Print 
PDF
Target is learning that what a man sows, he reaps.
They are also learning that Americans are not nearly as enthused about the LGBTQIA+ movement as Target has been.
This is a lesson the "Bud Light" people learned a few weeks ago and are still trying to recover from.
Panic calls from the corporate office went out to Target stores Friday and over the weekend, telling employees to "deal" with the massive LGBTQIA+ displays.
Here's what happened.
Be informed, not misled.
As you know---we wrote about it Monday--- many Target locations nationwide feature massive June Pride month displays. This year Target even included articles of clothing ranging from "tuck friendly" bathing suits for transgender people to mugs that say "gender fluid."
But Target's obvious "targeting" of young children pushed many customers over the edge.
The public push-back has been such that Target corporate offices went into panic mode Friday evening and over the weekend.
A Target insider told Fox News there were "emergency" calls on Friday and that some managers and district senior directors were told to tamp down the Pride sections immediately.
"We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that’s a third the size. From the front of the store to the back of the store, you can’t have anything on mannequins and no large signage," the Target insider said.
"We call our customers ‘guests,’ there is an outrage on their part. This year, it is just exponentially more than any other year," the Target insider continued. "I think given the current situation with Bud Light, the company is terrified of a Bud Light situation."
The insider, who has worked at the retailer for almost twenty years, said Target rarely makes such hasty decisions. They said Friday’s call began with roughly 10 minutes on "how to deal with team member safety" because of the amount of backlash the Pride merchandise has generated, noting that Target Asset Protect & Corporate Security teams were present on the call.
Clearly, Target is out of touch. It isn't the people objecting to pushing perversion at 5-year-olds that are burning, looting, breaking things, and hurting people. They should know that.
"The call was super quick, it was 15 minutes. The first 10 minutes was about how to keep your team safe and not having to advocate for Target. The last five was, ‘Move this to the back, take down the mannequins and remove the signage,’" the insider said, noting that bathing suits have replaced Pride merchandise in front-of-store displays despite Pride month not even starting until June 1.
"It’s all under the guise of trying to increase swim sales," the insider said. "Everyone was like, ‘Thank God,’ because we’re all on the front lines dealing with it."
Fox says, "Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
Fox also noted that many of the most upset customers, or "guests" as Target calls them, were in the South.
Fox notes that Bethany Mandel, a conservative pundit and author, tweeted, "Bud Light learned an important lesson about wading into the culture wars recently. But partnering with Dylan Mulvaney is nothing compared to what Target is doing."
Consequences.
Bank analysts downgraded the stock to "hold" status, which means investors should neither sell nor purchase the stock, CNBC reported.
In a note, HSBC analyst Carlos Laboy, managing director for the global beverage sector at the bank, justified the downgrade by questioning the ability of Anheuser-Busch InBev executives to understand their consumer base.
Is ABI's leadership getting the brand culture transformation right? It's mixed. At Ambev, we think the answer is 'yes;' in the US, we think it's 'no,'" Laboy wrote. "The way this Bud Light crisis came about a month ago, management’s response to it, and the loss of unprecedented volume and brand relevance raise many questions.
He further explained:
Why did its US leadership underestimate the risk of pushback given the recent experience of other firms? Is A-B hiring the best people to grow the brands and gauge risk? If Budweiser and Bud Light are iconic American ideas that have long brought consumers together, why did these marketers fail to invite new consumers without alienating the core base of the firm’s largest brand?
Anheuser-Busch is facing a host of problems in the U.S.
Not only are Bud Light sales tanking — and even spilling over to other popular Anheuser-Busch brands — while competitors Coors Light and Miller Light benefit, but Anheuser-Busch is facing pressure from the LGBT community to support LGBT causes.
But Anheuser-Busch InBev executives are trying to distance their company from the controversy.
Takeaway
Time will tell where this leads.
I personally believe America is getting sick and tired of being forced to say things we don't believe, stand for things we do not stand for, and accept things that are not acceptable.
The Bible says in Galatians 6:7-8: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
This is an eternal principle. Certainly, it applies to individuals, but it also applies to corporations run by people.
This current culture is mocking God. Don't be deceived. God is not mocked.
America's greatness is not found in our culture, industry, or wealth.
The French historian Alexis de Tocqueville toured America in the 1800s to discover the fountain of America's greatness.
He concluded:
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there. . . . .in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Bold. Be Engaged. Be Faithful. Be Prayerful.