Business Wars

It’s 1963. After battling the wave of British bikes vying for the high-dollar U.S. motorcycle market, Harley-Davidson is slammed by a tsunami of machines from Japan. Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki and—the biggest, most popular of them all—Honda. It’s a nightmare that will force the company to the edge of bankruptcy as the Japanese redefine the industry. Whether Harley can change with the changing times remains to be seen.On the literary front, writer Hunter Thompson canonizes the Hells Angels with his bestselling book dissecting the outlaw biker crew, highlighting their passion for Harleys. As Honda’s sunshiney ‘60s ad jingle says, you meet the nicest people on a Honda. It begs the question, who do you meet on a Harley?Support us by supporting our sponsors!

By the late 1940s, World War II has ended, but Harley’s battle with a few disenfranchised veterans is just beginning. Bored and looking for kicks, these men are forming clubs based around a love of boozing, brawling and Harley Hogs. The motorcycle riots in the small town of Hollister, California bring huge headlines, and a few years later Hollywood stokes the fires with The Wild One. The first biker gang movie features Harleys front and center, and it’s publicity that the bosses in Milwaukee hate with a passion.As the company turns 50, it gets a unique gift when its archrival finally bites the dust. But the competition remains stiff as Harley revs up to deal with invaders from England and — on the plus side — there’s a glowing Hog nod from the King of Rock n’ Roll. Support us by supporting our sponsors!

It’s 1903, and Harley-Davidson is entering the spanking new motorcycle market. Of the hundreds of fledgling brands, the bike to beat is Indian, and Harley has the company in its crosshairs. But a decade later, Harley is on the defensive, scrambling to distance itself from the deadly sport of board track racing and solidify its image as a respectable brand. Indian has its own image problem when Mexican rebel leader Pancho Villa starts leading charges on a Powerplus model. But when the U.S. sends General Blackjack Pershing to hunt Villa down, Pershing’s troops are riding Harleys. But World War I proves a decisive turning point as both companies fight their way closer to the top of the motorcycle world.

By the late 1940s, Harley-Davidson has become America’s leading motorcycle manufacturer. The family-owned Milwaukee brand has battled hundreds of companies since its first bike rolled out of a backyard shack in 1903. Now they’re facing the birth of the outlaw bikers, disenfranchised WWII vets who love their Harleys—and love to cause trouble. It’s an association that conservative Harley owners can’t stand.And fierce competition is coming in from British bike makers. Triumph is churning out lightweight, sporty machines that are the polar opposite of Harley’s heavy hogs, and everyone is vying for a piece of the lucrative U.S. market. Things get so cutthroat that Harley-Davidson appeals to the government. It’s an appeal that will not have happy results for the Milwaukee contingent. And the problems are just beginning.Support us by supporting our sponsors!

With all the hype around portable and smart speakers, it’s easy to forget that they didn’t always exist. In fact, it took one fateful meeting with Monster Cables and Interscope Records to really kick the industry off. In this one-episode Business Battle, we explore the time when headphones became fashion, what it takes to get people to shell out $350 for a pair, and what happens when a million dollar mistake becomes a billion dollar mistake.  Support us by supporting our sponsors!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Or is it? While that phrase sounds scientifically and nutritionally sound, it’s origins can be traced back to cereal company marketing departments. We conclude our series on the cereal wars with Alex Mayyasi, editor of Gastro Obscura. Alex has traced the origins of breakfast as a meal and how cereal marketing came to be so aggressive.Support us by supporting our sponsors!

It’s the year 2000 and, for the first time in almost a century, Kellogg’s is no longer America's top cereal maker. Now a new CEO is in the driving seat, and he’s on a mission to win back the cereal crown from General Mills.But even as the two rivals slug it out for number one, they’re both facing a new reality: a market that’s losing its appetite for cereals as people abandon their breakfast bowls for grab-and-go morning meals of granola bars, bagels and Egg McMuffins.

It’s the 1980s and General Mills is making waves with a new cereal based on the world’s hottest video game: Pac-Man. But Kellogg’s is hoping to cash in on a different trend: the growing clamour among adults for healthier breakfasts.So it’s plotting a taboo-busting ad campaign that will rewrite the rules of cereal promotion and spark an all-out battle among the cereal makers to win over the health conscious. Support us by supporting our sponsors!

It’s the late 1950s and General Mills is playing catch-up. While Kellogg’s and Post are thriving on the back of animated characters and sugary cereals, General Mills’ cereals are looking stale. So now the Cheerios maker is on a mission to create its own roster of cartoon heroes who can charm children into demanding its cereals.As General Mills fights back, Post is looking to the stars. It's planning a direct attack on Kellogg’s best-selling cereal with help from the space race.But after years of selling sugary cereal with loveable characters, the cereal giants are about to face a backlash on Capitol Hill.

