Has BMW's Marketing Gone Too Far? (Hard Top. Firm Bottom)

[SuaveX5]

Anyone who has seen an episode of Queer as Folk or maybe even Queer Eye for the Straight Guy may easily be able to know that a "Top" and a "Bottom" is not just referring to the highest point and lowest point of an object, but instead it is usually a label that a gay person may identify with.


Unfortunately I will not go into further detail about the definitions.

Now to my point. This weekend as I drove through West Hollywood, CA, which is an area known for its large gay and lesbian population, I noticed a number of BMW billboards that were posted around town. What caught my attention was the fact that the ads made references to a "top" and a "bottom", but not in a sexual way, but instead in terms of the new 2008 BMW 3-Series Hardtop Convertible.

One particular ad: "Hard Top. Firm Bottom. It's So L.A." is what caught the most attention. There are many ads that are geared towards the gay community, but the difference in this ad is the fact that it is going one step further. It is using gay sexual references to sell the car.

I thought it was funny how our society has progressed so far that now major companies are now marketing their products to every niche possible. This has been going on for years. For example Subaru has been creating commercials that feature same sex couples in their everyday lives for a while.

My questions are: Are these companies going to far? By seeking out certain populations that are not always favorably viewed in our society, are they going to lose part of their existing fan base? Or instead are these companies going to be viewed favorably better for their efforts to market their products to a broader spectrum? By using gay sexual references in their ads are they going to offend individuals that are not in fact, gay?

http://omidr.typepad.com/torque/2007...ws_market.html