CULTURE WARS

Brands on the Run Why Harley-Davidson, Caterpillar, and other masculine" brands are caving to anti-DEI crusader Robby Starbuck

- MAX UFBERG

THE CAPITULATIONS ARRIVED ONE AFTER another, a line of white flags growing longer by the week. First Tractor Supply Co., then John Deere, then Harley-Davidson and Brown-Forman (the distillery giant behind Jack Daniel's) and Ford, followed by Lowe's and Molson Coors and, more recently, Caterpillar. Each publicly traded company-all of them household names announced a retreat or reversal or outright abandonment of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies after facing online criticism from conservative activist Robby Starbuck.

Starbuck has been railing against so-called wokeness for years. Up until about a decade ago, he was a music video director, working with the likes of Eve and Snoop Dogg. But his increasingly vocal conservative opinions didn't do wonders for his career in Hollywood, so in 2019 he pulled a reverse Clampett, loading up the truck in California with his wife and children and moving to Tennessee. During the height of the pandemic, from his new perch near Nashville, he launched social media campaigns against mask and vaccine mandates. Backed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2022. He produced a 2024 documentary opposing gender-affirming care called The War on Children that has been celebrated in right-wing circles and endorsed by Elon Musk. Starbuck's eager audiencemore than a million followers across X (owned by Musk), Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook-laps up his diatribes against DEI. His June rant on X against Tractor Supply for sponsoring Pride festivals and committing to goals racked up 2.8 million views. His tirade against John Deere for supporting employee resource groups garnered more than 40,000 views.