Target’s stock value drops $6B due to ‘Pride’ collection backlash.

Target Faces Backlash Over Designer’s Satanic Imagery

Retail giant Target has seen a $6 billion decrease in market capitalization following consumer backlash over a designer featured in the company’s recent “Pride Month” collection who appears to have created products with Satanic imagery.

The artist, Abprallen, designed a mini messenger bag with the slogan “We Belong Everywhere,” a tote bag with the phrase “Too Queer For Here,” and a sweatshirt emblazoned with “Cure Transphobia, Not Trans People” for the nationwide retailer. Other products featured on the artist’s website, which were not sold by Target, included a T-shirt with the phrase “Satan Respects Pronouns” and a design of a skeleton draped in rainbow colors that said “Trans Witches For Abortion.”

Controversy and Backlash

The company’s stock price has declined from $152.28 on May 19, the day before activist Scarlett Johnson posted a thread showing that Target had hired the artist to design items for the store, to $139.39 on May 25, marking an 8.5% decrease over the course of a single week. The firm’s market capitalization fell from $70.4 billion to $64.4 billion over the same time period.

Target also provoked additional controversy with a female swimsuit marketed as “tuck-friendly” and “extra crotch coverage,” permitting men who call themselves women to wear the items. Beyond the swimsuit, which only came in adult sizes, Target unveiled products for kids and babies, such as onesies and small shirts with phrases like “Just Be You And Feel The Love,” as well as rainbow-colored leggings, tutu skirts, jumpers, and a variety of children’s books.

The company made calls to managers and senior directors last week amid the backlash, reportedly telling the employees to make their “Pride Month” displays less prominent for fear of provoking another “Bud Light situation,” a reference to the beer brand’s plummeting sales.

Target Responds

Target has since pulled the items designed by Abprallen as a result of the backlash. “Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” the firm 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.”

Target now seems to have alienated those on both ends of the political spectrum, with owners of gay bars threatening to launch boycotts after the firm issued a lackluster attempt to back away from Mulvaney and appease conservatives.

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