Harley-Davidson Drops DEI Initiatives After Customer Outrage Over Inane Policies
One Harley-Davidson owner protested the firm’s embrace of DEI by destroying his motorcycle with machine guns and a canon.
There has been a spate of positive developments for those of us who enjoy fairness and reason in policy-making.
The latest bit of good news comes from the iconic motorcycle firm Harley-Davidson. Interestingly, a quote related to the company is: “Ever notice that you never see a Harley parked outside of a Psychiatrist’s office?”
That’s because the company supported outdoor activity, skill building, and a lot of other traits that mentally and emotionally strong individuals have.
However, that was before Harley-Davidson began to be led by CEO Jochen Zeitz, a German full of exceedingly progressive ideas, including foisting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the company.
Harley-Davidson customers were…not receptive. This became apparent during the recent Sturgis Motorcycle Festival.
Zeitz is seen as a proponent of far-left ideology who, some critics say, has tarnished the legendary all-American Harley-Davidson brand since taking it over in 2020.
“They lost their human touch. That’s the best way to put it,” longtime Harley-Davidson biker “Horseshoe” Johnny Hennings told Fox News Digital at the end of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota last week.
“Harley was like a brotherhood … Now it’s just a ghost.”
One Harley-Davidson owner protested the firm’s embrace of DEI by destroying his motorcycle with machine guns and a canon.
Ohio-based gun fan Brian Lanckiewicz posted clips of how he turned his metallic brown bike into a ‘woke s’more’ to pan the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
His first video received 935,000 views, and a second episode released on Thursday shows Lanckiewicz and his friends wear Revolutionary War outfits and use a canon on the bike.
The clips underscore how strongly some conservatives feel about all-American brands ‘going woke,’ even as many others support schemes to help women and minorities get ahead.
A new Harley-Davidson costs about $25,000 on average, with some models costing $40,000. So, this was quite an expensive protest statement to make.
But it is worth every penny, as the DEI policies at the firm are being rolled back.
But you must love the headline from CNN: Harley-Davidson is dropping diversity initiatives after right-wing anti-DEI campaign.
Harley-Davidson said Monday that it’s ending diversity and other progressive initiatives at the company. Harley-Davidson is the latest major American brand to backtrack from DEI policies it had supported in recent years.
Harley-Davidson faced pressure online from Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist who has successfully taken on DEI policies at several American companies.
“We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community,” the company wrote in a statement posted on X.
The company added that “we have not operated a DEI function since April 2024, and we do not have a DEI function today. We do not have hiring quotas and we no longer have supplier diversity spend goals.”
It is not far-right to want a company to judge its employees based on merit, innovation, and excellence rather than whatever is trendy among social justice types.
Besides, just look at how Germany was recently “rewarded” for its diversity at its recent festival.
Price of a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle: $25,000
Price of a canon: $5000
Price of Free Market Excellence: Priceless
DEI: Don't run a company with it. https://t.co/Z7bpmCc17w— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) August 27, 2024
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
The demographics of Harley Davidson ‘s customers presents a long term decline for the future of HD. Most of their customers are 50+ years old with few younger customers. The younger potential customers werent going to be impressed with DEI. The younger generation that would be impressed with DEI wouldnt be interested in motorcycling.
completely lost sight of their current and potential future customer base.
DEI is bad for business first and foremost. For a company needing a way out, blame ‘right wing revolts’ as an easy escape.
Unlike government, incompetence is self-correcting in private business.
HD’s abandonment and dislike of its traditional customers didn’t happen overnight. Owners of HD motorcycles have been played by HD’s Board of Directors and management. HD motorcycles are now for old white Americans who are willing pay to participate in a cultural illusion that HD, itself, thinks is a joke.
“One Harley-Davidson owner protested the firm’s embrace of DEI by destroying his motorcycle with machine guns and a canon.”
Childish attention seeker.
Agreed. However, he also probably had a lot of fun. And 20 year old Sportsters are surprisingly affordable.
