Well, this is fascinating. Earlier today I was reading about how the Target CEO was saying that going all-in on transgender ideology was good for business.
He seemed to be bragging, and implicitly insulting customers who were offended by their partnering with a for-real SATANIST to market transgender ideology.
Target’s top executive dismissed the social media uproar over the retailer’s new line of LGBTQ-friendly kids clothing, saying that marketing the products are good for business and “the right thing for society.”
Outraged shoppers posted videos and images on social media showing bathing suits that offer “extra crotch coverage” as well as rainbow-colored onesies for infants and children.
Other offerings that raised conservative hackles include T-shirts that say “Pride Adult Drag Queen ‘Katya,’” “Trans people will always exist!” and “Girls Gays Theys.”
On Fortune’s “Leadership Next” podcast last week, Target CEO Brian Cornell was asked about the backlash to “woke” capitalism, which has also engulfed iconic beer brand Bud Light as well as entertainment giant Disney.
“I think those are just good business decisions, and it’s the right thing for society, and it’s the great thing for our brand,” Cornell said.
What a moron.
Target CEO defends LGBTQ-friendly kids clothing amid boycott calls: 'The right thing for society' https://t.co/SWyL1OKI6G via @nypost
— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) May 23, 2023
As Beege wrote yesterday in her trademark snarky and hilarious style, customers weren’t as pleased as Brian Cornell to find “tuck-friendly” bathing suits being shoved at kids as they buy groceries and laundry detergent. It turns out that the plebs have a line they don’t like crossed, and that line is somewhere in front of their kids.
"This has been so hard to keep quiet but I can now proudlv announce that vou can buy Abprallen in US Targets!"
"So, naturally, Satan respects pronouns. He loves all LGBTQIA+ people."@target has some explaining to do🤷🏽♀️ pic.twitter.com/rbrLgdwb0O
— Scarlett Johnson (@scarlett4kids) May 21, 2023
Who could have guessed that Satan worshipping doesn’t sell in Peoria? I mean, come on! Cracking open a Bud Light and watching a Dodgers game while your kid draws a pentagram in his trans-friendly clothing sounds like a nice night. Maybe a little blood sacrifice while wearing a Nun drag outfit while crucifying a friend for sexual pleasure later, once the kiddies go to bed!
“Being called a demon is something I can cope with, and the idea of a trans demon is pretty damn cool, most of my work focusses [sic] on gothic or dark and satanic imagery juxtaposed with bright colours and LGBT+ positive messages,” Erik wrote on [Target’s] Instagram last year.
The designer claims that the brand was approached by Target for the collaboration while also acknowledging that the designs have already made “transphobes infuriated with me.”
“I wanted to ensure that any young people who saw Abprallen in Target would know that who they are is beautiful, purposeful, and worth expressing,” Erik wrote in a statement.
“I imagined what it would be like for a younger version of myself to see something more specific, more tailor made than a lacklustre rainbow flag. I wanted to create a range that would embrace younger me and tell him that who he is is more than OK, that being trans is special and wonderful and that the closet is not made for him to thrive in.”
Target approached a Satanist to do a clothing line for them and allowed him to actually say that his work was Satanic in their own social media.
Yes. You read that correctly. Target allowed a designer to hijack their social media to promote Satanism. For real.
Surprisingly, it turns out that Cornell may have misjudged the reaction to the Minneapolis-based corporation’s [detect a Minnesota theme here yet? Pedophile central!] decision to promote actual Satanism.
No, it turns out that promoting the sterilization and mutilation of kids is not as business-friendly as he assumed. In fact, people were a bit pissed, and the Target employees heard a bit about it.
No woman needs to tuck anything. We have vaginas & we are the only ones who do. Oh and we don’t need our kids seeing this sh&% when we walk down the aisle at Target. https://t.co/7cvvG0PVYb
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) May 20, 2023
At first, the rumors spread that Target stores in the Red states, particularly in the Southern US were rejiggering things to hide the most offensive products. Initially, they were shoved in everybody’s face as they entered the store, but the backlash led to an effort to damage control where the damage was getting to be severe.
“Emergency” meetings were called, instructions to move products went out, and dark warnings about roving bands of Republicans with blood on their minds were put out to suggest that the problem Target faced was MAGA fanatics who just don’t get into the spirit of celebrating diversity.
Here is a remake of the Target logo that says what they’re doing. pic.twitter.com/v0EudUuxyX
— Hoop (@xhoop) May 23, 2023
Surprisingly, the Target CEO didn’t start calling his customers Nazis, although I was expecting it. That usually is the next step in the line of escalating rhetoric. Maybe plant a swastika on a mom and photograph her with it.
