In Search of the Pink Peso
By M.D. dela Cruz Tan

SEEING PINK All over the world, the pink currency has been gaining prominence; but in the Philippines, is there even a pink peso?

The 17th Philippine Advertising Congress (AdCong) ran an “unusual commercial” that aimed to heighten the awareness on the group that, for many, is still not considered a “real market:” the Filipino gay market.

The ad starts with the footage of a man jogging.  As he catches women’s attention, literally turning their heads, he is accompanied by the succession of demographic texts:

“Single.  29 years old.  Athletic.  P1.3 million annual salary.  Is he your market?” 

As the man stops to catch his breath, he turns to find an attractive woman who is openly eyeing him.  He smiles at her direction – but, it turns out, he is actually looking at a handsome – albeit bookish – man sitting behind her.  The next shot shows the two men facing each other, nearly kissing; followed by the closing shot of the two of them walking down a beach boardwalk into the sunset, arms on each other, as the message to advertisers flashes: “Talk to him straight.”

Interestingly, while the ad came out in 2000, nothing else has been done to progress the pink peso concept, thereby failing to raise the awareness of the existence of the buying power of the Filipino LGBT community – and, arguably, even the recognition that there is an existing LGBT market, and it is one to contend with.

EMERGENCE OF A MARKET

Supposedly, the concept of the pink currency had a “breakthrough” in July 1991, when the conservative Wall Street Journal referred to the gay and lesbian community as a “dream market.”  And it may actually truly be, considering that gay Americans alone are estimated to have spend over $610 billion in 2005 (see Table 1).

Table 1: Buying Power of Gay Americans (2005 Estimates)

Source: Selig Center for Economic Growth, University of Georgia.  Gay information provided by Witeck-Combs Communications and Packages facts.

The figures are, however, mere estimates, mainly because accurately determining the number of sexual minorities – as a requisite to measuring their power – is, as it stands, difficult, with the complexities of, among others, self-identification, definitions of terms, survey methodologies, et cetera.  In 2001, Canada’s census bureau (www.statcan.ca) found 1.24 million gays and lesbians, which totals to 8.1% of the population – though the figure may actually be higher, considering many continue to not self-identify with the community for fear of social repercussions.  Also in 2001, in Australia, over 19,500 same-sex couples reported themselves to the census, equaling 1.5% of all the country’s couples.  In 2002, report from The Netherlands, the first country to recognize gay marriage, found 50,000 gay couples, which is 25% higher than five years before the survey.  And in the periods of 1989-1990, and 1999-2001, in Great Britain, the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (www.avert.org) identified 19,000 and 11,000 people, respectively, to have “detailed results about sexual experiences with same-sex partners.”

Generally, though, the widely accepted estimate of the total number of LGBTs is from 4% to 10% of the total population (though the Kinsey and Janus studies in 1948 and 1993, respectively, place the number of bisexuals between 22% and 37% of the population).  Thus, in the Philippines, if the concept is to be followed, there are approximately 8.6 million – give or take – Filipino LGBTs, basing on the 86 million estimated total number of Filipinos.

A clearer picture may be illustrated by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) national survey on the situation of the Filipino youth in 1998 (studies done in 1996), wherein 5% of the (surveyed) young males are said to prefer to be females, and 7% of the females prefer to be males.  Interestingly, 23% of the males claimed that gender preference “does not matter,” and 30% of the females claimed the same (see Table 2).

Table 2: Gender Preference of the Filipino Youth (April 1996)

Source: SWS: The Situation of Filipino Youth: A National Survey, 1998

The ensuing recognition that this figure exists as a market is the premise on which the pink currency stands on.

IN ABSENTIA

According to PR practitioner L.A. Acosta, the industry easily “dismisses the presence of the pink market because, gender-wise, there still remain only two markets: male and female,” she said, stressing that, “at least in the Philippines, anyway.”

In her experience, “thus far, the needs of the stereotypical gays (read: flaming faggots) are already answered by female products, while the non-stereotypical gays (read: butch), as well as those still in the closet are answered by male products,” she said.

In an earlier interview with Newsbreak, Carla Ong of Ogilvy & Mather agreed.  “They are a potentially profitable market, but we are still not zeroing in on them,” she said.  “Companies think they are a small segment, (and) they also don’t want to be identified with the gays because their bigger markets might be compromised.”

Thus, in the Philippines at least, the pink market is there, but is not really there.

Overseas, the figures – though not necessarily representing the real goings-on in the community – are impressively stacking up, e.g. the 1998 Sydney gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras injected A$99 million into the Australian economy, and the 8,000 (2,500 foreigners) gay men said to have participated in Singapore’s annual Nation party pulling in S$6 million.

No wonder that, already, various establishments of various industries have been gearing towards responding to this market.   

For one, international tourism has “dipped its finger” into this development, with the establishment of such online sites as OutandAbout.com, QTMagazine.com, GayTravel.com, BlueWay.com, LambdaResorts.com, PurpleRoofs.com, Damron.com and GayHotelsGuide.com – all of them featuring gay and gay-friendly venues to go to; as well as the re-creation of various destinations, such as New York, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Thailand, among the many, to capture the pink market.  Secondly, gay lit was established (just as chick lit was), to specifically cater to the literary needs of LGBTs – and is even moved a notch higher when the stories make it to film, with the success of, among others, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, and, earlier, If These Walls Could Talk II, The Birdcage, Crying Game, et cetera.  And thirdly, and still in show business, there were already steps taken to “mainstream-ize LGBT,” with the success of Will & Grace, Queer As Folk, et cetera.

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