Slight disagreement with the gentlemen. The Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz doesn’t need to resign, but be terminated. Actually, that should have happened when he first said, “DEI.” HD Board, do your job.
Most of these companies aren’t really ‘dropping’ these DEI initiatives. Instead, they’re rebranding them. Some have laughably chosen a new acronym: IED….very on-the-nose. Another idiom growing in popularity is ‘Allyship.’ Expect to hear a lot about that moving forward.
Cannon, not canon. Proofread!
.
The error was consistent, so not a typo.
Canon is a religious term
A proofreader would insert [sic]
Know thy customer, HD.
a foreign CEO is not a good look
“Foreign CEO is not a good look”
Not when you’re supposed to be an all-American brand and not what used to be called a “rice burner”….
Nor is it a good look when an all-American brand sends its jobs overseas…
History rhymes.
In 1987, the Smith & Wesson Company was sold to Tomkins, a British lawnmower manufacturer. Suddenly, it became the darling of Clinton’s gun control community for its willingness to bend over and spread ’em for every stupid “safety” infringement any of them could think of. As a result, American firearms enthusiasts wrote the brand off, and many of them still refuse to touch their products today, even though the company came back to American hands.
Lowes Home Improvement stores just caved without a shot. No more DEI for them either.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/lowes-cuts-ties-with-leftist-activist-group-scales-back-dei-initiatives
you’d think that after the Bud Lite fiasco, no company would get anywhere near a DEI policy
It cost Kid Rock about $10 to demolish a sixpack of Bud Lite with his shotgun. I bet he’s happy he wasn’t a Harley owner.
Got some money there
nothing has changed except the gear
its the same people in charge with policies and contracts already in place
“Right-wing activist”
We are soon to be accused, tried and convicted of thoughtcrime while the DEI crowd cheers our demise.
Go woke go broke. You’ve been bud-lited.
Kudos to HD for restoring sanity in their company, and kudos to Starbuck and the protestors!
That said, I deplore the HD riders who disturb the peace and shred my eardrums with their amplified “mufflers!” Also the cops who don’t arrest them! When I read of a biker becoming roadkill (a fairly frequent occurence), I wonder if he is one of these sociopaths who make a nuisance of themselves acting out their childish VROOM VROOM fantasies.
A side note, I now see HD riders wearing helmets in my no-helmet-law state. As noted above, HD riders are often upscale now, while in the past it seemed that scruffy beards and clothing were de rigueur, and helmets verboten.
They say the noise is for “safety,” but I defy any of them to show a difference in accident rates between a Harley and a Honda Goldwing, one of the quietest bikes around,
I think we will find nothing except driver differences…
I recall showing up at a campus interview with HD for a manufacturing engineering internship about 25 years ago, the recruiter told me they were “looking for someone more diverse”. DEI has plagued HD for a long time, whatever they call it has existed and will likely continue to exist.
For those who are not familiar with HD’s products, the bike that was “rendered” was not particularly valuable, maybe $3K but certainly less than $5K. Moreover, the 888s Sportster is not really regarded as a Harley among riders of the big bikes.
There’s nothing wrong with the small Sportster and quite a bit to recommend it for smaller riders or those with less experience.
I’ve been riding for nearly 60 years starting with a Honda 50 I got while delivering newspapers in the mid-60s. The next bike I rode was 74cui Electraglide. Instantly hooked on big bikes. Still have a 2003 Electraglide Classic and have made many long trips on it including relocating from Massachusetts to Corpus Christi, Texas.
My main bike is a Honda Goldwing. It doesn’t get better than ‘Wing.
As it were, my riding days are are numbered. I had to drop the Harley one day last week and picking it back up reminded just how old I am. To be sure, I will not be purchasing another Harley–because I already have one and I do all my own work.
Good riddance to the Jackass nazi-sympathizer and his DEI influence where it does not belong and neither did he.
Talk is cheap Harley, prove it all.