If there’s one name CEOs don’t want to hear right now, it’s Robby Starbuck. The filmmaker-turned-culture warrior has become a one-man wrecking ball on corporate activism—exposing major brands who think their liberal activism will go undetected.
But there’s no such thing as secret wokeism, as Tractor Supply Co. and John Deere both learned after being hauled into the spotlight for their radical policies on everything from LGBTQ+ Pride to transgenderism and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Three months into his summer of corporate scalps, Starbuck just pulled off another coup: humbling American classic Harley-Davidson into submission.
“It’s time to expose Harley-Davidson,” Starbuck posted about the iconic brand on July 23, ticking off almost two dozen examples of the company’s extremism under German-born boss Jochen Zeitz.
On this CEO’s watch, the beloved motorcycle manufacturer has publicly supported men in girls’ bathrooms, sports, and locker rooms; forced employees to undergo training to become “LGBT allies”; sponsored an LGBTQ+ entrepreneur boot camp; designated February and March as extra “Months of Inclusion”; fought to have fewer “white suppliers, dealers, and employees”; sponsored a Pride Ride; offered a blanket commitment to DEI practices; and received a 90% score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index.
“To put it mildly,” Starbuck pointed out, “Harley-Davidson seems to have forgotten who their core customers are.” Thousands of Americans seem to have agreed, inundating headquarters with calls to bring their values back in alignment with consumers.
The goal, Starbuck wanted people to know, is “never destruction.” It’s to “inform customers about the values major companies are adopting so they can make choices about what they’re willing to support. That’s not cancel culture,” he argued, “it’s capitalism.”
“When we use our voices and wallets to vote our values, we can change the world, and we can restore great American companies to a culture of sanity, meritocracy, and culture war neutrality,” Starbuck urged. Or, he offered, “We can inspire competitors to step up and fight for our business.”
But before rivals even had a chance to capitalize on Harley-Davidson’s toxic politics, Zeitz had ordered a full-scale retreat on almost all the company’s divisive policies.
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.”
Starbuck, who celebrated his “three for three” record in bringing major retailers to their knees, crowed, “Corporations can’t ignore our movement anymore. They have to take us seriously.”
As for Harley, the social media influencer made it clear, “We still want the [Zeitz] gone too. He’s a true believer [in the Left]. … In his elite social circles, this move will not be popular. His world does not include bikers. This statement sounds like a board decision and not his decision. I’d be surprised if he was OK [with it].”
Meanwhile, over at the Human Rights Campaign, panic must be setting in. The nationwide sea change we’ve witnessed since Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney is turning the once-powerful LGBTQ+ tyrants into paper tigers. If anything, the organization that used to have CEOs shaking in their boots seems to be crumbling under the weight of sustained grassroots pressure.
All the Human Rights Campaign’s leadership could muster in response to Harley’s decision is that it must not “care about equality in the workplace” before pathetically trying to turn the debate back on former President Donald Trump.
Walking away from its political activism was “an impulsive decision” on Harley-Davidson’s part, Vice HRC President Eric Bloem told Newsweek, “fueled by fringe right-wing actors and MAGA extremists who believe they can bully their way into dismantling initiatives that help everyone thrive in the workplace.”
In a sign of just how mainstream the anti-woke movement has become, even self-described liberals like Fortune’s Diane Brady are arguing that while diversity may be “good for business, angry customers are not.” “Those who dislike companies pushing DEI policies are not all right-wing extremists or racist,” she points out.
The reality is, Starbuck and the millions of fed-up Americans aren’t asking companies to become conservative. All they want is neutrality.
“I’m asking you to make it a welcoming place for everybody,” Starbuck emphasized, “which means getting rid of DEI, getting rid of wokeness, and just being a workplace again. It’s not that hard. It is a very simple ask. That’s what we want. So you know what?” he said straight to the country’s CEOs. “Don’t wait for me to come for you. Fix it now. Get rid of these crazy policies. Save me time so I don’t have to come for you. Save your brand. Just do the right thing. Make work work again and focus on making great products with great customer service. You do that, and people are going to be very happy.”
As more activists are realizing, these woke policies “only exist as a byproduct of silence,” Starbuck said in a special video message. “People being silent allows customers to be fooled into thinking these companies have not gone totally crazy. The minute you shine sunlight on it, these companies face pressure that they cannot withstand. We have the power. So what this really tells us is we outnumber the crazy people who are pushing these policies by millions to one. The actual number of true believers in all this crazy woke stuff is infinitesimally small. We just have to use our voice and believe in the fact that we have the power to change things.”
But for now, Starbuck smiled, “It’s time for a victory lap.”
Originally published by The Washington Stand
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