Pink money
Encyclopedia
Pink money describes the purchasing power
of the gay
community, often especially with respect to political donations. With the rise of the gay rights movement, pink money has gone from being a fringe or marginalized market to a thriving industry in many parts of the Western world
such as the United States
and United Kingdom
. Many businesses now specifically cater to homosexual customers, including nightclub
s, shops, restaurant
s, and even taxicab
s; the demand for these services stems from commonly perceived discrimination
by traditional businesses. Worldwide, pink money is valued at £
350 billion across a variety of sectors — especially entertainment and consumer goods.
The economic
power of pink money has been seen as a force positive for the gay community, creating a kind of "financial self-identification" which helps gay and lesbian
individuals feel like part of a community which values them. Indeed, upwards of 90% of homosexuals support businesses which target pink money, while actively shunning "anti-gay" companies. However, criticism has been leveled at businesses which target pink money from homosexual groups, arguing that this segregates the gay and lesbian community from society, and holds back gay rights.
It's been considered more often than not a market exclusive for USA, UK and some places in Europe, but it's extension covers a large amount of Latinamerica and part of Asia, making its actual earns larger by year and giving marketing options some impulse and variety.
(occasionally, the similarly termed "blue pound" is used specifically for lesbians), the British gay market is estimated to be worth up to £6 billion a year.
The Pink Pound is often considered to be responsible for the high sales of specific products seen to be favored by a large number of gay people, most noticeably music sales of records by gay icon
s such as Madonna
, Lady Gaga
, Kylie Minogue
and Cher
. A range of large corporations have recently realised the power of the Pink Pound and have begun to directly market their products towards the gay community through advertising in the gay press. In June 2006 a specialized marketing conference called the Pink Pound Conference was held in London and a similar conference was held in November 2006 by the Market Research Society.
Groups and organizations concerned with the ghettoisation, conformity, and commercialism of the pink pound include OutRage!
, the NUS LGBT Campaign and the Queer Youth Alliance
— paralleling the more general criticisms of pink money.
A large market of goods and services for gay people has appeared in recent years, including gay wedding services, gay press including radio and television, and domestic services such as builders
and plumbers. In 2001 several gay companies produced pink stickers and stuck them onto thousands of Pound Coins which are still in circulation.
— which generally have more disposable income. In the United States
, gays are on average economically advantaged, with 28% of gay households reported as having an income in an excess of $50,000 a year.
Some US industries have tried to focus on these markets with specific advertising campaigns; for example, American Airlines saw its earnings from LGBT
people rise from $20 million in 1994 to $193.5 million in 1999, after formation of a team devoted to gay and lesbian marketing.
In politics
, pink money has been viewed as controversial, mainly due to pressure from conservative groups promoting traditional values, — for instance, Presidential Candidate Michael Dukakis
publicly disassociated himself from pink money during the 1988 US presidential election
. However, more recently pink money has become politically acceptable, especially as a major source of funding for the Democratic Party
— in 2000, contributing $5 million to the Democratic National Committee
alone, "a total that puts them among the top tier of Democratic givers, along with unions, [and] trial lawyers". Major candidates such as Bill Clinton
, Al Gore
, John Edwards
, Barack Obama
, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean
, John Kerry
, and Joe Biden
have actively campaigned for the gay vote.
According to Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.
and Marketresearch.com, the 2006 buying power of U.S. gays and lesbians was approximately $660 billion and is expected to exceed $835 billion by 2011. Headlines later claimed "'Gay Buying Power' to hit $2 Trillion by 2012."
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
of the gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
community, often especially with respect to political donations. With the rise of the gay rights movement, pink money has gone from being a fringe or marginalized market to a thriving industry in many parts of the Western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
such as the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Many businesses now specifically cater to homosexual customers, including nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s, shops, restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s, and even taxicab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s; the demand for these services stems from commonly perceived discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
by traditional businesses. Worldwide, pink money is valued at £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
350 billion across a variety of sectors — especially entertainment and consumer goods.
The economic
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
power of pink money has been seen as a force positive for the gay community, creating a kind of "financial self-identification" which helps gay and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
individuals feel like part of a community which values them. Indeed, upwards of 90% of homosexuals support businesses which target pink money, while actively shunning "anti-gay" companies. However, criticism has been leveled at businesses which target pink money from homosexual groups, arguing that this segregates the gay and lesbian community from society, and holds back gay rights.
