Companies thought they could get away with bending the knee to the woke mob.
But this turned out to be one of the most expensive miscalculations in history.
And Target went woke and just learned this expensive lesson.
Target’s sales plummeted 5.4% in the second quarter of 2023 and the retail chain’s $24.8 billion in total revenue was down 4.8% percent from last year.
These are not insignificant numbers.
Former Target Vice Chairman Gerald Storch told Fox News that at least 20% of Target’s decline was due to its Pride Month display where the company promoted girl’s bathing suits with a flap to cover the genitals of biological males.
“Your job is to meet the needs of your customers, not to pick a fight with anybody,” Storch stated “There’s no doubt that Target took a misstep with Pride Month.”
“It’s certainly impacted them. There’s no doubt about it,” Storch added. “But I would say it’s probably 20% of the [5% decline]. Not the main part of it.”
Storch added that 2023 is the year companies learned that it does not pay to pick political fights.
“We live in a very polarized society right now. And it’s very important for someone who’s a retailer who serves everyone that you do no harm,” Storch added.
Storch said it is especially dangerous for companies to virtue signal to the woke mob if their brand is associated with middle America and Red state customers.
“It’s not a question of right or wrong or good or bad. It’s saying, who’s my customer, and how do I meet the needs of my customer? They don’t want to deal with politics,” Storch continued.
Target got off comparatively easy.
While sales declining by nearly six percent and revenues falling almost five percent are nothing to sneeze at, the backlash against Target is nothing like the boycott Bud Light experienced.
Woke executives thought Bud Light could appeal to young Americans by signing a sponsorship deal with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Country music stars Kid Rock and Travis Tritt spearheaded a boycott that is still going on to this day.
Bud Light sales are so bad that retailers are eliminating shelf space for beer and Anheuser-Busch laid off 350 workers.
If a brand depends on Red state America as its customer base in 2023, then going woke is the quickest way to go broke.
Deplorable Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
