.191 In 1999, Jaguar sponsored GLAADs Annual Media Awards for the first time192 and Land Rover followed a couple years later.193 In 2003, Jaguar followed Subarus lead and developed gay- and lesbian-specific creative executions194 for The Advocate, Out, and Metrosource.195 During the campaign, Jaguar began offering $1,000 donations to the HRC for every car purchased or leased; in 2004, Jaguar shifted donations from HRC to GLAAD.196 Referring to the Jaguar campaign, Jan Valentic, Fords VP of Global Marketing, asserted, We believe in messaging that connects with the consumer. The point of our doing this isreciprocity. So when they buy one of our products, they know that we are giving back to

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their community.197 Land Rover began advertising to the communities in 2002; in 2003-04, the company also offered $1,000 donations to HRC/GLAAD for every car purchased.198 In a similar vein, Volvo first advertised in Genre, a magazine targeting gay men, in July 2001.199 Additionally, Volvo donated automobiles for use in the 2001 West Hollywood Gay Pride Parade.200 For its groundbreaking Starting a Family campaign launched two years later (see Appendix IV), Volvo was awarded the Advertising Research Foundations David Ogilvy Award on April 27, 2004201 and the Association of National Advertisers Multicultural Excellence Award on November 9, 2004.202 Volvo became a platinum sponsor of the HRC and offered donations of $500 for every vehicle sold or leased, announcing its partnership in the campaign.203 Thomas Andersson, EVP of Volvo Cars North America, remarked: For us, it was very natural to address gay familiesthe Volvo-minded consumer is very diverse. Family is much more than the traditional family.204 Although running ads in Europe and Australia during this time, Ford Motor Co. had yet to consistently run ads for its flagship brand in U.S. gay media. Ford did advertise its Focus model on gay.com in 1999205 and its new Beverly Hills dealership in a local gay magazine in 2001, but that advertising presence was short-lived. When asked if the company was concerned that advertising abroad might offend conservative U.S. consumers, Valentic responded, It wouldnt scare us from doing something thats right for our company.206

AFA BOYCOTTS FORD FOR HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA On May 31, 2005,207 the Tupelo, MS-based American Family Association (AFA) announced its intentions to boycott Ford Motor Co. in response to the latters pro-gay ideology.208 The Conservative Christian organization founded by Reverend Donald Wildmon in 1978209 is known for boycotting organizationsc that do not adhere to its conservative ideology.210 As Randy Sharp, AFAs Director of Special Projects contended, Ford Motor Co. was redefining the definition of the family to include homosexual marriage.211 In response to AFAs announcement, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans explained that Diversity is very important to Ford, and it goes beyond homosexuality.212 Yet, local Ford dealers urged AFA to postpone the boycott until Ford could meet with AFA members; the AFA agreed to a six-month postponement, to lessen the impact on local dealers for what was decidedly an executive decision.213 In June 2005, Ford and AFA met for the first time.214 Immediately succeeding a second meeting on November 28, 2005,215 held at AFA headquarters,216 Ford Motor Co. announced its decision to pull Jaguar and Land Rover (but not Volvo) advertising in a company memo. Gay and lesbian stakeholders both internal and external were not consulted nor informed of Fords decision before the media announced the decision.217

The AFA has boycotted Disney World, Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble, Volkswagen, Clorox Company, SC Johnson & Son, Kraft Foods, Walgreens, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Old Navy, Viacom, Abercrombie & Fitch, K-Mart, Burger King, Carls Jr., Nutrisystem, and American Airlines.

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After the memo was distributed, Ford spokesperson Mike Moran denied that the company had given into AFA pressure (see the Chicago Tribune article in Appendix V): That is not something that came about in the last week or month.218 This was made as a pure business decision, not as a social statement one way or another. This was not a decision in response to the American Family Association. Jaguar and Land Rover are streamlining their advertising in 2006.219 Moran denied the existence of a confidential agreement between Ford Motor Co. and AFA220 and noted that Jaguar and Land Rover were reducing advertising expenditures elsewhere, but he neglected to state where else the companies advertising expenditures would be trimmed.221 A Ford company statement corroborated Morans sentiment, declaring Advertising decisions for all our brands are driven strictly by a business case.222 Fords U.S. sales numbers partially substantiated company sentiment. In 2005, companywide U.S. sales declined 5%; Jaguars sales declined 34%; yet Land Rovers sales increased by 31%.223 Interpreting Fords ad pull as victory, on November 30, 2005, AFA posted a notice on its website stating they would not proceed with the boycott.224 In a media release, Rev. Wildmon stated: While we still have a few differences with Ford, we feel that our concerns are being addressed in good faith and will continue to be addressed in the future.225 Moran revealed that while AFA objected to Fords gay-friendly behavior in the United States, AFA was particularly offended by the companys European ads featuring men holding hands with one another and women in their bras. His statements sharply contrasted Valentics, Fords VP of Global Marketing, earlier remarks that discounted Fords potential for offending U.S. conservatives with European ads. Sharp, AFAs Director of Special Projects, declared that while other automotive manufacturers also actively reach out to the gay and lesbian communities, Fords HRC and GLAAD donations far outweighed competitors efforts; therefore, Ford became the target of AFAs attacks.226 Reactions from members of the gay community tended to skew heavily toward outrage. HRC, a benefactor of Jaguar and Land Rovers donations, vehemently opposed Fords decision: We expect Ford to disavow it[and] publicly reaffirm its historic support for our community.227 Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director of the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, echoed HRC: You dont make deals with bullies, and you dont cut your friends loose.228 Offering a different opinion, Spencer Moore, Manager of Corporate Communications for PlanetOut, Inc., owner of gay.com, argued, Based on what Ford has said, its a business decision and some of their brands are still advertising.229 After meeting with AFA members twice and subsequently announcing the ad pulls, Ford agreed to meet with 19 gay organization leaders on December 10, 2005.230 Ford offered no indication of plans to cut AFA ties or to reinstate Jaguar and/or Land Rover ads. Through a company statement, Ford commented that the company was: always willing to engage in constructive conversation with those interested in our policies.... But only Ford Motor Company speaks for Ford Motor Company. Any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect.231

