Appropriate or not many of the news outlets capture footage of corporate moguls emerging from private jets and images of lavish hotels, expensive gifts being showered on senior executives and clients at corporate events and then they turn right around as a “muckraker” and help fuel the fiery populist rage whipping across this country. We’ve seen politicians do it as they prophesize evidence of corporate abuses to an outraged public all the while describing the discrepancies of “our” American dream.
Now Harley-Davidson marketing decided to throw their own tea-party and jump aboard the “outrage train” with a NY Times and online ad at Facebook.
Clearly an attempt to help the collapsing newspaper industry and draw in like-minded customers, who feel the muckrakers have predicted an early demise of American companies including H-D? People are hurting. It seems self-serving, intellectually dishonest and a bit risky to try and capitalized on the anger and resentment of the masses to:
“Wrench the life back into our economy.”
More and more today’s motorcycle market reminds me of the movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” In that classic, Alec Guinness commanded a group of British POWs in Southeast Asia during WWII tasked to build a bridge for a Japanese railway. But in his zeal to build the bridge, Guinness’ character, Colonel Nicholson, lost sight of its true purpose and only saw it as means to an end, whereas it was really an end in and of itself. As a blogger I’m always interested in the transformative power of advertising. In this case — H-D’s thread of hopeful narrative in the midst of America’s demise — there sparkles Harley-Davidson as a flashy gem of advertising hope.
Shine on you crazy diamond, Harley.
Photo courtesy of H-D.
I have a family, a job and a motorcycle. I suppose in today’s world I am living the American dream. People are hurting here. Stop sending our money overseas in foreign aid and boycott companies that move out of the country to hire cheap labor. Be more selective in purchasing and buy American whenever possible. It is typical that government digs a hole then needs us to pull them out of it. Now a days, life is not about living but surviving. Credit card payments can go to hell because groceries come first in my house. The American dream…… you are only as good as your credit score. I remember a day when I used to care about my credit. Now, I care about keeping a job and feeding my family.
Now if you could actually buy one without mortgaging your house…
The people hurting because of this economy have no business buying a new HD. They are a luxury item, plain and simple. I’ll stick with my old, broken-down, and most importantly, PAID FOR Sporty, thank you.
Buy new? Hell no. I’ll let someone else pay for that luxury.