Target in a panic over LGBTQ merchandise outraging customers -reports

You'd think Target would have learned its lesson.

Back in 2006, I wrote an editorial at Investor's Business Daily criticizing its wokester Che Guevara merchandise selection, prompting the company to pull the merchandise nationally.

The Reuters photo of what happened is here.

If that wasn't enough for them, and the old corporate memory is gone, there are numerous cases of "go woke, go broke" among other corporations that tried to foist woke merchandise on the public, culminating in the Bud Light fiasco, which could have reminded them.

Or, they could have checked out what was left on the Target clearance shelves of Christmas merchandise marked down 90% and still not selling -- as my photo of the leftover gift wrap on Target Kearny Mesa in San Diego's store shelves shows:

Image: Monica Showalter

But noooo. They've learned nothing.

Now they're in a panic.

According to Fox News:

A Target insider said there were "emergency" calls on Friday and that some managers and district senior directors were told to tamp down the Pride sections immediately.
"We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that’s a third the size. From the front of the store to the back of the store, you can’t have anything on mannequins and no large signage," the Target insider said.
"We call our customers ‘guests,’ there is outrage on their part. This year, it is just exponentially more than any other year," the Target insider continued. "I think given the current situation with Bud Light, the company is terrified of a Bud Light situation."
The insider, who has worked at the retailer for almost two decades, said Target rarely makes such hasty decisions.

Target CEO says woke capitalism ‘great’ for their brand and ‘the right thing for society’
Fox News ^ | May 23, 2023 | Yael Halon
Posted on 5/23/2023, 3:25:24 PM by McGruff

Target’s CEO said in a recent interview that “woke” capitalism is “great” for their brand and “the right thing for society,” but with the corporation’s image and bottom line at stake, the retail chain seems to have changed its tune.

Target CEO Brian Cornell made the comment during an interview on Fortune’s “Leadership Next” podcast on May 17, days before the retail chain became the target of outrage from customers and online backlash over its June Pride month collection this year, which includes “tuck friendly” women’s bathing suits for transgender people, “gender fluid” mugs, and LGBTQ rainbow-themed clothing for children.

...

The reaction seemingly worried Target management, who took “emergency” action Friday directing some managers and district senior directors to tamp down the Pride sections in their stores over fears of re-creating a “Bud Light situation,” Fox News Digital first reported Tuesday, citing a Target insider.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com …
https://www.foxnews.com/media/target-ceo-woke-capitalism-great-brand-right-thing-society

https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/lMz4b09IMCo_v8_cvobW5rTb4Aqp4ROa1LXyRH6bt0lMDIUp24h1lM21IA6Y3_d5vXGrNlMeFSxQBlScRX3VZ4LyVE-LGytZsbMNrQfEGaFhiEp5P2Y=s0-d-e1-ft#https://media.notthebee.com/articles/646ce02a94af5646ce02a94af7.jpg

Gavin Newsom warns of nationwide ‘systematic attack’ on LGBTQ groups after Target limits ‘Pride’ collection:

https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/gavin-newsom-warns-nationwide-systematic-attack-lgbtq-groups-target-limits-pride-collection

Target removed some products designed by a Satanist LGBT fashion group!

Now they're pulling merchandise, according to Reuters:

NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - Target, which rolled out its Pride Collection at the start of May, is pulling some products from its stores after facing customer backlash, saying it was acting to protect employee safety, the company told Reuters on Tuesday.
Target Corp (TGT.N) is offering more than 2,000 products, including clothing, books, music and home furnishings as part of its Pride Collection. The items include "gender fluid" mugs, "queer all year" calendars and books for children aged 2-8 titled "Bye Bye, Binary," "Pride 1,2,3" and "I'm not a girl."
"Since introducing this year's collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and wellbeing while at work," Target said in a statement.
"Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior," the Minneapolis-based retailer said.

Fact is, not everyone wants woke merchandise and many don't want what they perceive as the gay agenda constantly pushed in their faces, as if the group merits special treatment. While gay-themed merchandise has been around for years and is eminently recognizable as a result, (with no problems, actually), there seems to be a reaction against continuously putting it front and center, seemingly all the time. Meanwhile, other customers are against the transgender agenda, given the recent mass shooting in Tennessee, the issues surrounding women's right to privacy, and the end of women's competitive sports.

Now that customers have learned the power of their boycott, in the case of Bud Light, which featured an ad by a transgender activist whose schtick is mocking women as flimsy 1950s-style ditzes, customers very well may be ready to act again to send the same message to Target, and Target now knows it.

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