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Two days later, Ford announced plans to promote all eight automotive brands in corporate ads to run in gay media, as a sign of Fords long-standing support for the communities.232 Fords VP of Corporate HR, Joe Laymon, professed, It is my hope that this will remove any ambiguity about Fords desire to advertise to all important audiences and put this particular issue behind us.233 Fords announcement was met with fervent support from meeting attendees such as Neil Giuliano, President of GLAAD: Ford did the right thing here, both for its brand and for its bottom line.234 Upon hearing about Fords change of mind, Rev. Wildmon threatened to reinstate the boycott,235 claiming that Ford had dishonored its November 2005 agreement.236 Rev. Wildmon drafted a letter to Chairman Bill Ford, signed by members of 40d self-labeled pro-family organizations, and requested that Ford respond to the groups demands by January 20, 2006;237 upon receiving no answer, the boycott was reinstated on March 13, 2006.238 One month later, AFA issued a media release claiming that the boycott was proving successful, as Fords stock price had dropped and sales declined.239 Rev. Wildmon repeated sentiment of AFAs success again in seven media releases issued between September 2006240 and January 2008.241 Ford labeled Rev. Wildmons claims as false,242 but the company did not issue media releases of its own to address the boycott. On March 10, 2008, Rev. Wildmon announced the boycott would be suspended, due to the success of AFAs negative impact on Fords sales (see Appendix VI).243 AFA has not released statements about the Ford boycott since that date.

CONTRASTING SUBARU AND FORD MOTOR COMPANY Both Subaru and Ford Motor Co. have had meaningful relationships with their gay and lesbian stakeholders for 14 years significantly longer than all other automotive companies and continue to strengthen these relationships today. It is precisely because of these strong integrated marketing communication-anchored relationships, which have run in parallel to sales increases for both, that the two automotive companies were examined in this case study. However, Subaru and Ford Motor Co. have communicated with and demonstrated their support of the communities using diverse communication tactics and faced different repercussions as a result. When Subaru sponsored the Rainbow Card and Ford created GLOBE in 1995, public opinion of gay men and lesbians was mixed: 50% of the U.S. population stated that homosexuality should not be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle, and respondents were evenly split on whether homosexual activities between consenting adults should be legal.244 While companies such as IKEA, AT&T, Mazda, and John Hancock received various forms of consumer backlash for their marketing efforts, including threats of violence, it was not until nearly one decade later that Ford was boycotted by AFA. Subaru, however, has never been on the receiving end of a boycott and has received extremely minimal backlash.245 To understand why Ford was the target of a boycott while Subaru with an equally long and diverse history of reaching out to gays and lesbians was not, four factors should be

Eighteen of the 40 signatories joined the AFA boycott.

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considered. First, Subaru is a small Japanese auto manufacturer offering six automobile models compared to Ford Motor Co., a large U.S. auto manufacturer offering 16 (consumer) automobile models. Subaru sales represent a mere fraction of Fords, and the former has a history of targeting progressive, liberal niche markets gay or straight to sell niche car models. Ford, on the other hand, is a mainstream brand targeting a wide variety of consumers, both liberal and conservative. Ford was the sixth largest U.S. advertiser in 2008 spending $1.4 billion, whereas Subarus 2008 advertising budget dwarfs in comparison (~$200 million). Because of their differences, both companies face unique challenges moving forward as they continue to strengthen and diversify their relationships with gay and lesbian stakeholders. However, given Subarus successful relationship cultivation and unwavering commitment to the gay and lesbian communities, the companys niche integrated communication efforts have been more successful than Fords particularly considering how Ford initially handled the AFA boycott. Subaru has positioned itself as more than a car company seeking to capitalize on the gay/lesbian dollar, but rather as an ally to gay and lesbian stakeholders.

SUBARUS CURRENT DILEMMA: IMC SUSTAINABILITY As competition increases and more automotive companies develop relationships with gay and lesbian stakeholders, Subaru will need to retain its competitive advantage using both advertising and, even more so, public relations tactics. Between 1995 and 2005, Subarus competition was largely luxury automotive brands that targeted consumers of a different socioeconomic status. New gay and lesbian media outlets have appeared regularly within the last decade, therefore providing fresh, unique, and diverse avenues for Subaru to reach its brand loyal gay and lesbian consumers. As evidenced by Subarus penchant for sponsoring new gay-targeted products, if more products are not created in the near future, print readership continues to decline in general, and advertising audiences and dollars continue to move away from traditional media sources, Subaru must keep diversifying its integrated marketing communication efforts in years to come. In the highly competitive automotive industry, it is necessary for Subaru to prove that its gay and lesbian IMC strategy is sustainable into the next decade as well. Furthermore, although a loyal contingent, gay and lesbian consumers represent just one of Subarus niche markets. While the market has proven to be a lucrative, loyal consumer base, not all gays and lesbians consume gay-targeted media and therefore may be unaware of Subarus efforts. The auto manufacturer needs to reach additional consumers regardless of their sexual orientation. As Jim Hall, an auto analyst with 2953 Analytics, states, You dont grow by selling to the people youve sold to before.246 To remain competitive in the U.S. automotive industry in the long-term, Subaru needs to grow its consumer base by pursuing other niche markets without damaging the relationships it has cultivated thus far.