But no, it turns out that not everybody who objects to actual Satanists dreaming of sterilizing and mutilating children falls into the category of Nazis. The category of such people actually includes an awful lot of people who shop at Target and think that maybe bathing suits designed to encourage boys to “tuck” their penises between their legs like Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs is not especially great.
— OdinsMen (@men_odins) May 24, 2023
As the backlash increased, Target stopped doing backflips about their marketing genius and started doing backtracks trying to stem the flow of money out of their pockets.
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.
Notice how they are blaming their customers, still? They are claiming that bigots are scaring their “team members,” and that this is purely a decision based upon ensuring the safety of their employees. I wouldn’t blame a parent for getting upset at a Target employee for shoving this crap in kids’ faces, but they aren’t the problem.
Corporate is. And that is where the outraged moms directed their ire.
I have seen the videos of outraged moms. They aren’t hitting anybody or screaming; they are merely making TikToks of the offensive propaganda being shoved at kids. Just the other day the self-same Target CEO explained that he didn’t want to close stores because of ACTUAL CRIME because he wanted to serve the community.
Target is selling Tucking and Binding transgender clothing for toddlers 👶🏻pic.twitter.com/xWjWF7D2wa
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 23, 2023
Crime is OK. Moms filming their reaction to “tuck-friendly” bathing suits? Batten the hatches!
While various Pride Collection products are under review, the only ones now being removed are the LGBTQ brand Abprallen, which has come under scrutiny for its association with British designer Eric Carnell.
Carnell has faced social media backlash for designing merchandise with images of pentagrams, horned skulls and other Satanic products.
A search for Abprallen merchandise on Target.com on Tuesday showed “0” results.
Screenshots and posts on social media show that Target previously sold a $25 slogan sweater with the words “cure transphobia not trans people” and an $18 “too queer for here” tote bag.
All this just goes to show how very out of touch with average people the corporate and cultural elite truly are. Target’s CEO literally believed that partnering with a declared Satanist was a good idea and good for business. It’s not that the company didn’t know. The man posted on Target’s own Instagram page that he was pushing Satanic imagery, and Target approached him in the first place to do the partnership, when almost all his work was explicitly Satanic.
The only reason this controversy blew up was that some moms spoke up and used social media to expose the evil. People like me, or even the big guys in the culture battle like Matt Walsh or Christopher Rufo can’t be everywhere all the time. It is average people who do the real work bringing all this to light, and those of us in the media are actually just giving them a megaphone to get the word out. I salute each and every one of these soldiers in the culture war who are actually in the trenches.
It is fascinating to me that two stories about Satanists have popped up in just two days. The LA Dodgers celebrating the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and now Target’s partnership with Eric Carnell.
L.A.’s Major League Baseball is inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, drag street performance group to accept a “community hero award” on the field of Dodger Stadium at LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16.
This is one of their performance. pic.twitter.com/XvnR9BtAkc— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) May 24, 2023
I have always scoffed at the idea of Satanism, and until recently only used the words “Satanic” or “demonic” ironically or as hyperbole.
But apparently, there really are Satanists, and also apparently major American corporations are partnering with Satanic people who openly promote themselves as demonic.
As has always been the case, my worst fears were too optimistic compared to reality.
Drag group who mock Christianity have been reinvited to the LA Dodgers Pride Night after previously being uninvited for causing offense to Catholics. ⚾️✝️
After a backlash from LGBTQI2S+ activists for rescinding the invite, Dodgers released a statement apologizing and inviting… pic.twitter.com/PnALnlbZPU
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 24, 2023
By now it is clear that the problem is not specific to any one or a few corporations. If Target and Budweiser–two of the most milquetoast corporations in America–are pushing the most extreme social agendas, who exactly isn’t?
Our cultural Elite is profoundly sick. If you are under the illusion that it can’t be that bad, know that it is an illusion. It really IS that bad.
States are normalizing pedophilia; corporations and the government are pushing radical agendas; abortion until birth, sterilizing and mutilating children, and murdering poor and depressed people are becoming official state policies. Public schools are indoctrinating children.
The list is endless.
When the Democrats said their goal was to fundamentally transform America, people seemed to think that meant a bit more money in welfare programs.
Uh, no. It means the destruction of all that is right and true and good.
The people who run America hate you. What are you going to do about it? Fight with fellow conservatives, or turn your anger at the real enemy?
UPDATE: Gavin Newsom is attacking Target for “selling out” to conservative pressure. Welcome to the Bud Light/LA Dodgers world, Target!
Gavin Newsom Blasts Target CEO For ‘Selling Out’ LGBTQ Community After Retailer Pulls Trans-Themed Merchandise https://t.co/OEji6EJKlI
— David Strom (@DavidStrom) May 24, 2023
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