Conservative activist pushing to boycott Harley-Davidson for ‘going woke’

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Conservative activist pushing to boycott Harley-Davidson for ‘going woke’

Conservative activist pushing to boycott Harley-Davidson for ‘going woke’

Over the past month, a conservative online commentator has effectively pushed Deere & Co. and Tractor Supply to walk back certain DEI initiatives. Now, the music video director turned right-wing political influencer Robby Starbuck is taking aim at another rugged American brand. 

In a nine-minute video on X, Starbuck went after Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson for being “out of alignment with its customers.” His evidence included joining the Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, hosting an LGBTQ+ boot camp at its offices, and working to increase the diversity of its global dealer network.

“Let me tell you what your customers actually want, because it’s pretty easy,” Starbuck said in the video. “Just get rid of the social issues and divisive causes … no more DEI departments, no more woke trainings, no more donations to woke causes … just make motorcycles. Period.” 

The campaign hasn’t hit Harley-Davidson’s stock price so far. Last Thursday, Harley’s stock jumped 6.5% after the company said quarterly sales and earnings came in above analyst expectations. For the three months ended June 30, Harley’s revenue increased 12% to $1.6 billion, despite a 3% decline in bikes sold. Under its new CEO, German-born executive Jochen Zeitz, the Milwaukee-based bike maker has focused on its higher-end models, and has cut options for entry-level riders.

Starbuck, whose account on X has over half a million followers, is a former write-in GOP candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee. Earlier this year he released a two-hour documentary on X, The War on Children, that accused LGBTQ+ activists, the entertainment industry, and social media platforms of indoctrinating and sexualizing kids.

But Starbuck has also used his platform to organize campaigns against companies supporting DEI initiatives—and they’ve worked. 

In late June, farm equipment retailer Tractor Supply announced it would eliminate DEI initiatives and roles, “withdraw” its carbon emission goals, and cease providing data to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign after Starbuck started attacking the retailer on social media, which elicited an onslaught of negative feedback from customers. 

“We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them,” the company said in a statement announcing the change. We have taken this feedback to heart.”

Just a few weeks later, Starbuck went after John Deere in a similar manner. Following the pressure, the company put out a statement on X, saying the agricultural manufacturer would no longer participate in “social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events.”

Tractor Supply declined to comment, and Deere did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment. 

In the Harley-Davidson video, Starbuck directed his ire at the company’s chief executive, Zeitz, who has said Harley should be producing only electrical bikes by 2030. 

Starbuck also noted that in Harley’s sustainability report, Zeitz praised the company’s Corporate Equality Index score. CEI is a metric used by the Human Rights Campaign to measure corporations’ treatment of LGTBQ+ employees, and Starbuck referred to it as “the Trojan horse that pushes all these left-wing values into corporations.” 

Since Starbuck posted the video about Harley-Davidson last Tuesday, it’s been reported more than 26,000 times and received more than 44,000 likes. Elon Musk even left a cryptic comment on the post. 

Harley-Davidson has not commented on the video publicly, and the company did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment. But some users have already begun coming after the bike maker on social media. On a recent unrelated post on Harley’s X page, one user commented: “Unless this CEO is fired, and all woke policies dissolved, and you issue a heartfelt apology, my Harley will be sold and upgraded.”

Conservative boycott campaigns like the ones Starbuck has initiated became popular last year, when Anheuser-Busch brand Bud Light partnered with transgender social media celebrity Dylan Mulvaney for a promotional campaign. The backlash was so intense that North American organic revenue of Anheuser-Busch slid $1.4 billion in 2023, and the iconic brand has fallen behind Modelo and Michelob to become the third most popular beer in the U.S.

At the end of the Harley-Davidson video, Starbuck encouraged people to call the motorcycle manufacturer’s customer service line, owners’ group, and media office to ask “if [Harley] is going to turn around before they destroy this once great American company.”

“Us, we’re very forgiving out here,” he said. “You want forgiveness, though, you need to turn around and stop all of this wokeness and get back to the core business that made Harley-Davidson great.”

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