Target’s sales have dropped sharply following its bizarre “Pride” promotion of men’s women’s swimsuits, children’s grooming books, and the like. How Target went down the woke path will be studied by future generations of MBA students as a lesson in what to avoid. It remains to be seen whether Target’s sales decline will be long-lasting, but for now the situation is only getting worse.
Yesterday, this performance of “Boycott Target” by a rapper called Forgiato Blow (real name, Kurt Jantz) knocked Taylor Swift out of the #1 spot on iTunes:
For a woke company like Target, this must hurt much worse than being denounced by unfashionable Christians and conservative pundits.
But the company is taking it from both directions. It removed a few of the most offensive items from its inventory–I assume they are no longer selling women’s swimsuits built for men–but the “Pride” displays will continue for another month. Nevertheless, that meager retreat was anathema to leftists. In Minnesota, where Target is headquartered, Democratic politicians lashed out against one of the state’s biggest companies:
Several DFL politicians in Minnesota criticized Target for “giving in” to an “anti-LGBTQ hate movement” after the retail giant removed some Pride items from its stores.
“I’m pissed they removed some of their Pride merch,” said Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, calling the development “a reflection of how damn dangerous these white Christian nationalists and far-right groups have gotten.”
That woman, by the way, is *my* state senator. I’ve always wondered what a “white Christian nationalist” is, and now I know: someone who objects to grooming small children on behalf of gay predators. If you think that overstates the case, bear in mind that in the session just ended, Ms. Quade voted to make pedophiles a protected class under Minnesota’s Civil Rights Act.
She is not alone in her LGBTQ+ outrage:
“I want to say that I’m disappointed & disgusted with Target’s decision to remove Pride Merchandise,” said Jason Chavez, a member of the Minneapolis City Council. “You can’t use our community to make profits and then dump us when you think we are a burden to your profits.”
Transgender Rep. Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, also decried Target’s decision, saying that “hatred has consequences beyond the control of those who started the fire.”
It goes on and on. How much has Target actually backtracked? It has gone so far as to sever its ties with a Satanist designer. Seriously. Those “white Christian nationalists and far-right groups” are to blame.
Someday, companies will learn that it is a good idea to stay out of politics. Part of the problem, I think, is that executives who earn tens of millions of dollars per year live in a bubble. They tend to lose touch with, and look down on, their customers. We see the results in the fiascos that have befallen Anheuser Busch, Target, and others.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.