When Licensing Deals Don’t Make Sense

Successful brands often seek out ways to expand their profits by licensing their name to be used on other unrelated products.  Motorcycle companies are no different.   So it’s no surprise that a company that’s been around as long as Harley-Davidson (est. 1903) would have licensed it’s name and logo on a few products that are unrelated to motorcycling.

A few years ago, the brand sold “Harley Barbies” and they were a big hit.  A few of those are floating around Ebayland and selling for more than the original price tag.

HD hot road

There are, however, some products that we’re sure the brand managers didn’t quite think out.   Here are a couple that have us scratching our collective heads over.

1. HOT ROAD cologne….or specifically, “EAU DE TOILETTE.”   First off, what biker ever used the phrase, “eau de toilette” and lived to tell about it?    Picture this;  You walk past a line of bikes parked outside a road house bar, somewhere along a lonely stretch of highway in southern Arizona or New Mexico.  The place smells of sweat, leather urine, grease and stale beer.  You sit down at the bar and order a beer.  A big hairy biker wearing a dirty, patch covered leather vest, no shirt  sits down beside you.  You catch a whiff of something different..something exotic.  Something hot… “Excuse me sir” you say, turning to the grizzled road veteran. “Is that “Hot Road, eau de toilette you’re wearing?”      They find you 3 days later, stuffed in the men’s toilet, smelling of sweat, grease, stale beer and urine.

ducatiBut, on the other hand, if you’re on a Ducati, then you’ll probably be wearing this fragrance.

scooter_juice_packThen there is the Harley-Davidson wine cooler.  Another product that we’re thinking was way ahead of its’ time.  Produced in the mid-1980’s, these sophisticated drinks for the softer side of the hard-core Harley rider never quite caught on.  Imagine a similar scenario from the previous example where you walk into that same bar, and order a Harley-Davidson “wine cooler.”  We’re pretty sure there’s a toilet stall, stale beer, sweat and urine in your immediate future.

 

What products did we miss?  Comment in the section below and if they’re weird, we’ll add them to the story.

beer saddlebags

 

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