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APPENDIX I

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APPENDIX II
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APPENDIX III Subaru of America, Inc. Earns Top Marks in 2010 Corporate Equality Index
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Sep 21, 2009 [USA] Cherry Hill, NJ, September 21, 2009 Subaru of America, Inc., has earned the top rating of 100 percent in the 2010 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), an annual survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Subaru joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses which get top marks for their treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees and consumers. The CEI rated 583 businesses in total, evaluating LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination policies, transgender health benefits and domestic partner benefits. Subarus efforts in ensuring LGBT equality in each of the surveys main criterion earned it the prestigious 100 percent ranking. Copyright Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

APPENDIX IV
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APPENDIX V Ford to pull Jaguar, Land Rover ads from gay press
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Chicago Tribune 12/07/2005 Rick Popely Dec. 7--CHICAGO -- Ford Motor Co., already losing customers to other brands, now faces the possibility of damaged relations with the 15 million members of the gay community. Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover brands will stop advertising in gay publications in what Ford says is "purely a business decision," but gay advocacy groups suspect is a response to pressure from the American Family Association, a conservative Christian Group. The move by Ford, which doesn't include its Volvo brand, runs counter to efforts by other car makers to reach out to gays and lesbians. As a result, the second-largest automaker may be jeopardizing goodwill it had with a group whose spending power will hit $610 billion this year, said advertising executive Todd Evans. That figure is not far behind African Americans and Hispanic Americans in buying power. Readers of gay publications tend to be "influencers, the out gay person who is concerned with gay issues" and will spread the word about who advertises and who doesn't, said Evans, chief executive of Rivendell Media, an advertising placement firm in Mountainside, N.J. "There's a lot of research that people will go out of their way and even pay more for a brand that is gay friendly. When you're talking about big ticket items, a lot of thought goes into it," Evans said. Other automakers are reaching out to gay consumers, including Subaru of America, MercedesBenz and General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac, Saab and Saturn brands. The American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., called for a Ford boycott in late May over what it called the company's "homosexual agenda," including marketing to gays, donations to gay causes and diversity training for its employees. The AFA suspended the boycott for six months in June after local Ford dealers complained they were being hurt most. The organization announced on its Web site Nov. 30 that the boycott had ended, after it met with Ford representatives, touching off concerns among gay advocates that the AFA had struck a deal with Ford. "While we still have a few differences with Ford, we feel our concerns are being addressed in good faith and will continue to be addressed in the future," AFA Chairman Donald A. Wildmon said in a statement posted on AFA's Web site. The AFA did not respond to requests for comments Tuesday.

Ford spokesman Mike Moran said the decision for Jaguar and Land Rover to stop advertising in gay publications was made before the company met with the AFA.
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"That is not something that came about in the last week or month. It's been evolving a long time," Moran said. "This was made as a pure business decision, not as a social statement one way or another. This was not a decision in response to the American Family Association." Ford's Volvo brand, which has advertised in gay publications for years, will continue to do so, Moran said. The company's Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands have not marketed directly to gays and have no plans to do so. "That's just not part of our marketing plan. We let our brands determine where it makes the most sense to advertise their products," Moran said, adding that Jaguar and Land Rover are "streamlining" their advertising in 2006. "Jaguar faces extreme pressure in its marketing budget and is not going to be able to afford as many publications as it has in the past." Ford does not break out financial results for its brands, but Jaguar and Land Rover are believed to be losing money while Volvo is profitable. All three are part of Ford's Premiere Automotive Group, which lost $108 million in the third quarter. Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales are down 5 percent this year, and Jaguar's have plunged 34 percent. Land Rover's sales are up 31 percent thanks to brisk sales of the LR3, a new sport-utility vehicle. Land Rover was gaining traction in the gay community because of ads in national gay publications like the Advocate, Tracy Baim, publisher and editor of the Windy City Times, a gay-oriented newspaper, said. "The gay community is extremely loyal to brands that advertise to them and they're very educated about this," she said. Subaru is recognized as the first car company to target gays, starting in about 1995, after it discovered through focus groups that a large number of its owners were lesbians. The gay community is only one of the niches Subaru targets. Others include skiers through sponsorship of the National Ski Patrol, nurses and other medical professionals and engineers. One of the common selling point to those groups is that all Subaru models come with all-wheel drive and are well-suited to outdoor activities. Gregg Lieberman, vice president of Moon City Productions, the New York agency Subaru uses for its gay-oriented ads, says tailoring the message to specific groups builds allegiance. "It says that we recognize that you exist as human beings and as a group of consumers," he said.

APPENDIX VI
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American Family Association Contact: Cindy Roberts ~ 662-844-5036 For Immediate Release: 3/10/2008 Ford meets conditions; AFA suspends boycott (Tupelo, MS) - American Family Association (AFA) has suspended its two-year boycott of Ford Motor Company. After monitoring the company for several months, AFA said the conditions of the original agreement between AFA and Ford, agreed to in fall 2005, have been met. According to AFA, during the 24 months the boycott was in effect, Ford sales dropped an average of 8% per month. The organization said its boycott was not entirely responsible for the drop in sales, but it played a very significant role. A total of 780,365 individuals had signed AFAs Boycott Ford petition. AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon said the original agreement between the family group and Ford contained four items: Ford would not renew current promotions or create future incentives that give cash donations to homosexual organizations based on the purchase of a vehicle. Ford would not make corporate donations to homosexual organizations that, as part of their activities, engage in political or social campaigns to promote civil unions or same-sex marriage. Ford would stop giving cash and vehicle donations or endorsements to homosexual social activities such as Gay Pride parades. Ford would cease all advertising on homosexual Web sites and through homosexual media outlets (magazines, television, radio) in the U.S. with the exception of $100,000 to be used by Volvo. The Volvo ads would be the same ads used in the general media and not aimed at the homosexual community specifically. Wildmon said a few minor issues remain, and AFA will continue to bring these to the attention of Ford. American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over two million online supporters. American Family Association P.O. Box 2440 Tupelo, MS. 38803

