The Outlaw archetype is about destroying what is not working and tackling out-of-date laws. There’s a lot I like about this archetype. It’s the one that dares to stand alone, to challenge and to fight for change despite high stakes and great risk. It’s confident, determined and unconcerned about popularity. Let’s face it, America would have never come into existence without those original ‘Outlaws’ who were determined to declare their independence from the oppressive rules that governed their lives.
When it comes to how America has been defined by this archetype, of course there’s the obvious ones like Jesse James, the fictional Jose Wales and brands like Harley Davidson, but I think we can best grasp the significance and importance of this archetype when we consider these sorts of American Outlaws:
- Abraham Lincoln – for recognizing slavery wasn’t working and abolishing it.
- Martin Luther King Jr – for tackling the out-of-date laws of segregation.
- MTV – for declaring that 24/7 access to music need not be confined to radio.
- Apple (when introduced) – for thinking different, for proclaiming they were for the crazy ones and the misfits. They even accentuated their ‘outlaw’-style by stamping their products with a logo that took a bite out of the forbidden fruit.
- Michael Moore – for controversially exposing the corruption that pervades the health care industry and the fear that causes Americans to kill each other.
- Amendments to the US Constitution – within just a few years of the US Constitution being written, it was felt some changes were needed and so ‘amendments’ were made. Yet, 225 years on we seem afraid to tackle some barbarically out-of-date laws. At least some brave souls back in 1933 rallied to overturn Amendment 18 on Prohibition!
Perhaps America is due for a new breed of Outlaw to destroy the uncivilized division and hatred that’s characterizing it of late. Some new laws in line with a modern way of life could well be in order.
What makes America an Outlaw brand to you?
