Target, Inc. announced on Friday that its June “Pride Month” merchandise would only be available at “select stores.”
“We’re offering a collection of products including adult apparel and home and food and beverage items, curated based on consumer feedback,” Target said on its website Thursday. “The collection will be available on Target.com and in select stores, based on historical sales performance.”
The “adult apparel” includes women’s swimwear with a place to “tuck” a male’s “package.”
“Thoughtfully fit on multiple body types and gender expressions,” Target described the swimwear.
That proved to be a tuck too far for many of Target’s Middle America customers. The backlash was intense.
“No real woman would be caught dead in that swimsuit, it’s hideous. It’s exactly what a dude pretending to be a woman would wear,” Comedian Chrissie Mayr told Fox News Digital at the time the apparel was unveiled. “The only thing I’ll be tucking is my money back into my wallet and shopping elsewhere. What an obnoxious virtue signal from Target. And it’s not even June yet.”
Thanks to @Target I found the perfect swimsuit for creeping out all the women and children at the pool this summer.
Can’t wait to tuck my c**k into this little number while sipping a Bud Light! pic.twitter.com/sGD1fc74P9
— Chrissie Mayr🇺🇸 (@ChrissieMayr) May 16, 2023
The mention of Bud Light is apropos. As Matt Margolis mentioned in his article updating the fact that the beer brand’s sales are still plummeting, “The lesson in all of this is that while liberals have long been the gatekeepers of popular culture, conservatives still have the power to cause a cultural transformation.”
Target has had June Pride Month displays with rainbow and LGBTQ+ messaging for years, but the addition of products such as female-style swimsuits that can be used to “tuck” male genitalia outraged many consumers in the spring of 2023. The backlash was so severe that an insider told Fox News Digital at the time that some stores were told to relocate their Pride Month displays to avoid sparking a “Bud Light situation.”
“Target is likely to stock the products in about half of its nearly 2,000 stores in the US, people familiar with the matter said, declining to be identified discussing private information,” Bloomberg reported Thursday. “The company has typically sold the Pride assortment in all of its stores in recent years.”
Target wants to make money. It was doing just fine selling rainbow-themed clothing to show its solidarity with LGBTQ people. And if they want to allow their employees to march in Pride parades and festoon their stores with rainbow flags, it’s no big deal.
But jumping on the transgender bandwagon cost them not only money, but the goodwill they’ve built up over several generations in Middle America.
For Target, the upcoming Pride Month is crucial. Last year’s pushback, along with softer demand for discretionary products, contributed to a persistent decline in sales. Comparable sales remain underwater, though the company has said it expects them to return to growth in the second quarter.
Target previously said it has featured a Pride assortment for more than a decade and that Pride Month is an important heritage moment it will continue to support. Executives said last year that they want the assortment to resonate broadly and that the reaction served as a signal for them to learn.
Target forgot the number one rule in business; know your customer.