Gaywheelsdotcom

Tremendous strides toward full equality have been achieved by our communities over the past decade. Many of these advances have occurred because LGBTsurvey studies have opened doors (and minds) in leading corporations and organizations, which in turn have recognized the value of their LGBT employees through the establishment of equal hiring policies and domestic partner benefits. This has been a catalyst, leading to sweeping changes in political and social inclusiveness.

With the above in mind, we are helping Community Marketing with their latest survey and ask that you take a few minutes to answer their questions. Your answers will help LGBT companies continue to move the needle towards equality and inclusive business practices. Click HERE or on the image below to take the survey. Make sure to tell your friends about it!

Everyone who completes the survey by Sept 14, 2008 will be entered into a drawing to win one of FIVE iPod Shuffles or the Grand Prize of TWO free airline tickets from/to any of the participating airline's destinations in the 48 continental U.S. States, plus Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Restrictions apply.

Keep this in mind:

• Demographic reports also influence marketing investment. Virtually absent until recently, we now see a growing variety of products and services represented in gay media, celebrating our diversity.
  
• Ads keep LGBT publications and websites in business, serving their communities with independent news and information.
  
• Beyond simply advertising, though, these companies support us in many ways, including sponsoring community events and funding community-based charities in order to earn our loyalty.
  
• Taking an annual pulse on market trends through surveys helps demonstrate the LGBT community's growing power, and influences positive change.

Review Your Own Car and Enter to Win a $50 Gas Card

by Joe LaMuraglia

When I tell people what I do for a living one the first questions is usually "Where do I sign up for THAT job?". Well, now is your chance to prove yourself as a writer and enter to win a $50 Gas card to boot!

Gaywheels is running a contest with vLane.com, an autos site that features reviews and car-buying advice from owners and drivers. The contest is simple - the best car review wins a $50 gas card. This contest is only for Gaywheels users, so take advantage! All you need to do is review your car on vLane by clicking HERE. Make sure to register when prompted so that we can contact you by email if you are the winner, and you'll be automatically entered to win. Only residents of the U.S. and Canada are eligible. People shopping for cars will use your reviews to guide their decisions, so make sure to include the things you'd want to know about the car if you were thinking about buying it. Aim for 100 words minimum, and be sure to rate the car as well.

Enter your review by August 31, 2008 to be eligible for the $50 gas card. Reviews will be judged based on quality, but we'll also take into account the number of people that vote your review as being useful on vLane. Enter now!

If the link doesn't work above, cut and past this URL in your browser http://vlane.com/review_entry/contest:gw001/

July 25, 2008 - I got an email forwarded to me this morning describing a new column on VanityFair.com called "Stick Shift - The Gay Car Blog". My first reaction was puzzlement as Vanity Fair and columns about automobiles don't reside in the same logic quandrant in my brain. Alas, having started this non-traditional business (Gaywheels.com) three years ago, I mustn't be quick to judge.

After reading the introduction and viewing the accompanying graphic (see above), my confusion grew. How can someone write about a car's sexuality on a weekly basis and what does it have to do with Vanity Fair? Can you say perpetuating stereotypes?

The author, Brett Berk, explains that the weekly column will "showcase specific Gay Cars, taking seemingly ordinary vehicles and revealing their underlying queerness. We won't go after low-hanging fruit like Saturns or Subarus. Instead, we'll focus on the obscure and the ambiguous: cars that emit the subtle semiotic signals that register on my GayCarDar."

Read the rest of the article HERE

by Marty Padgett

The world is full of guilty pleasures, but few of them are as obvious as the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8. Gas is $4 a gallon? So what not only does this thing have a HEMI, it has an uber-HEMI V-8 with 425 horsepower and an appetite for unleaded like a frat boy's appetite for Pabst. The planet needs saving? The Challenger's great at recycling tires--one power launch at a time.

The Challenger's basics are pretty intimidating, even if you don't follow NASCAR like a disciple with loads of free time.

There's the 425- hp V-8, a sturdy five-speed automatic that bangs off shifts with drill- team precision, big-ass brakes that burn off speed in supersize chunks. And because it's really a Charger sedan in two-door king drag, the Challenger has a fundamentally fantastic chassis with grip to spare. You can count on 0-60 mph times in about 5 seconds, with a top speed of about 170 miles per hour if you're brave enough to hang on.

From a distance, the Challenger makes you believe it's 1970 all over again. The hood is wide and flat, and so's the trunk, which makes dodging in and out of traffic and shaving corners close a snap. It begs for a rebel flag on its flanks, but Dodge's color choices shocking orange is a favorite are stunning enough. Inside it's a little more pedestrian, but the Challenger can be decked out with Sirius satellite radio so you beam in a steady stream of funkadelic flashbacks without the accompanying 8-track.

 

Read the rest of the review and see photos of the 2009 Dodge Challenger HERE

Cute Marketing Stunt or Desperate Attempt to Get Attention?

by Joe LaMuraglia

When I got the alert via Twitter this morning about the "Kiss My Astra" contest, my first reaction was "how cute". Then I realized that is an attempt to be viral and that means the Astra isn't getting much attention from potential shoppers which blows my mind.

It is no secret that we like the Saturn Astra here at Gaywheels.com. Our review is complimentary and I even convinced my sister to be among the first 1,000 owners in the U.S. when she bought one the first weekend they went on sale. The Astra is competitive entrant in the segment and with gasoline going through the roof, it should be flying off the lots (Astra MPG = 22 city/34 hwy).

 

Read the rest and enter to win a new Astra