“Elitist jerks and hypocrites” at Harley-Davidson and other iconic American brands like Bud Light are driving these companies into the ground with their so-called “woke” agendas, claims an insider waging war in the corporate culture battlefield. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Jennifer Sey, a former top marketing executive at Levi Strauss & Co., did not hold back.
“It’s a basic rule of business: You don’t disrespect your loyal customers, and you certainly don’t alienate them while chasing new markets,” Sey said.
Longtime Harley fans have been fuming at CEO Jochen Zeitz, a German native, and board chairman, accusing him of trying to reshape the motorcycle’s tough, all-American image. Critics argue that Zeitz’s progressive moves are clashing with the core values cherished by Harley’s most faithful followers.
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“We are aiming to challenge traditional capitalism and redefine it,” Zeitz stated while addressing global leaders at a conference in Switzerland in 2020, the year he took over as Harley-Davidson’s CEO.
During the same speech, Zeitz controversially likened his commitment to “sustainability” to the fervor of the Taliban. This comparison and his agenda led to growing dissatisfaction among Harley-Davidson’s devoted customers, which eventually erupted into outright backlash after corporate watchdog Robby Starbuck exposed Zeitz’s plans on X.
“They’ve destroyed Harley. It’s heartbreaking,” said Vinny Terranova, owner of Pappy’s Vintage Cycles in Sturgis, South Dakota, and a former Harley-Davidson dealership owner, in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Jennifer Sey, a former Levi’s executive, has firsthand experience in the corporate culture wars. As a high-profile executive in 2020, she was responsible for managing and promoting Levi’s iconic brand, which has represented American culture and opportunity since its founding by German immigrant Levi Strauss in San Francisco in 1853. However, Sey’s corporate journey took a turn when the self-described “lifelong Democrat” opposed strict COVID-19 measures implemented by the city of San Francisco, the state of California, and her own company.
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“I was a respected leader in the community, but I was vilified simply for opposing school closures,” Sey recounted. “I was demonized because I wanted to keep schools open. It became unbearable for me to stay.”
After dedicating 23 years to her career at Levi’s, Sey was pushed out in 2022.
“San Francisco is the most strictly conformist place imaginable,” she claimed. “It’s not inclusive, logical, or progressive.”
Branded as “canceled” by corporate America, Sey found herself shut out from securing an executive-level role that matched her impressive track record.
Now based in Colorado, Sey launched XX-XY Athletics, a performance apparel company, in March.
Sey has become a vocal critic of wokeism, with the name of her company itself standing as a challenge to the idea that womanhood exists on a fluid spectrum. “The message is about empirical truth. Biology is factual,” Sey asserted. “It’s quite straightforward. There’s XX and there’s XY. We can distort the truth with language all we want, but at the end of the day, sex is binary.”
Sey believes the corruption of longstanding truths and the rise of radical ideologies that led to her departure from Levi’s—and caused consumers to turn away from brands like Harley-Davidson and Bud Light—stem from various factors.
“The elites embrace these extreme far-left views to ease their guilt about their wealth and privilege,” she suggested. For example, corporate leaders often advocate for public education, yet “they send their own children to private schools that cost $60,000 a year.”
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“These companies are now filled with Gen Z employees who have been influenced by a woke education system and universities that emphasize safe spaces and pronouns,” Sey said.
Executives are terrified of crossing this new wave of social norms, fearing backlash from a vocal online mob that could threaten their wealth, privilege, and the perks they publicly denounce.
“In corporate America today, it feels like the inmates are running the asylum,” Sey added.
Drawing from her experience within the “woke bubble” of high-powered corporate culture, Sey offers a unique perspective on Harley-Davidson’s recent struggles.
Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz, who gained global recognition by transforming Puma into a major fashion brand, mingled with elites, launched a sailing race team, and even opened an art museum in his name in South Africa, is viewed by critics as out of touch with Harley-Davidson’s core customers. They argue that Zeitz, who has hobnobbed with figures like Richard Branson, fails to grasp the essence of what makes Harley-Davidson so iconic: its American roots.
Levi’s, like Harley, is celebrated worldwide for its American identity.
“These brands symbolize the best of American values,” Sey explained. “They stood for freedom, individualism, progress, and democracy.”
For Sey, Harley-Davidson embodies “rugged masculinity and the spirit of living on your own terms.”
Sey’s belief in the power of American brands was cemented during her time as a gymnast competing at the Goodwill Games in Moscow in 1986. She recalls bringing 20 pairs of Levi’s jeans to trade with Soviet and foreign athletes, knowing their iconic 501 jeans could fetch up to $1,000 per pair on Moscow’s black market back then.
“Levi’s jeans were a symbol of freedom and progress,” she noted.
Sey argues that today’s so-called “progressive” politics are anything but forward-thinking.
“What they label as progressive is actually quite regressive,” she stated. “It’s being promoted by elitist hypocrites. I can hardly bear to be around them anymore.”
Harley-Davidson did not respond to a request for comment.
