Mythology and Brands

Abstract

After defining myths, and suggesting that myths still play a role in contemporary life, even though they do this in disguised form, we use myth to understand the mythic dimensions of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle company, suggesting it is connected to the myth of Hades. We show this by using my “myth model” in which various aspects of myths, as they inform psychoanalytic theory, historical experience, elite culture, popular culture, and everyday life, are examined and applied to Harley-Davidson.

As in the myths of Prometheus, Hercules, and other ancient heroes, Superman’s exploits revolve around a universal mythic theme—the struggle of Good and Evil. This is what makes Superman, or any action hero for that matter, so intuitively appealing to modern audiences …. The word “myth” derives from the Greek mythos: “word,” “speech,” “tale of the gods.” It can be defined as a narrative in which the characters are gods, heroes, and mystical beings, in which the plot is about the origin of things or about metaphysical events in human life, and in which the setting is a metaphysical world juxtaposed against the real world. In the beginning stages of human cultures, myths functioned as genuine “narrative theories” of the world. That is why all cultures have created them to explain their origins …. The use of mythic themes and elements in media representations has become so widespread that it is hardly noticed any longer, despite Barthes’ cogent warnings in the late 1950s. Implicit myths about the struggle for Good, of the need for heroes to lead us forward, and so on and so forth, constitute the narrative underpinnings of TV programmes, blockbuster movies, advertisements and commercials, and virtually anything that gets “media air time.” (2002: 47–48)

Marcel Danesi, Understanding Media Semiotics

This is something that comes up in our work all the time: A store has more than one constituency, and it must therefore perform several functions, all from the same premises. Sometimes these functions exist in perfect harmony, but other times—especially in stores selling diverse goods, like cold drinks and medicines—those functions clash. We also saw this in a Harley-Davidson dealership, where a roughly three-thousand-square-foot showroom has to make room for well-off male menopause victims looking to recover their virility by buying bikes, blue-collar gearheads who are there for spare parts, and teenage dreamers interest in the Harley-logo fashions. All three groups want nothing to do with one another.

Paco Underhill, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping