The latest corporate victim of online harassment is Harley Davidson. They’d gone woke you see, and much like Tractor Supply or John Deere before them, have earned some social media cross hairs. Robby Starbuck unearthed the evidence and set the internet after them and it appears to have worded again.
In a statement released Monday, the brand admitted how “saddened” it was at all of the negativity directed at the company in the last few weeks but insisted, “We take this issue very seriously.” It is “our responsibility,” the Milwaukee-based business insisted, “to respond with clarity, action, and facts.”
Among many things, executives vowed not to re-engage on the DEI front. “We do not have hiring quotas, and we no longer have supplier diversity spend goals,” they underscored. Instead of funding and promoting LGBTQ+ causes, the chain will now spend its sponsorships “focus[ing] on the motorcycle business or on helping first responders, active military, or veterans.”
In one of the most stinging rebukes of the Human Rights Campaign, Harley agreed to stop participating in HRC’s in-depth corporate rankings. Lastly, the executives promised to redirect company training away from “socially motivated” content.
“As a consumer brand,” they concluded, “we will focus exclusively on growing the sport of motorcycling and retaining our loyal riding community.”
The walkback is likely similar to those of its predecessors. They can’t completely abandon the wokeism. The financial sector won’t let them. But the decrease in front-facing lunacy – or at least the promise – is something, and they make the peeps feel like they’ve got real power. The employees get a break, and as consumers, you get the satisfaction of showing them who the boss is. Brands like Tractor Supply and Harley-Davidson have forgotten who their base is, so some capitulation makes sense. But let us not assume they’ve sworn off the cultural addiction entirely.
In related news, a few weeks ago, The Columbia War Machine shot the crap out of a Harley to make a point. They said it was about sending messaging as regards woke, but I think they just like to use massive amounts of ammo and very large firearms to shoot stuff up. Question: which cost more, the bike or the amount of ammo they used to wreck it?
