Claim:
In August 2024, Harley-Davidson's sales dropped more than 40% after the company announced DEI initiatives.
Rating:
Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )
In August 2024, a rumor spread online that Harley-Davidson sales plummeted 40% after the motorcycle company announced diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. For example, the Facebook account America's Last Line Of Defense published a post that read:
Go woke go broke even applies to you, Harley Davidson. So many bikes went up for sale this week that the market crumbled on new models. That's how the people roll.
(America's Last Line Of Defense)
Some readers seemed to interpret rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. " Of all the companies to go woke this is a shame," one Facebook user wrote. While outlets have factually reported on the conservative-led boycott of Harley-Davidson , there was no evidence of sales dropping 40% as a result of any DEI efforts.
Rather, the rumor about Harley-Davidson sales dropping originated with The Dunning-Kruger Times — a website that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. Its About Page states:
Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the "America's Last Line of Defense" network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery, or as Snopes called it before they lost their war on satire: Junk News
Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical. See above if you're still having an issue with that satire thing.
The fictional story spread as Harley-Davidson's CEO, Jochen Zeitz, has come under fire for supporting policies on trans care for children, critical race theory , climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The Dunning-Kruger Times has a history of making up stories for shares and comments.
Snopes has addressed similar satirical claims stemming from The Dunning-Kruger Times in the past, including the assertion that Netflix stock plunged after $7 million donation to Harris campaign and a rumor that Stephen King's publisher dropped him for "pushing wokeness."
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
Sources:
'About Us'. Dunning-Kruger-Times.Com , 1 Aug. 2022, https://dunning-kruger-times.com/about-us/.
Facebook . https://www.facebook.com/ALLODSatire/posts/pfbid0CtdRBCZk76A5C4fioNw5pEBPHQk2gqhBfH6d2mdh2QC2hrNzSCaYNhoP35YYw7Mdl . Accessed 5 Aug. 2024.
Koenig, Melissa. 'Furious Bikers Turn on Harley Davidson Boss for "Going Woke"'. Mail Online , 5 Aug. 2024, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13708493/Bikers-turn-Harley-Davidson-boss-woke.html.
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