Harley-Davidson Takes Aim at Stereotypes

When you think of a typical Harley-Davidson rider, certain images spring to mind. Conjured are images of leather vests, long beards and too many skulls. H-D has launched a new campaign with the release of their new Seventy-Two Sportster model entitled “E Pluribus Unum” or “Out of Many, One” in an attempt to put real riders in the spotlight and challenge preconceived notions. This new campaign is the first created from Harley-Davidson’s new crowd-sourcing Facebook application “Fan Machine” that allows their 3.3 million Facebook fans to submit ideas and vote on submissions from other community members.

At the center of the new campaign is a series of videos featuring real riders and a corresponding stereotype showcased by the Twitter hashtag “#StereotypicalHarley” to show the great variety of social, ethnic, age, and economic differences that exist in the Harley-Davidson rider community.

“The beauty of the ‘E Pluribus Unum’ campaign is that it uses the element of surprise that exists in every Harley-Davidson owner to inspire people to think about riding our motorcycles,” said Scott Beck, Harley-Davidson’s General Manager of Marketing Operations for North America.


You can check out the new “E Pluribus Unum” videos at the Stereotypical Harley Website and join in the conversation by Tweeting to @harleydavidson with the hashtag #StereotypicalHarley.