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Kuhr, Fred. Driving Sales: Car Companies Find Success Advertising To Gay Consumers and Supporting Groups that work for Equality, The Advocate, November 9, 2004, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1126164421/driving-sales-car-companies.html (accessed September 29, 2009). 2 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, p. 1, Late Edition. 3 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 4 JD Power & Associates. JDPower.com. http://www.jdpower.com/autos (accessed December 6, 2009). 5 Levy, Efraim. Industry Surveys: Autos & Auto Parts. Standard & Poors, June 25, 2009, http://www.net advantage.standardandpoors.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/NASApp/NetAdvantage/showIndustrySurvsh.do?task=show IndustrySurvey&type=pdf&code=aup (accessed December 6, 2009). 6 Wards Auto. U.S. Vehicle Sales Market Share By Company, 1961-2008. http://wardsauto.com/keydata/ historical/UsaSa28summary/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 7 Levy, Efraim. Industry Surveys: Autos & Auto Parts. Standard & Poors, June 25, 2009, http://www.net advantage.standardandpoors.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/NASApp/NetAdvantage/showIndustrySurvsh.do?task=showI ndustrySurvey&type=pdf&code=aup (accessed December 6, 2009). 8 Newman, Rick. How the Feds will Govern GM and Chrysler. US News, December 19, 2008, http://www.usnews. com/money/blogs/flowchart/2008/12/19/how-the-feds-will-govern-gm-and-chrysler.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 9 Isidore, Chris. Chrysler Files for Bankruptcy. CNN Money, May 1, 2009, http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/30/ news/companies/chrysler_bankruptcy/index.htm?postversion=2009050103 (accessed December 6, 2009). 10 Maynard, Micheline, Lieber, Ron, and Bernard, Tara Siegel. A Primer on the G.M. Bankruptcy. New York Times, June 1, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/business/02primer.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 11 Ibid. 12 Car Allowance Rebate System. Helpful Q&As for Consumers. http://www.cars.gov/faq#category-01 (accessed December 6, 2009). 13 Ibid. 14 Bolton, Eric. Cash for Clunkers Wraps Up with Nearly 700,000 Car Sales and Increased Fuel Efficiency, U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood Declares Program Wildly Successful. United States Department of Transportation, August 26, 2009, http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/dot13309.htm, (accessed December 6, 2009). 15 Ibid. 16 Levy, Efraim. Industry Surveys: Autos & Auto Parts. Standard & Poors, June 25, 2009, http://www.net advantage.standardandpoors.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/NASApp/NetAdvantage/showIndustrySurvsh.do?task=showI ndustrySurvey&type=pdf&code=aup (accessed December 6, 2009). 17 Nielsen figures do not account for Internet or business-to-business ad spending. 18 Nielsen. U.S. Ad Spending Fell 2.6% in 2008, Nielsen Reports. http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/news/news _releases/2009/march/u_s__ad_spending_fell (accessed December 6, 2009). 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid. 21 Wilke, Mike. Big Advertisers Join Move to Embrace Gay Market. Advertising Age, August 4, 1997. 22 An example of this type of mainstream advertising is the 2009 CoverGirl Simply Ageless campaign; Ellen, an out lesbian, is featured in the campaign, but lesbians are not the primary market. 23 Elliott, Stuart. Martina Navratilova in a Campaign for Subaru. New York Times, March 13, 2000. 24 Prime Access. Research Reports. http://www.primeaccess.net/c2_gpr.php (accessed November 15, 2009). 25 Ibid. 26 Wilke, Mike. Big Advertisers Join Move to Embrace Gay Market. Advertising Age, August 4, 1997. 27 Ibid. 28 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 29 Wilke, Mike. Ad Survey Shows Appeal of Gay Themes. Advertising Age, May 6, 1996. 30 Wilke, Mike. Target Focus: AmEx and Bud Light First Ran Mainstream Ads in Gay Markets Before Creating Gay-Specific Advertising. Advertising Age, June 22, 1998. 31 Ibid. 32 Alsop, Ronald. Cracking the Gay Market Code: How Marketers Plant Subtle Symbols in Ads. Wall Street Journal, June 29, 1999, B.1., Eastern edition. 33 Murphy, Molly. We Take Pride. The Wells Fargo-Wachovia Blog, June 26, 2009, http://blog.wells fargo.com/wachovia/2009/06/we_take_pride.html (accessed on December 19, 2009). 34 Wilke, Mike. Big Advertiser Join Move to Embrace Gay Market. Advertising Age, August 4, 1997.

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Wilke, Mike. Target Focus: AmEx and Bud Light First Ran Mainstream Ads in Gay Markets Before Creating Gay-Specific Advertising. Advertising Age, June 22, 1998. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid. 38 Ibid. 39 Wilke, Mike and Applebaum, Michael. Peering Out of the Closet. Brandweek, November 5, 2001. 40 Wilke, Mike. Big Advertisers Join Move to Embrace Gay Market. Advertising Age, August 4, 1997. 41 Ibid. 42 Yin, Sandra. Coming Out in Print. Advertising Age, February 1, 2003. 43 Alsop, Ronald. Cracking the Gay Market Code: How Marketers Plant Subtle Symbols in Ads. Wall Street Journal, June 29, 1999, B.1., Eastern edition. 44 Wilke, Mike. Ad Survey Shows Appeal of Gay Themes. Advertising Age, May 6, 1996. 45 Wilke, Mike. United is First Major Airline to Target Gays: Advocate Included in Media Plan for New Ad Push. Advertising Age, June 2, 1997. 46 Wilke, Mike. Target Focus: AmEx and Bud Light First Ran Mainstream Ads in Gay Markets Before Creating Gay-Specific Advertising. Advertising Age, June 22, 1998. 47 Ibid. 48 Wilke, Mike. Big Advertisers Join Move to Embrace Gay Market. Advertising Age, August 4, 1997. 49 Wilke, Mike. Gay Print Media Ad Revenue Up 36%: Mulryan/Nash Research Projects $100.2 Million in Revenues. Advertising Age, October 6, 1997. 50 Ibid. 51 Wilke, Mike. Target Focus: AmEx and Bud Light First Ran Mainstream Ads in Gay Markets Before Creating Gay-Specific Advertising. Advertising Age, June 22, 1998. 52 Wilke, Mike and Applebaum, Michael. Peering Out of the Closet. Brandweek, November 5, 2001. 53 Ibid. 54 Suris, Oscar. Mum's the Word in Subaru Ads for Gays. Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1996, B2, Eastern Edition. 55 Wilke, Mike. Ikea Revisits Gay Couples, While Southwest Airlines, Sears and Sprint. Commercial Closet Association, http://www.commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 56 Wilke, Mike. Big Advertisers Join Move to Embrace Gay Market. Advertising Age, August 4, 1997. 57 Wilke, Mike. AT&T Calls Gays Back. Commercial Closet Association, http://www.commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 58 Wilke, Mike. Sponsors Ponder Ellen Plotline. Advertising Age, October 7, 1996. 59 Ibid. 60 Halliday, Jean. Gay Ride. Advertising Age, February 25, 2002. 61 Wilke, Mike and Applebaum, Michael. Peering Out of the Closet. Brandweek, November 5, 2001. 62 Wilke, Mike. Volkswagen, Volvo and Jaguar Make Gay Drive. Commercial Closet Association, July 20, 2001, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 63 Suris, Oscar. Mum's the Word in Subaru Ads for Gays. Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1996, B2, Eastern Edition. 64 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 65 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, p. 1, Late Edition. 66 Wilke, Mike. Big Advertisers Join Move to Embrace Gay Market. Advertising Age, August 4, 1997. 67 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 68 LaMuraglia, Joe. Pride and Prejudice: The Auto Industry and The Gays. Between the Lines, October 16, 2008, p. 25. 69 Prince, C.J. Designated Driver. The Advocate, March 18, 2003, p. 31. 70 Suris, Oscar. Mum's the Word in Subaru Ads for Gays. Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1996, B2, Eastern Edition. 71 Wilke, Mike. Volkswagen, Volvo and Jaguar Make Gay Drive. Commercial Closet Association, July 20, 2001, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 72 Alsop, Ronald. Cracking the Gay Market Code: How Marketers Plant Subtle Symbols in Ads. Wall Street Journal, June 29, 1999, B.1., Eastern edition. 73 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, pg. 1, Late Edition.

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Halliday, Jean. Cadillac Takes Tentative Step Toward Targeting Gay Market. Advertising Age, February 2, 2004. 75 Elliott, Stuart. A Niche No More: Gay Celebrities are in Demand as Endorsers for Mainstream Campaigns. New York Times, March 10, 2004, p. 5, Late Edition. 76 Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. Guide to FHI: Aerospace Company. http://www.fhi.co.jp/english/outline/section /aero.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 77 Subaru Global. Origin of the Name Subaru. http://www.subaru-global.com/origin_name.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 78 Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. Corporate Overview. http://www.fhi.co.jp/english/outline/inoutline/index.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 79 Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. Guide to FHI: Subaru Automotive Business. http://www.fhi.co.jp/english/outline/ section/car.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 80 Subaru. Company. http://www.subaru.com/company/index.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 81 Ibid. 82 Shimizu, Kaho. Toyota to Buy Fuji Shares in GM Selloff. The Japanese Times Online, October 6, 2005, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?nn20051006a1.htm (accessed December 6, 2009). 83 Hakim, Danny. General Motors Plans to Sell Its Stake in Subaru's Parent. New York Times, October 6, 2005. 84 Shimizu, Kaho. Toyota to Buy Fuji Shares in GM Selloff. The Japanese Times Online, October 6, 2005, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?nn20051006a1.htm (accessed December 6, 2009). 85 Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. History of Subaru of Indiana Automotive. http://www.subarusia.com/company/history/index.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 86 Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. Subaru Automotive Business. http://www.fhi.co.jp/english/ir/report/pdf/fact /fact_2009e_05.pdf (accessed December 6, 2009). 87 Subaru. Company. http://www.subaru.com/company/index.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 88 Subaru. National Car Care Month. http://www.subaru.com/company/news/2009_march.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 89 Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. IR Reports. http://www.fhi.co.jp/english/ir/report/ Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. 90 Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. Home page. http://www.fhi.co.jp/english/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 91 Wasserman, Todd. Thrifty Fans Help Subaru Weather the Recession. Brandweek, September 19, 2009. 92 Subaru Global. Subaru of America, Inc. Reports Best October Ever with a 41-Percent Sales Gain. http://www.subaru-global.com/news2009n000954.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 93 Subaru Global. Subaru of America, Inc. Reports All-Time Sales Records. http://www.subaruglobal.com/news2009n000941.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 94 Halliday, Jean. Subaru of America: an America's Hottest Brands Case Study. Advertising Age, November 16, 2009. 95 Subaru. Find Your Subaru. http://www.subaru.com/vehicles/index.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 96 Wasserman, Todd. Thrifty Fans Help Subaru Weather the Recession. Brandweek, September 19, 2009. 97 Elliott, Stuart. A Niche No More: Gay Celebrities are in Demand as Endorsers for Mainstream Campaigns. New York Times, March 10, 2004, p. 5, Late Edition. 98 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, p. 1, Late Edition. 99 Prince, C.J. Designated Driver. The Advocate, March 18, 2003, p. 31. 100 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, p. 1, Late Edition. 101 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 102 Wilke, Mike. Target Focus: AmEx and Bud Light First Ran Mainstream Ads in Gay Markets Before Creating Gay-Specific Advertising. Advertising Age, June 22, 1998. 103 Schweinsberg, Christie. Straight Eye for the Gay Buyer. Ward's AutoWorld, April 23, 2004. 104 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 105 Suris, Oscar. Mum's the Word in Subaru Ads for Gays. Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1996, B2, Eastern Edition. 106 Kuhr, Fred. Driving Sales: Car Companies Find Success Advertising To Gay Consumers and Supporting Groups that work for Equality, The Advocate, November 9, 2004, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1126164421/driving-sales-car-companies.html (accessed September 29, 2009). 107 Elliott, Stuart. Trying to Connect in a Crowd. New York Times, April 24, 2008, p. 9, Late edition. 108 Anonymous. Mulryan/Nash Closes Doors. Advertising Age, December 22, 1999. 109 Rosenberg, Janice. Compelling Story. Advertising Age, June 19, 2000.

