The real 'Legacy' of Woodstock: How Subaru cracked liberal America

Aside from the city, Woodstock is in one of New York’s most liberal areas: it voted 58% Democrat in the 2024 presidential election.

And it is to America what Glastonbury is to England: almost a parody of peace and love. On this Sunday afternoon there is, honestly, a drum circle on the village green, which is bordered by a vegan cafe and a herbal remedy shop.

Then I notice something else: the Subarus. Lots and lots of Subarus. More in one place than anywhere I’ve ever been, by miles. In one car park (I realise this isn’t a scientifically rigorous survey), almost 20% of the cars are Subarus.

It turns out that this isn’t entirely coincidental. This is a fact more widely known in the US than it is in the UK: in the 1990s, Subaru of America surveyed who was buying its cars, and while it had expected the vets, outdoorsy types and teachers it identified as customers, there was also a group that it hadn’t foreseen: lesbians.

When it and its marketing agencies looked into this, the fit made sense: these were women with decent incomes who were less likely to have children and who had outdoorsy hobbies, so Subarus were what they were buying.

Subaru figured that, while there might be pushback in conservative areas, it should start running gay-targeted adverts, combining selling the virtues of the car as a country wagon with a knowing wink for its target audience.

“Get out, and stay out,” ran one advert. “It’s not a choice, it’s the way we’re built,” said another, sort of selling the 4x4 powertrain. “At least we’ve got our *priorities* straight,” read a 2004 Forester advert ostensibly about safety.

While Subaru UK was selling Impreza Turbos to young men who couldn’t get a girlfriend, Subaru of America was selling Outbacks to women who could.

It had thought its campaign might be divisive, and it wasn’t wrong. Lots of consumers, target audience or not, enjoyed the ads, but it also received letters of complaint from conservatives threatening to boycott the brand – although, its research suggested, not from anyone who had previously bought a Subaru anyway.

And those turn-of-the-century adverts gave the brand a reputation in the US that it retains now. If you’re liberal, you’re more likely to buy a Subaru; if you’re conservative, you’re more likely to take against it.

Opinion polling firm YouGov’s bipartisan brand rankings for 2024 found that “28% of liberal Americans [and 33% of gay women] would consider purchasing a Subaru but just 16% of American conservatives feel the same”. Subaru leads all car makers with this 12-point difference, ahead of Honda (10 points) and Volkswagen (eight).