Target Stocks Plummet, Pride Merchandise Pulled After Backlash And Threats

In a 'Bud Light-ish' move, Target released its new line of merchandise celebrating Pride month that included a wide variety of LGBTQ themed clothing but quickly faced backlash and threats. Then stocks plummet, and merchandise is pulled from shelves.

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Ever since Target released their new line of LGBTQ friendly merchandise ahead of June for Pride Month, there has been a firestorm of media attention surrounding their decision.

Much of the attention has been negative and people across the United States have taken to social media to voice their displeasure, which has quickly spread.

Since their launch of their Pride merchandise, stock prices have plummeted from a high of $160.96 on May 17th to $139.22 on May 25th, a drop of over 13%!

Target has since shifted its course to address the situation, including removing some items from the shelves. However, they did not specify which items were being removed as of yet. Leaders from the general home goods retail giant store cited threats and staff safety for their recent decisions.

Target Issues Press Release

In a statement by Target, they wrote: "Since introducing this year's collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and well-being while at work. 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."

Much of the backlash came from a specific line of "Satan-friendly" merchandise that sparked outrage, particularly from the conservative community. It was reported that Target did not design the Satan-friendly merchandise, but rather their partner, Abprallen (of the UK) did. The designer, Eric Carnell, has reportedly been working on the designs within the last year.

The collection of designs, found on sweatshirts, mugs, bags, and other items included captions like "cure transphobia not trans people," and "too queer for here."

But other captions referencing Satan garnered more attention, such as "Satan respects pronouns," and "homophobe headrest" with an image of guillotine.

But Carnell defended the decision to use Satan as the basis for his designs. "Satanists don’t actually believe in Satan, he is merely used as a symbol of passion, pride, and liberty. He means to you what you need him to mean. So for me, Satan is hope, compassion, equality, and love. So, naturally, Satan respects pronouns. He loves all LGBT+ people. I went with a variation of Baphomet for this design, a deity who themself is a mixture of genders, beings, ideas, and existences. They reject binary stereotypes and expectations. Perfect," he said.

Conservatives Speak Out

Popular conservative personalities have been standing up against Target's controversial merchandise.

Author, talk show host and political commentator Candace Owens took to Twitter and wrote, "I cannot state enough how important it is for people to choose not to shop at target. There has never been a company that has been more pro-transgenderism than Target. Shop anywhere else."

Candace Owens uses her platform to voice conservative views. Image from her IG page @realcandaceowens

James Carpenter posted an image of Twitter featuring the Target logo with the message, "Children are their target. Groom dogs, not kids."

Public speaker and investigative journalist Sarah Fields wrote, "Target has started to remove the child mutilation starter packs from their displays. Keep up the pressure." The Twitter post included an image of an emptied section of a Target store.

The pressure continues to mount as the stock continues to dip. Although Target has not yet made any additional strategic moves, they will likely make them in the coming days and weeks ahead to counter their Bud Light-ish decisions. In fact, Bud Light has recently announced they will triple their marketing budget to counter their enormous losses, but is it too late for both of them?

Only time will tell. Until then, continue referring to the Align Us platform to do your research to ensure you "Align your dollars with your values."

-Align Us

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Phillip blankenship
1 year ago

Go woke go broke

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Anonymous User
1 year ago

I boycotted target long ago when they first started allowing grown men in the ladies restrooms and changing rooms. I will never go back to them.

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