It's been considered more often than not a market exclusive for USA, UK and some places in Europe, but it's extension covers a large amount of Latinamerica and part of Asia, making its actual earns larger by year and giving marketing options some impulse and variety.
In the United Kingdom
Known as the pink pound in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(occasionally, the similarly termed "blue pound" is used specifically for lesbians), the British gay market is estimated to be worth up to £6 billion a year.
The Pink Pound is often considered to be responsible for the high sales of specific products seen to be favored by a large number of gay people, most noticeably music sales of records by gay icon
Gay icon
A gay icon is a public figure who is embraced by many within :lesbian, :gay, :bisexual and :transgender communities...
s such as Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
. A range of large corporations have recently realised the power of the Pink Pound and have begun to directly market their products towards the gay community through advertising in the gay press. In June 2006 a specialized marketing conference called the Pink Pound Conference was held in London and a similar conference was held in November 2006 by the Market Research Society.
Groups and organizations concerned with the ghettoisation, conformity, and commercialism of the pink pound include OutRage!
OutRage!
OutRage! is a British LGBT rights group that was formed to fight for equal rights of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in comparison to heterosexual people. It is a group which has at times been criticised for outing individuals who wanted to keep their homosexuality secret and for being...
, the NUS LGBT Campaign and the Queer Youth Alliance
Queer Youth Alliance
The Queer Youth Network is a national non-profit-making organisation that is run by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people and is based in the United Kingdom...
— paralleling the more general criticisms of pink money.
A large market of goods and services for gay people has appeared in recent years, including gay wedding services, gay press including radio and television, and domestic services such as builders
Construction worker
A construction worker or builder is a professional, tradesman, or labourer who directly participates in the physical construction of infrastructure.-Construction trades:...
and plumbers. In 2001 several gay companies produced pink stickers and stuck them onto thousands of Pound Coins which are still in circulation.
In the United States
Known as the pink dollar or "Dorothy dollar" in the United States, estimates of the US LGBT market put its value at approximately $641 billion in the year 2006. in addition, many of these households are known by demographers as DINKDINKY (acronym)
DINKY is an acronym and can stand for any of the following:* Dual income, no kids.* Dual income, no kids yet.* Dual income, no kids yuppie....
— which generally have more disposable income. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, gays are on average economically advantaged, with 28% of gay households reported as having an income in an excess of $50,000 a year.
Some US industries have tried to focus on these markets with specific advertising campaigns; for example, American Airlines saw its earnings from LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people rise from $20 million in 1994 to $193.5 million in 1999, after formation of a team devoted to gay and lesbian marketing.
In politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, pink money has been viewed as controversial, mainly due to pressure from conservative groups promoting traditional values, — for instance, Presidential Candidate Michael Dukakis
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis served as the 65th and 67th Governor of Massachusetts from 1975–1979 and from 1983–1991, and was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He was born to Greek immigrants in Brookline, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of John F. Kennedy, and was the longest serving...
publicly disassociated himself from pink money during the 1988 US presidential election
United States presidential election, 1988
The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the...
. However, more recently pink money has become politically acceptable, especially as a major source of funding for the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
— in 2000, contributing $5 million to the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
alone, "a total that puts them among the top tier of Democratic givers, along with unions, [and] trial lawyers". Major candidates such as Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
, John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
, and Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
have actively campaigned for the gay vote.
According to Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.
Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc.
Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc. is a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm that provides strategic public relations and marketing communications services for corporate and non-profit clients. Witeck-Combs specializes in the Gay and Lesbian Consumer Market; health, disability and social...
and Marketresearch.com, the 2006 buying power of U.S. gays and lesbians was approximately $660 billion and is expected to exceed $835 billion by 2011. Headlines later claimed "'Gay Buying Power' to hit $2 Trillion by 2012."
See also
- Gay villageGay villageA gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
- Double-duty dollarDouble-duty dollarThe term "double duty dollar" was used during the early and middle 1900’s in the context of the economic plight of the African American community. Those in the pulpit as well as social activists such as Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey preached the message of community empowerment through...
- similar concept in African-American community - GaymerGaymerGaymer or gay gamer is an umbrella term used to refer to the group of people who identify themselves as gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transgendered and have an active interest in the video game community, also known as gamers....
, a name for LGBT video game players - Gay friendlyGay friendlyGay-friendly refers to places, policies, people or institutions that are open and welcoming to gay people to create an environment that is supportive of gay people and their relationships, respectful of all people, treat all people equally, and are non-judgmental...