It’s no secret that the real cash cow for Harley-Davidson isn’t their bikes. It isn’t hard goods, either, like replacement air cleaners, exhaust systems, seats or other farkles that may or may not add horsepower. Harley-Davidson was one of the first companies to realize the power of brand licensing, and gets a cut of every single item that bears their bar-and-shield logo. Demand for Harley swag is enormous; not everyone can afford their bikes, but dropping $20 on a Harley t-shirt still gives you the biker image on a budget. Now Chrysler is following suit and launching a line of t-shirts with their “Imported From Detroit” slogan, made popular by Eminem’s Super Bowl ad for the Chrysler 200.
The shirts are available in white, gray and black, in both bold logo and distressed logo designs, on the Chrysler Collection website. I should be more precise and say they WERE available on the Chrysler website, until they sold out. In every color. In every style. Priced at $29.95 (really, I’m not making that up), shirt sales will go a long way towards adding to Chrysler’s 2011 bottom line, if they can keep them in stock. If Harley’s history is an indicator, we can expect Chrysler to trademark the sound of Dodge’s 5.7 liter Hemi V8 any day now.
Source: Autoblog
