"Before LGBTQ+-themed commercials became common during the Super Bowl - from lesbian weddings for Volkswagen and drag queens for Sabra hummus, to gay dads for Coca-Cola - there was Gay Vague. Back in 1997, when comedian Ellen DeGeneres changed TV history and came out as gay on her sitcom and in life, I wrote in Advertising Age how Volkswagen (VW) ran a commercial with two guys who pick up a used chair to take home together."
"Not long afterward, another car company, Subaru, began running another kind of Gay Vague campaign with stealthy messages to queer audiences. This time it was intentional. That's because research into Subaru's top consumers showed that the brand's rugged cars were beloved by teachers, healthcare professionals, IT professionals, outdoor enthusiasts - and lesbians. In spite of the Japanese company's sometimes conservative values, it responded by advertising to and supporting the LGBTQ+ market (then known just as "gay and lesbian")."
"No one knew for sure, but the huge LGBTQ+ audience among 42 million viewers watching Ellen's coming-out night on ABC largely thought that VW was winking at them. Volkswagen told me then that it didn't intend for the ambiguous guys to be a gay couple but it was okay for viewers to think so - something advertisers had never previously said back then. The commercial, known for its 1980s "Da, Da, Da" song, continued running."
In the late 1990s, advertisers frequently used ambiguous LGBTQ+ cues called "Gay Vague." In 1997, during Ellen DeGeneres's coming-out night, Volkswagen aired a commercial with two men carrying a used chair, leaving their relationship ambiguous and prompting queer audiences to see a wink. Volkswagen allowed that interpretation even if not intended. Subaru later ran intentional Gay Vague campaigns after research showed lesbians were a major consumer segment, using discreetly coded license plates like "CAMP OUT," "XENA LVR," and "P-TOWN." These tactics represented early, coded outreach before explicit LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream ads.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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