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Elliott, Stuart. Subaru Turns to the Land of Forbidden Secrets. New York Times, July 10, 2007, p. 4, Late edition. 111 Bush, 2007, Aug. 20 112 Advertising Age. http://www.adage.com (accessed December 6, 2009). 113 Tierney, John. Your Car: Politics on Wheels. New York Times, April 1, 2005. 114 Elliott, Stuart. Trying to Connect in a Crowd. New York Times, April 24, 2008, p. 9, Late edition. 115 Wasserman, Todd. Thrifty Fans Help Subaru Weather the Recession. Brandweek, September 19, 2009. 116 Ibid. 117 Ibid. 118 Ibid. 119 Ebenkamp, Becky. Study Identifies the Least Price-Sensitive Consumers. Brandweek, September 19, 2009. 120 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 121 Che, Cathay. Martina Navratilova: A Winner at More than Tennis, She has Raised $1 Million for Gay Causes with the Rainbow Credit Card. The Advocate, April 25, 2000. 122 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, pg. 1, Late Edition. 123 Wilke, Mike. Subaru Adds Lesbians to Niche Marketing Drive. Advertising Age, March 4, 1996. 124 Ibid. 125 Suris, Oscar. Mum's the Word in Subaru Ads for Gays. Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1996, B2, Eastern Edition. 126 Ibid. 127 Logo Online. Logo Legacy Campaign. http://www.logoonline.com/shows/events/legacy-campaign/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 128 Halliday, Jean. Gay Ride. Advertising Age, February 25, 2002. 129 Wilke, Mike. Gay-Coded Subaru Ads Return to Mainstream. Commercial Closet Association, April 18, 2002, http://www.commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 130 Palmer, Kimberly Shearer. Gay Consumers in the Driver's Seat: Subaru's New Ad Campaign is Among Those Signaling to Homosexual Buyers. Washington Post, July 4, 2000, http://infoweb.news bank.com.libproxy.lib. unc.edu/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=NewsBank&p_theme= aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid= 0EB2C4435DA842E0&p_docnum=1&p_queryname=1 (accessed October 19, 2009); Kuhr, Fred. Driving Sales: Car Companies Find Success Advertising To Gay Consumers and Supporting Groups that work for Equality, The Advocate, November 9, 2004, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-126164421/driving-sales-carcompanies.html (accessed September 29, 2009). 131 Alsop, Ronald. Cracking the Gay Market Code: How Marketers Plant Subtle Symbols in Ads. Wall Street Journal, June 29, 1999, B.1., Eastern edition. 132 Curry, Sheree R. Mulryan/Nash Vet Out on Own. Advertising Age, June 19, 2000. 133 Alsop, Ronald. Cracking the Gay Market Code: How Marketers Plant Subtle Symbols in Ads. Wall Street Journal, June 29, 1999, B.1., Eastern edition. 134 Usborne, David. Pink Smoke and Secret Codes in Battle for the Gay Dollar. The Independent, July 9, 2000. 135 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, pg. 1, Late Edition. 136 Fitzgerald, Kate. Highly Targeted Interests Drive Magazine Growth. Advertising Age, June 19, 2000. 137 The Auto Channel. Subaru of America, Inc. Offers Expanded Benefits for Employees. http://www.theauto channel.com/news/press/date/20000523/press016384.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 138 Zammit, Deanna. Subaru Mainstreams Its 'G-and-L' Advertising. Adweek, November 10, 2003. 139 Steinberg, Don. From Cyclist to Symbol: More and More, Lance Armstrong is Becoming a Marketable Man. Philadelphia Inquirer, July 24, 2004, p. A1, City Edition. 140 Prince, C.J. Designated Driver. The Advocate, March 18, 2003, p. 31. 141 Suris, Oscar. Mum's the Word in Subaru Ads for Gays. Wall Street Journal, March 22, 1996, B2, Eastern Edition. 142 Goldstein, Josh and Raghavan, Sudarsan. An Event All About Getting Together: A Party Ends a Week that Showed the Strength and Diversity of the Citys Gay and Lesbian Community. Philadelphia Inquirer, May 3, 1999, p. B1, SF City Edition. 143 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, pg. 1, Late Edition. 144 Jones, Jerry. Atlanta Pride Marshals Announced. Out and About Newspaper, April 1, 2006, http://www.out andaboutnewspaper.com/article/463 (accessed December 6, 2009).

