The retail giant Target said this week that it would reduce the profile of its ‘Pride Collection.’ The news came after the chain received considerable criticism from much of the general public after it was revealed it carried items from a Satanist designer.
The company said that it was going to scale back the collection to “Target.com and in select stores, based on historical sales performance.”
HUGE W!
Target will only sell Pride Month collection in some stores after backlash in 2023.
It's surprising that focusing on a small portion of the population didn't turn out to be profitable, isn't it? 😄 pic.twitter.com/OVT1JjD9D6
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) May 10, 2024
The company said that its business “thrives when we create experiences that foster a sense of belonging. That’s why we support and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round.”
The statement also appeared to state that Target would not sell ‘Pride Collection’ items marketed to children. Part of the backlash last year regarded the sale of such items as inappropriate for minors.
After Target withdrew some of its items last year, several of its stores received threats. The company stated that 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 company partnered with the British brand Abprallen for a number of items that many saw as offensive.
The Abprallen merchandise included material designed by designer Eric Carnell. The merchandise included items that read “Satan respects pronouns.”
Other Abprallen items included pins that state that “heteronormativity is a plague” and to “burn down the cis-tem.” The ‘cis’ in the statement referred to non-transgender people. Another item read “homophobe headrest” with a picture of a guillotine.
Carnell that said Satanists don’t believe in the devil, but that “he is merely used as a symbol of passion, pride and liberty. He means to you what you need him to mean. So for me, Satan is hope, compassion, equality and love.”
“So, naturally, Satan respects pronouns. He loves all LGBT+ people. I went with a variation of Baphomet for this design, a deity who themself is a mixture of genders, beings, ideas and existences,” Carnell added.
The merchandise led to a sharp consumer backlash and a decline in Target’s stock price.