World War II is in the rearview mirror, and breakfast cereal is on the brink of a new calorific era. Post Cereals decides to break from its healthful past and start sugar coating its cereals. It’s a move that leaves Kellogg’s and General Mills in a quandary: should they follow Post’s lead or stick to their nutritional traditions?But sugary cereal isn’t the only new challenge the cereal giants are wrestling with. A new, exciting medium called television is taking off fast and changing the rules of cereal promotion. And this TV and sugar boom is going to put children at the heart of the cereal business.Support us by supporting our sponsors!Zoom - Visit Zoom online, set up a FREE account, and try the most affordable and most reliable video communications solution on the market.

It’s 1904 and Quaker Oats is about to make an, ahem, explosive entry into the cold cereal business. With the Kellogg brothers at risk of being left behind, Will Kellogg finally decides it’s time to stand up to his brother. He cuts ties and brings the original corn flakes to market — aided by some shrewd advertising and an army of housewives — but sets off a legal battle that pits brother against brother. But there’s about to be another entrant to the cereal business. General Mills is an upstart out of Minneapolis with an idea for a new cereal that will help the company stand out from the competition. The donut-shaped oat puffs even have a catchy name: Cheerioats. Support us by supporting our sponsors!

It’s the late 1800s and America is in the grip of a bellyache epidemic. But, thanks to a divine revelation, help is on the way in the form of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and his sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. In his quest to calm the nation’s bowels, Dr. Kellogg is feeding his patients a new kind of breakfast: ready-to-eat cereal.But when he refuses to exploit the full profit potential of his creations, one of his former patients seizes the opportunity to become a breakfast millionaire — much to the frustration of Dr. Kellogg’s long-suffering younger brother Will.Support us by supporting our sponsors!

Ian S. Port, author of The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll joins us to talk about the future of the electric guitar as music creation becomes increasingly digital.

In the '90s and 2000s, new ownership has revitalized both Fender and Gibson and rekindled their rivalry. Through acquisitions, artist endorsements and their rapidly expanding custom shops, both brands are in a heated battle to win the hearts and minds of guitar lovers worldwide.     Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz doesn't want to just dominate the electric guitar market. He wants to reinvent it. And with guitar sales declining, he goes all-in on new technology that will either revitalize Gibson — or sink it.Support us by supporting our sponsors!

It's the early 1980s, and for the first time in 30 years, the U.S. guitar market has gone cold. Bands are switching to synthesizers and kids are ditching their garage bands for computers and video games.A group of employees has bought the Fender brand but not its factory. Now they need to find a place to keep making guitars — fast. And Gibson has new owners, too — who bring plenty of rock 'n' roll attitude to the job, but little experience. Can these new stewards of guitar's most hallowed brands save their companies from the scrap heap?  Support us by supporting our sponsors!

 In the 1960s, rock'n roll's popularity continues to grow. But one of the genre's most popular guitars, the Les Paul, is no longer being made. Now the guitar's namesake must convince an out-of-touch Gibson to put the favorite guitar of Eric Clapton and Keith Richards back into production.Meanwhile, Gibson's rival Fender has a new parent company: CBS. Thanks to their deep corporate pockets, Fender is manufacturing and selling more guitars than ever. To keep pace, Gibson also finds a new corporate owner. But in their race for market dominance, are both guitar companies sacrificing quality for quantity? Support us by supporting our sponsors!

Gibson's Les Paul sets a new standard for the solid-body electric guitar, and rival guitar maker Fender needs to respond. The company does so in 1954 with a sleek, futuristic guitar unlike anything else on the market: the Stratocaster. It's a hit.With their higher volume and heavier tones, the Les Paul and Stratocaster help give rise to a new style of music: rock 'n' roll. It opens up a whole new market for electric guitars -- but which company will dominate?   Support us by supporting our sponsors!

It's 1950, and Fender's first solid-body guitar, the Esquire, is the laughingstock of the music industry. To guitar makers used to elegantly made hollow-body guitars, Fender's thin, simple plank of solid wood is a joke. But its bright, powerful sound and lack of feedback make it a hit with guitar players.Gibson's ambitious young president, Ted McCarty, knows his company has to counter with a solid-body electric guitar of its own. To market the instrument, Gibson will turn to the most famous electric guitarist in the world, a man who happens to be an old friend of Leo Fender's — Les Paul.Support us by supporting our sponsors!

In the 1930s and ’40s the market for electric guitars is growing, but it’s hindered by the instruments’ flawed designs. But a small group of mavericks is rethinking the guitar for the electronic age.One of them, guitarist Les Paul, tries unsuccessfully to convince one of America's oldest guitar companies, Gibson, to mass-produce his "Log" — one of the first solid-body electric guitars. Gibson turns him down flat. But when a radio repairman turned inventor named Leo Fender sees Paul's Log, he's inspired to attempt his own version of a solid-body electric — and his creation will go on to forever change the way guitars are made.Support us by supporting our sponsors!

It’s a new century and the beer industry is changing fast. Beyond America, new brewery empires are forming and they want to buy their way into the lucrative U.S. market.And Miller is the first to fall, bought out by a South African company that wants to pull the Milwaukee brewery out of the doldrums.But Anheuser-Busch isn’t worried. It’s the biggest brewer on the planet by some margin. But the king of beers is about to discover that its throne isn’t as secure as it thinks.Support us by supporting our sponsors!