A kitchen spatula emblazoned with the words "Spread the Love."
A pint glass exclaiming "Cheers Queers."
A collapsible rainbow-print dog water bowl. Rainbow-print socks. Rainbow tees. (Rainbow-print everything, really.)
Those are just a few of Target's Pride-themed offerings on its website, the kind of chintzy fast-fashion products the company has been rolling out every spring for the better part of a decade to goose sales around the month of June.
But this week, Target said it would pull some Pride items — it didn't specify which ones — from its shelves in response to threats from far-right figures on social media who called the gender- and sexuality-inclusive merch "Satanic propaganda." Citing concerns for employees' safety, the company said it removed "items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior."
The company told the Wall Street Journal that people have confronted workers in stores, knocked down Pride merchandise displays and put threatening posts on social media.
Naturally, Target's decision didn't sit well with LGBTQ advocates. And even corporate marketing experts say the company's response risks emboldening these people to go after other brands. Target, one of the biggest retailers in the United States, could have given other solutions, such as beefing up store security, before culling the products, my colleague Nathaniel Meyerson writes.
"It does seem like you're caving in to a bully," said Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communication at Dartmouth University's Tuck School of Business. "It sets a dangerous precedent."
I didn't reach out to the right-wing trolls spewing hate about gay and trans people for comment, but I'm fairly certain Target's decision to remove a handful trinkets wasn't exactly a slam dunk in their world, either.
BIG PICTURE
Over the past few years, Corporate America been trying to figure how much it's worth for companies to stick their necks out on political issues. In 2020, catalyzed by the murder of George Floyd, brands couldn't move fast enough tout their commitment to racial justice. Corporate diversity, equity and inclusion teams grew their ranks. An ethos — what some might see as progressive politics and others might call basic human rights — seemed to have taken root, marking a shift away from how businesses had traditionally steered clear of politics and social justice.
Now, it seems, the pendulum is swinging back.
Just last month, Anheuser-Busch apologized after a sponsorship deal with a transgender influencer led to a boycott of Bud Light. In March, Walgreens almost immediately reversed a decision to sell federally approved abortion medication in its stores, bowing to pressure from Republican lawmakers. Adidas dropped its lucrative partnership with Kanye West after he made antisemitic and racist comments, but when the value of its Yeezy-branded inventory shot up in value as a result, the company decided to sell the products after all (though it said it would donate a "significant amount" of the proceeds to organizations fighting antisemitism and racism.)
Target's Pride response — removing a few items while issuing statements in support of LGBTQ people — is attempting to placate both sides while protecting its bottom line. But the murky messaging manages to please no one.
"It's always been best practice in my view for brands to stay away from super controversial issues that are not directly related to their business," said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "The problem is that today there are many issues that are controversial."
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