Conservatives have launched a boycott against Target after the retail behemoth marketed a female swimsuit as “tuck-friendly” and with “extra crotch coverage,” as well as hired an artist who formerly created Satanic items to make various designs for the company. Cornell was asked in a May 16 episode of Fortune’s “Leadership Next” podcast about how his firm has responded to “pushback” against “woke capitalism,” prompting the executive to tout various corporate diversity efforts at Target.

“I can see the benefits for our shareholders. I know that focus on diversity, inclusion, and equity has fueled much of our growth over the last nine years,” he commented. “It’s adding value, it’s helping us drive sales, it’s building greater engagement with both our teams and our guests, and those are just the right things for our business today.”

Target shareholders have nevertheless suffered in recent days as a result of backlash over the diversity efforts. Target’s market capitalization, which refers to the total value of a publicly traded company’s outstanding shares, has indeed fallen from $70.4 billion to $63.9 billion over the past week as consumers react strongly to the controversy.

[It worked as long as it flew under the radar. Partnering with a satanist for woke content put an end to that strategy. — Ed]