Tag Archives: buell

product design hits and misses

Fast Company Cries Foul

since you put it that way, what was erik thinking?

Who says you can’t beat that dead horse? Fast Company compares Ulysses to Barcolounger! Whoop! Buell gets a posthumous dressing down over on Fast Company’s Design channel. Their current pictorial serves up a night and day visual of the role design plays in the consumer acceptance cycle. Message? I guess you know it when you see it. Screw around too much and you’ll pay the price: see iPod vs. (M.C.) Hammer clown pants over on the United States of Design for rock solid proof of usually avoidable consequences based on (bad) taste alone. Which is why the t.v. audience for Boise State home games will never exceed friends and family.

buell brand warrior bites back

ouch! this buell brand warrior skewers the motor company

This bullseye parody by halfthrottle over on YouTube has garnered nearly 150,00 views since it was posted on May 24th, and though Harley’s flailing marketing isn’t specifically called out, it’s a broad – and accurate – indictment of a brand that can’t decide what it should be.

It isn’t until the final frame that the impetus links back to Harley throwing Buell under the bus in 2009. But regardless of the inspiration, there’s no way to argue with the summary judgement of a powerful brand that’s been drifting on the wind for the past three decades. And that’s now paying what may be the ultimate penalty for a status quo strategy.