Harley Davidson - A Cautionary Tale of Community Turning Against a Brand

**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
The Bliss business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:16)
Hello and welcome back to the show. We got a juicy topic today. When communities start boycotting the brands they love, what happened? How did they get here? I'm Stephen Sakach here with Tullio Siragusa and Ash Maher. Hey, guys.

**Tullio Siragusa** (0:34)
Hey, let's do this.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:37)
So for the most part, when we talk about consciousness in companies, we are talking about companies getting into trouble if they basically aren't loving. They did something awful to the environment, they discriminated or they were awful to employees. But what if they're trying to be loving, but see a major backlash as a result? This is what happened to Harley Davidson and its community recently. They have been getting hammered by conservatives in their community online, and were boycotted at Sturgis. As a result, Harley backed away from some things. Ash, take us through it.

**Ash Maher** (1:19)
yes. So with Harley Davidson, they decided that they were going to drop some of their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, also known as DEI. The company said it has stopped consulting the human rights campaigns metric for treatment of LGBTQ plus employees, and that its sponsorship decisions will now be determined by the company and foundation which will focus on retaining our loyal writing community.
A quote from one of their upper-level management, we do not have a DEI function today. Harley Davidson has not since April, according to the statement. Harley Davidson also affirmed its rejection of hiring quotas and socially motivated content included in training. In the statement, the brand maintained support for first responders, active military members, and veterans. This move came after an online campaign by a conservative journalist posted a list of grievances against Harley Davidson in July, claiming they've gone totally woke. We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley Davidson community. So Steve, this is kind of silly. This is crazy. So this is an example of they, at one point I believe that they were trying to be a part of the DEI community, trying to be as inclusive, I believe, to all people. And in doing so, they actually ended up hurting their core base. This is an example of they were actually trying to do what was right and it totally backfired. So how does one navigate these waters?

**Stephen Sakach** (3:03)
Yeah. So, and really this isn't the first company as we've seen that's gotten into these situations. So the Harley Davidson, you know, follows Tractor Supply decision in back in June to eliminate DEI roles according to news reports. And Tractor Supply also, I think Tractor Supply, they also walked back support for LGBTQ community and commitment to carbon emission goals, I believe. And same sort of thing going on with like John Deere. And then of course, they had the big Bud Light controversy a while back. So others have been kind of facing this backlash. So what is happening here is companies with a conservative base and the community are being targeted by conservatives. And there will be more. And I want to zoom out and talk about why this is happening from a consciousness standpoint and why brands with good intentions are finding a disconnect or outright revolt. Tullio, you're a motorcycle lover. Let's talk about the Harley brand.

**Tullio Siragusa** (4:21)
Yeah, absolutely. I've had a number of motorcycles throughout my life, from japanese to Italian to German and Harley Davidson as well. And once I rode a Harley Davidson, I kind of never looked back. So I was definitely one of the people that loved the feeling and something that they've been selling and marketing to for many years. The sense of freedom, individuality, that's their core identity. It's been built on this ideal of adventure and freedom, even a little bit of rebellion. Oddly enough, some people think the Harley riders are like the gang members, but most of the people I've met are CPAs, lawyers, guys and women who just need a little escape on the weekend from their day-to-day reality. So the brand has always embodied the spirit of the open road, the American dream. American dream has always been selling this idea of freedom. So they've embodied that and the ability for people to ride and express their individuality without constraints. This is why you'll see someone who might wear a suit all week, grow a goatee on the weekend and wear leather. It's like you almost get to play a different personality for a few hours. So over the decades, they've become iconic with this sort of counterculture, that's often associated with freedom, rebellionist, non-conformism, and the brand appeals to those who see themselves as outsiders, to a certain degree, who want to break away from social norms. So the other thing is they've always encouraged the community and brotherhood and sisterhood.