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. Were they friends or boyfriends? It was “gay vague,” as I first described it, and I ended up coining a term for the era.

Related

Conservative Christians freak out over “dark & evil” fast-food meal based on horror comedy series

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

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.

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”).

Subaru billboards and magazine ads showed cars sporting discreetly coded license plates that said “CAMP OUT,” “XENA LVR” and “P-TOWN.” (Xena: Warrior Princess was a cult TV show especially beloved by lesbians and Provincetown, Mass., remains a top destination for LGBTQ+ people.) Other ads included cleverly worded headlines that also nodded to rainbow audiences like, “Get Out. And Stay Out” and “It’s Not a Choice. It’s the Way We’re Built.” Over time, Subaru also hired lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova for endorsement.

This strategic ambiguity wasn’t entirely new to rainbow culture, which has long relied on coded communication. Such ads hark back to times when gay men had to hide their sexuality, using clothing and slang to identify each other. In the 1970s and ‘80s, there was a secret “hanky code” in which different colors of handkerchiefs or bandanas poking out of back pockets indicated men’s sexual interests to one another in public.

Fast forward to 2025, when Gallup reported that 9.3% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+, or roughly 31 million Americans. Remarkably, more than one in five Gen Z and one in seven Millennials consider themselves part of the rainbow community.

Queer stories are a success in entertainment media. Sci-fi thriller Pluribus featured a lesbian protagonist and became the platform’s most-watched series ever on Apple TV+, breaking previous records by Ted Lasso and Severance. And Heated Rivalry, the surprise hit from HBO Max about steamy gay romances among hockey stars, has hit the zeitgeist and featured product placements including Adidas, Nike, Canada Dry, Corona, Doritos, Energizer, Land Rover, Lay’s, and Ray-Ban.

Yet, in the current anti-LGBTQ+ political climate, few expect advertisers to roll out the rainbows with two moms, same-sex weddings, or hockey player kisses this year. Last June, 20 big brands reduced or dropped their annual Pride month investments after Bud Light, Target, and others were attacked by conservatives for rainbow marketing.

Homes.com will reportedly bring back gay Schitt’s Creek’s star Dan Levy for the Big Game this year, but it’s probably because the multi-year campaign isn’t about Levy’s sexuality — he’s just himself. There’s been a whole lot of that lately.

Maybe you didn’t notice, but the Super Bowl offered up an onslaught of rainbow celebrities last year, and that’s part of the point. The Big Game included Häagen-Dazs (Michelle Rodriguez), MSC Cruises (Drew Barrymore), Nike (Sha’Carri Richardson and Doechii), Novartis (Wanda Sykes), Poppi soda (Jake Shane), and Ritz crackers (Aubrey Plaza).

Their regular inclusion is a wonderful milestone to be celebrated but with so many stars who now identify as LGBTQ+ it actually becomes difficult to track.

And thus, using LGBTQ+ celebrities has become the new Gay Vague.

The old Gay Vague was edgy because “gay” was still taboo. It offered plausible deniability through coded winks and ambiguous messaging, while the new Gay Vague has turned visibility into normalization to the point of, well, invisibility.

If it’s vague, does it even matter to anyone — for or against?

As the biggest advertising event of the year approaches, the real question now is whether brands will have the courage to keep telling queer stories the way they have so extensively in the past and entertainment media still does.

With more than one in five Gen Z adults and roughly one in seven Millennials identifying within the rainbow community, LGBTQ+ visibility can no longer be treated as a niche advertising strategy.

It’s no longer just cultural relevance — it’s demographic reality.

Michael Wilke has written for The New York Times, Advertising Age and Queerty, and is the founder of nonprofit AdRespect.org, which promotes advertising that respects diversity, gender identity/expression, and sexual orientation for a more accepting society and better business results.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.