Retail Giant Blames Sales Sink On Backlash Against ‘Gender-Fluid’ Branding
by Abdul Aziz Mondal Business 17 August 2023
The retail giant Target has put the blame on its sales sink against its “gender fluid” branding.
Target has registered a drop of 5% in its sales to $24.8 billion.
The drop apparently is the first decline in six years for the Minneapolis-based retail giant.
Target has faced a major backlash over its LGBT+ product range that it released to highlight Pride.
The conservative commentators had led a crusade against the retail giant after the products that ranged from gender fluid mugs to “queer all year” calendars and a children’s book that was titled as “I’m Not a Girl” were put up on the shelves.
Eventually, Target had to remove some of its products from the 2,000-strong Pride collection.
Upon being asked, the retailer said that the safety of the staff was the key reason behind this decision.
Target had confirmed that there had been an increase in the customer-employee confrontations, and some of the displayers were even left damaged.
Company bigwigs, however, could not directly confirm how much the Pride-related boycotts have impacted on its sales.
However, trading has improved in July following the Pride celebrations in June.
Brian Cornell, the Chief Executive at Target, has said that they had quite a lot to learn from the backlash.
Target has now pledged to be more cautious about its products during the “heritage” months.
“We’ll continue to celebrate Pride and other heritage moments, which are just one part of our commitment to support diverse teams and guests,” he said. “However, as we navigate an ever changing operating and social environment, we’re applying what we’ve learned to ensure we’re staying close to our guests and their expectations of Target.”
The comments of Target came after Skittles was at the risk of facing a potential boycott after it had been accused of producing “woke” LBGT+ packaging. Bud Light also had to face similar consequences for closing a deal with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
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