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2008 Sponsors of Milwaukee Pride Parade. http://www.prideparade mke.org/Sponsors/sponsors.htm (accessed December 6, 2009). 146 Out Takes Dallas. Our History. http://www.outtakesdallas.org/history.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 147 Wilke, Mike. Gay-Coded Subaru Ads Return to Mainstream. Commercial Closet Association, April 18, 2002, http://www.commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 148 ChicagoPride.com. Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival through Thursday. November 7, 2003, http://www.chicagopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/1028961 (accessed December 6, 2009). 149 Linnett, Richard. Same Sex, Same Car. Advertising Age, March 31, 2004. 150 Sklar, Roberta. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Announces First Annual Advocate Golf Classic Presented by Subaru. National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, August 4, 2004, http://www.thetaskforce.org/press/releases /pr721_080404 (accessed December 6, 2009). 151 Behrens Web. Run Through the Jungle. The Advocate, May 13, 2003, p. 61. 152 Adams, Bob. Keeping It Real. The Advocate, April 1, 2002, p. 34. 153 Elliott, Stuart. Martina Navratilova in a Campaign for Subaru. New York Times, March 13, 2000. 154 Motavalli, Jim. Gay-Friendly Cars: Is Subaru Number One? bNet, April 17, 2009, http://industry.bnet. com/auto/10001205/gay-friendly-cars-is-subaru-number-one/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 155 Linnett, Richard. Same Sex, Same Car. Advertising Age, March 31, 2004. 156 Ebenkamp, Becky. Study Identifies the Least Price-Sensitive Consumers. Brandweek, September 19, 2009. 157 Subaru. Our Partners. http://www.subaru.com/company/partnerships/index.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 158 Dining Out for Life. http://www.diningoutforlife.com/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 159 Wilke, Michael. Gay Radio and Subaru Get Sirius On Satellite. Commercial Closet Association, September 10, 2004, http://www.commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 160 Larson, Megan. MTV Networks Delays Logo Launch. Mediaweek, January 13, 2005. 161 Wilke, Michael. Subaru Adds Custom TV for 10th Year of Gay Marketing. Commercial Closet Association, November 9, 2005, http://www.commercialcloset.org/common/news/reports/detail.cfm?Classification= news &QID =4543& ClientID=11064&BrowseFlag=1&Keyword=&StartRow=11&TopicID=405&subnav= adcolumn& sub section= (accessed on December 19, 2009). 162 Elliott, Stuart. Hey, Gay Spender, Marketers Spending Time With You. New York Times, June 26, 2006, p. 8, Late edition. 163 Crupi, Anthony. Subaru Revs Up Branding Campaign on Logo. Mediaweek, October 3, 2005. 164 Wilke, Michael. Subaru Adds Custom TV for 10th Year of Gay Marketing. Commercial Closet Association, November 9, 2005, http://www.commercialcloset.org/common/news/reports/detail.cfm?Classification= news&QID =4543& ClientID=11064&BrowseFlag=1&Keyword=&StartRow=11&TopicID=405&subnav=adcolumn& sub section= (accessed on December 19, 2009). 165 Elliott, Stuart. Hey, Gay Spender, Marketers Spending Time With You. New York Times, June 26, 2006, p. 8, Late edition. 166 Story, Louise. Marketers Struggle To Get Viewers to Linger For the Commercials. New York Times, May 22, 2007, p. 6, Late edition. 167 Crupi, Anthony. Logo, Subaru Partner on Legacy Campaign. Mediaweek, September 30, 2009. 168 Human Rights Campaign. Corporate Equality Index. http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/cei.htm (accessed December 6, 2009). 169 Subaru Global. Subaru of America, Inc. Earns Top Marks in 2010 Corporate Equality Index. September 21, 2009, http://www.subaru-global.com/news2009n000945.html (accessed December 6, 2009). 170 Human Rights Campaign. Corporate Equality Index: 2009 Statements from Employers that Rated 100 Percent. http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/11139.htm (accessed December 6, 2009). 171 Human Rights Campaign. Corporate Equality Index. http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/cei.htm (accessed December 6, 2009). 172 Anonymous. Transitions. The Advocate, December 6, 2005, p. 30. 173 GLAAD Blog. http://glaadblog.org/tag/20th-annual-glaad-media-awards/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 174 Subaru Global. Mediapost.com Names Subaru of America Automotive Marketer of the Year. December 17, 2008, http://www.subaru-global.com/news2008n000876.html (accessed on December 6, 2009). 175 Brand Keys. 2009 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index. http://www.brandkeys.com/awards/ (accessed on December 6, 2009). 176 Halliday, Jean. Gay Ride. Advertising Age, February 25, 2002. 177 Ibid.

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Lipsyte, Robert. Backtalk - A Triumph of Orienteering Over Orientation for Adventure Racers. New York Times, September 22, 2002, p. 9, Late edition. 179 Williams, Alex. Gay by Design, Or a Lifestyle Choice? New York Times, April 12, 2007, p. 7, Late edition. 180 Car Talk. The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Cars. http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/Gay-Lesbian/gaychick-winner.html (accessed on December 6, 2009). 181 Donaldson-Evans, Catherine. Fortune 500 Companies See Money in Gay Families. Fox News, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933, 120902,00.html (accessed October 19, 2009). 182 Levy, Efraim. Industry Surveys: Autos & Auto Parts. Standard & Poors, June 25, 2009, http://www.net advantage.standardandpoors.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/NASApp/NetAdvantage/showIndustrySurvsh.do?task=showI ndustrySurvey&type=pdf&code=aup (accessed December 6, 2009). 183 Ford Motor Company. Annual Reports. http://www.ford.com/microsites/annual-reports (accessed on December 6, 2009). 184 Ford GLOBE History. Press Releases. http://fordglobe.org/history.html (accessed on December 6, 2009). 185 Jennings, Bob. Blue Oval Chases the Pink Dollars. Sydney Morning Herald, August 31, 2001. 186 Human Rights Campaign. Corporate Equality Index. http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/cei.htm (accessed December 6, 2009). 187 Kuhr, Fred. Driving Sales: Car Companies Find Success Advertising To Gay Consumers and Supporting Groups that work for Equality, The Advocate, November 9, 2004, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1126164421/driving-sales-car-companies.html (accessed September 29, 2009). 188 Ibid. 189 Rothman, Cliff. A Welcome Mat for Gay Customers. New York Times, August 17, 2001, pg. 1, Late Edition. 190 Wilke, Michael. Jaguar Stalks Gay Market. Commercial Closet Association, December 23, 2002, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 191 Ibid. 192 Ibid. 193 Yin, Sandra. Coming Out in Print. Advertising Age, February 1, 2003. 194 Prince, C.J. Designated Driver. The Advocate, March 18, 2003, p. 31. 195 Wilke, Michael. Jaguar Stalks Gay Market. Commercial Closet Association, December 23, 2002, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 196 Wilke, Michael. Avis and Ford Seek Loyalty with Loyalty. Commercial Closet Association, July 12, 2005, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 197 Solis, Dianne. More Firms Aim Their Ads Directly at Gays. Dallas Morning News, July 22, 2003. 198 Wilke, Michael. Avis and Ford Seek Loyalty with Loyalty. Commercial Closet Association, July 12, 2005, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 199 Wilke, Mike. Volkswagen, Volvo and Jaguar Make Gay Drive. Commercial Closet Association, July 20, 2001, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 200 Ibid. 201 Ford GLOBE History. Press Releases. http://fordglobe.org/history.html (accessed on December 6, 2009). 202 Association of National Advertisers, Inc. 2009 ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards. http://www.ana.net/committees2/content/multiawards2009 (accessed December 6, 2009). 203 Kuhr, Fred. Driving Sales: Car Companies Find Success Advertising To Gay Consumers and Supporting Groups that work for Equality, The Advocate, November 9, 2004, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1126164421/driving-sales-car-companies.html (accessed September 29, 2009). 204 Wilke, Michael. Volvo Bids for Gay Families. Commercial Closet Association, May 6, 2003, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 205 Wilke, Michael. Jaguar Stalks Gay Market. Commercial Closet Association, December 23, 2002, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 206 Wilke, Michael. Volvo Bids for Gay Families. Commercial Closet Association, May 6, 2003, http://www. commercialcloset.org (accessed December 6, 2009). 207 Roberts, Cindy. AFA Suspends Ford Boycott for Six Months. American Family Association Press Release, June 6, 2005, http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3204 (accessed December 6, 2009). 208 Johnson, Alex. Another Swing of the Pocketbook: Christian Activist Group goes after Ford Motor Co. MSNBC, June 1, 2005, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8047423/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 209 Hyde, Justin. Antigay Groups Boycott Ford: Coalition Says Ads Threaten Values. Detroit Free Press, March 14, 2006.

