[MikeAnon222]

I just got back from the "Big Party" thrown by Harley Davidson to conclude the weekend celebrating their 100th B-Day. There were a couple hundred thousand people at the park along the Lake Michigan lake front tonight waiting for the unnanounced big surprise headliner at tonight's concert. Rumors were circulating about 'The Rolling Stones', U2, Willie Nelson and Bruce Springstein. Instead the Harley folks brought out Tim Magraw for about 60 mintes, Kidd Rock for about 15 mins then Elton John. Everyone was already bored by Tim 'who even likes country music in the biker crowd' MaGraw and let down than Kidd Rock played for such a brief time when Elton 'Gay, Overweight, Romantic, Englishman' started playing. Within 15 mins tens of thousands of people were leaving. The street in front of the park was jammed with dissapointed concert goers from all over the country who were bitching and complaining for the mile walk back to their bikes and cars. Harley Davidson created one of the biggest marketing disasters I have ever seen.

[tallhappy]

Sounds about right.

Kid Rock? Elton John?

Harleys are for pussies. Cycles in general are.

Perfect music selection.

[A Broken Glass Republican]

Elton John is cool but not for a Harley event. Stupid, spupid, stupid.

[Bogey78O]

but chicks love him....

[MattAMiller]

Before he got into his music for menopausal women phase Elton John was really good. Not really fitting for a biker concert, but he was good once.

[RichInOC]

Memo to Harley-Davidson marketing and promotion:

If you need to have a gay headliner, go for Rob Halford. He's a hard rocker, he likes Harleys, and a whole bleepload of the crowd is going to want to know where to get leathers like his.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Harley Davidson makes worse marketing decision ever - tonight !
Milwaukee Journal ^ | 08/31/03 | AP

Worse than the Edsel?

[MHT]

I know gals who go crazy over Tim McGraw....now the others you can keep ---- but McGraw is a good night's entertainment

[monkeyshine]

'Gay, Overweight, Romantic, Englishman'

This might work for a Triumph audience.

As a Harley owner and rider, I am not ashamed to admit that I actually like Elton John and think he (and his songwriter Bernie Taupin) to be extremely talented... and at the same time, I am terribly disappointed in this choice for Harley's 100th anniversary. Elton John doesn't rock. He's not American. He doesn't exemplify bikers. He's talented, but a very poor choice for this event.

However, I heard he just signed a big contract for Caesar's palace, and I think he's making a career out of playing under private contract now that he can't really sell albums or concerts to the general public anymore. So he was probably available and relatively inexpensive for Harley to hire.

[strela]

Gnarly-Davidson would have to run a 30-minute infomercial in prime time on all three networks showing live kittens being put into a Cuisinart set to frappe' to screw up their marketing any worse than they did during their AMF days.

[Gabz]

Oh good grief, this is all I need.

I've got enough anti-smoker fanatics attacting me for being a low-life biker chick who hangs out with motorcycle gangs.

And I won't even get on a motorcycle - they scare the bejeesus out of me.

[Batrachian]

I just can't imagine outlaw bikers complaining about long lines at the portapots and then going out for an Italian dinner with red wine.

Harley has gone mainstream for sure. Well, they're still beautiful.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

They could have made it a true extravaganza by adding Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion, while taking out McGraw and Rock.

[aruanan]

Harley Davidson created one of the biggest marketing disasters I have ever seen.

Not marketing disaster. All those disappointed people were walking back to bikes they already owned. Harley's most outrageous move was when they got Reagan to put tariffs on the motorcycles that actually built the American motorcycle market to the point that Harley's then-tiny niche was threatened. It's true that they got some better engineers to redesign their engines so they wouldn't have to have a pan to catch oil drips right there in the showroom. And they've traded off the Easy Rider and Hell's Angels mystique. But Harley's American success story is that they relied on statism to sway people from buying fast, quiet, clean, (relatively) vibrationless motorcycles while they attempted to capture a larger share of the market that others built. Their choice of Elton John just underlined their corporate sleaziness.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Not too many queers in the Hog crowd. Elton John??? I guess someone's marketing firm forgot the number one rule: Know your audience.

On country music, I always thought many of them did listen to it. I guess I was wrong.

[mc5cents]

I suppose these guys were unavailable or they would have done the gig.

[Khurkris]

He was there for all the leather wearing biker boys...LOL.

[BradyLS]

What was the big event in South Dakota that G. Gordon Liddy took his Harley up to? Some week-long biker-bash that really rattles your teeth? Why not just poll the folks there for their idea of top-notch entertainment and announce the Lake Michigan supriose with a promise that they would not be disappointed-- or their money back?

[Fintan]

I had no idea this was how civilization as we know it was going to end.

Thanks for saving me from making bad decisions.

[Joe Hadenuf]

The only people that buy new Harleys belong to the computer geeks MC or the Lawyer Outlaws MC. Who in the hell else would spend $40,000 on a freaking Harley?

[Daus]

Seen on the overpass at Howard and I94/43 for the bikers leaving town... A big, handpainted, sign that read...


"Thanks For Coming!
"Sorry about Elton!"


I feet much better now that someone got around to apologizing for this. :)