Stuff We Like: Old Subaru Ads

Classic adverts from the Japanese car company

From Colin McRae’s blue Impreza to those old Outbacks that start cropping up once you get out of town and into the countryside, Subarus have always had a certain hardy, rootsy quality that’s rarely seen on the car dealer forecourt—kind of like the automobile equivalent of a well-used Husqvarna chainsaw.

With that in mind, we thought we’d gather up some of our favourite old Subaru ads… but what started out as a relatively simple article on ‘cool old ads’ expanded a fair bit when we read up on the Japanese car company and the concepts behind the ads—and if you were ever looking for a case study in doing things a little differently, Subaru would probably be a good place to start.

While the brand actually started out making two-door city cars back in the 1950s, by the late 80s they were renowned for tough, reliable cars. And that was the problem—’reliable’ is rarely exciting, and with sales slowing in the late-80s and more established Japanese brands like Honda, Toyota and Nissan way out in front, Subaru had to get creative. 

“If you were ever looking for a case study in doing things a little differently, Subaru would probably be a good place to start.”

And who better to call in than Nike’s very own ad agency, Wieden+Kennedy? From ‘Just Do It’ to ‘Bo Knows’, it maybe wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that this lot have conjured up some of the most famous ad campaigns of the modern age—so surely they could inject a bit of zest into Subaru’s slightly drab image?

Their angle? A hearty dose of patented early-90s Gen X irony. Their TV ads lifted the wizard’s curtain of car adverts with a simple voiceover plainly reciting lines like, “It won’t make you handsome, or prettier or younger, and if it improves your standing with the neighbors then you live among snobs with distorted values.”

The ads were clever, but they were also smug—and they went down terribly with viewers. In ‘93—just two years after W+K fought countless other agencies to win the Subaru contract, the legendary Portland agency was sacked. 

A different approach was needed—and a Dallas-based agency called Temerlin McClain found it. Rather than try and be everything to all drivers, why not hone in on those who’d actually want a 4-wheel drive estate car? 

Research showed that as well as teachers and doctors, there was another core customer… outdoor lovers who understood the value in spacious automobiles that could get them off the beaten track.

With this vital intel, the agency deployed a series of adverts targeting deep-pocketed outdoor consumers—perfectly timed for the second wave of American outdoor sports when kayaking, rock climbing and mountain biking entered the mainstream and became the hobbies of choice for minted city-slickers looking to escape the city for the weekend. 

There’s a great article in the infamous San Francisco culture magazine Might from the mid-90s about this very phenomena—coining the term ‘ARPys’ (that’s Affluent Recreating Professionals) to describe the sudden rise of “well-off but spiritually restless” Americans splashing cash on trips to Moab as payment for their sins on the dancefloors of the 1980s. 

These weren’t dirtbags sleeping in rusty vans by the trailhead—they were brand-obsessed desk-workers who had money to spend and wanted to be seen to own the right stuff. Luckily, Subaru didn’t need much dressing up—strap a few mountain bikes on top, throw on a bit of mud and suddenly you had the perfect aspirational outdoor-friendly car for those striving for authenticity. 

At a time when cars were advertised as clean visions of perfection—shot in the same crisp manner you’d maybe photograph a high-priced hi-fi system—Subaru’s ads leaned into the way the brands’ cars would actually be used. That meant a lot of ski racks and plenty of mountains—with one ad even giving away free Outback-branded detergent for the mud caused by the Subaru lifestyle.

A collaboration with LL Bean was another masterstroke—aligning the 4X4 Outback with the legendary Maine outdoor brand to create the kind of rugged-yet-luxurious outdoor vehicle that was tailormade for weekends at the log cabin tying fishing flies and doing other such picturesque New England activities.

The ad agency’s research revealed that the cars were also particularly popular with lesbian customers. This led to some subtle (and a few slightly less subtle) nods to the lesbian community, with secret signifiers hidden in their adverts—from coded taglines to a ‘XENA LVR’ numberplate (a reference to Channel 5’s favourite warrior princess). Beyond just clever ads, the brand contributed millions of dollars to LGBT causes and used ad-space as a place to raise awareness of key LGBT issues—proving they weren’t just trying to sell cars.

Dog owners were another key customer—and rather than just lazily show a Labrador poking its head out the back window, Subaru went a fair bit further, creating a fictional canine family called the Barkleys who had somehow mastered the art of parallel parking.

By finding their audience and speaking directly to them, Subaru built a solid fanbase of communities who really, really liked their cars. A fully-loaded 4WD petrol-powered estate car might not be for everyone, but the best things rarely are. 

Want more classic ads? Here’s our look at Janet Champ’s revolutionary Nike ads.