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Johnson, Alex. Another Swing of the Pocketbook: Christian Activist Group goes after Ford Motor Co. MSNBC, June 1, 2005, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8047423/ (accessed December 6, 2009). 211 Ibid. 212 Ibid. 213 Popely, Rick. Ford to Pull Jaguar, Land Rover Ads from Gay Press. Chicago Tribune, December 7, 2005. 214 Incantalupo, Tom. Groups Upset with Ford Decision to Pull Ads from Gay Magazines. Newsday, December 7, 2005. 215 American Family Association. http://www.afa.net/fordletter.asp (accessed December 6, 2009). 216 Sostek, Anya. Gay Advocates Blast Fords Pulling of Ads. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 7, 2005. 217 Peters, Jeremy W. Under Pressure, Ford Will Cut Its Ads in Gay Publications. New York Times, December 6, 2005, p. 10, Late edition. 218 Popely, Rick. Ford to Pull Jaguar, Land Rover Ads from Gay Press. Chicago Tribune, December 7, 2005. 219 Ibid. 220 Anonymous. Ford Dumps Gay Ads. Melbourne Herald Sun, December 8, 2005. 221 Anonymous. Jaguar, Land Rover Ads Not for Gays; Ford Denies Buckling to Conservative Groups. Hamilton Spectator, December 7, 2005. 222 Incantalupo, Tom. Groups Upset with Ford Decision to Pull Ads from Gay Magazines. Newsday, December 7, 2005. 223 Popely, Rick. Ford to Pull Jaguar, Land Rover Ads from Gay Press. Chicago Tribune, December 7, 2005. 224 Ibid. 225 Roberts, Cindy. Ford Boycott Ended. American Family Association Press Release, November 30, 2005, http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3316 (accessed December 6, 2009). 226 Hyde, Justin. Group Says Boycott Hit Ford Sales: Automaker Counters Antigay Associations Claims as False. Detroit Free Press, July 13, 2006. 227 Incantalupo, Tom. Groups Upset with Ford Decision to Pull Ads from Gay Magazines. Newsday, December 7, 2005. 228 Peters, Jeremy W. Gays Pressure Ford to Reject Boycott Group. New York Times, December 13, 2005, p. 4, Late edition. 229 Sostek, Anya. Gay Advocates Blast Fords Pulling of Ads. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 7, 2005. 230 Buchanan, Wyatt. Ford, Gay Rights Leaders to Meet on Ad Pullout. San Francisco Chronicle, December 10, 2005, p. A2, Final edition. 231 Peters, Jeremy W. Gays Pressure Ford to Reject Boycott Group. New York Times, December 13, 2005, p. 4, Late edition. 232 Popely, Rick. Ford Reverses Direction on Gay Publications: Automaker Planning to Resume Advertising. Chicago Tribune, December 15, 2005. 233 Peters, Jeremy W. Ford, Reversing Decision, Will Run Ads in Gay Press. New York Times, December 15, 2005, p. 4, Late edition. 234 Hyde, Justin. Ford to Run Corporate-Wide Ads in Gay Publications: Automaker Responds to Complaints. Detroit Free Press, December 15, 2005. 235 http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3336 236 Anonymous. Wheels Keep Turning in Ford Motors Ad Saga. Wall Street Jounral, December 16, 2005, p. B4. 237 Ibid. 238 Roberts, Cindy. Nineteen Pro-Family Organizations Call for Boycott of Ford Motor Company. American Family Association Press Release, March 13, 2006, http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3400 (accessed December 6, 2009). 239 Roberts, Cindy. Ford Stock and Sales Going Down, Support for Homosexual Marriage Still Strong. American Family Association Press Release, April 18, 2006, http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3440 (accessed December 6, 2009). 240 Roberts, Cindy. AFA Says Boycott Continues to Hurt Ford Sales. American Family Association Press Release, September 1, 2006, http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3484 (accessed December 6, 2009). 241 Roberts, Cindy. AFA Says Boycott Helps Drop Ford Sales. American Family Association Press Release, January 3, 2008, http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3580 (accessed December 6, 2009). 242 Hyde, Justin. Group Says Boycott Hit Ford Sales: Automaker Counters Antigay Associations Claims as False. Detroit Free Press, July 13, 2006.

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243

Roberts, Cindy. Ford Meets Conditions; AFA Suspends Boycott. American Family Association Press Release, March 10, 2008, http://media.afa.net/newdesign/ReleaseDetail.asp?id=3584 (accessed December 6, 2009). 244 Saad, Lydia. Americans Evenly Divided on Morality of Homosexuality. Gallup, June 1, 2008, http://www.gallup.com/poll/108115/Americans-Evenly-Divided-Morality-Homosexuality.aspx (accessed December 6, 2009). 245 Usborne, David. Pink Smoke and Secret Codes in Battle for the Gay Dollar. The Independent, July 9, 2000. 246 Wasserman, Todd. Thrifty Fans Help Subaru Weather the Recession. Brandweek, September 19, 2009.

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