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From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune‘s Target Apologizes For Giving To Group Backing Emmer; CEO Gregg Steinhafel said he was “genuinely sorry” the $150,000 disappointed some workers as well as the public.:
Unable to extinguish a firestorm of protest among some of its customers and gay rights supporters, Target Corp. on Thursday took the unusual step of apologizing for making a political donation.CEO Gregg Steinhafel sent a message to company leaders saying he was “genuinely sorry” that the donation had disappointed some. The message was posted on the company’s Intranet, making it available to all employees.
Minneapolis-based Target had tried for days to emphasize that the $150,000 donation to MN Forward, a pro-business group backing Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, was based solely on a tax and jobs platform. But because of Emmer’s stance against gay marriage, many perceived the donation as flying in the face of Target’s longstanding commitment to workplace equality.
…”While I firmly believe that a business climate conducive to growth is critical to our future, I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry,” Steinhafel wrote.
The HRC had condemned the donation; a Facebook page supporting a boycott had reached nearly 50,000 members; MoveOn.org had began a campaign to gather 150,000 petition signatures calling for an apology. Target Corp. had do something dramatic to quell the gathering storm, and publicly apologizing for the Emmer donation appears have been that necessary something.
So for me, I feel comfortable buying hangers, vacuum cleaner bags, and other goods and services from Target again.
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Related:
* Avoiding Target When I Need New Hangers And Vacuum Cleaner Bags
31 Comments
It’s not *really* enoughLike HRC said, what they need to do is donate an equal amount to an equality-supporting candidate. Otherwise, it’s just words.
Apology doesn’t do it for me.
I respect your decision in that regard. For me, however, I need to see them ask for the money back and promise never to do it again. The apology comes across as more for being “caught” than for a sincere remorse for the betrayal this was to the queer community. This has left a sour taste in my mouth and I won’t be sending any money at Target anytime soon.
I expect the power/corporate whores at HRC will accept the apology as well and they’ll continue giving Target a %100 rating. I don’t give money to HRC either.
Buy local. Buy mom & pop.
Actually HRC barely accepted itThey made it pretty clear that actions speak louder than words and that a mere apology doesn’t really undo the gigantic donation they made to an anti-gay candidate.
Doncha wish they were that firm with Obama?
Of course, by “sorry”he means “sorry I got caught.”
If he’s really sorry, he’ll ask for the money back…Or make a donation to an organization that actually fights for LGBT equality-Lambda Legal.
I think donating to a pro-queer candidate……or organization (like the Victory Fund) would help balance it out. Still am disgusted by the anti-tax, anti-worker portion of what that Emmer donation means, but I suppose that's a discussion for another forum.
If only.
Yes!
According to HuffPoTarget donated to Yes on Prop 8.
The boycott continues.
Never happen
But that would require Joe standing up before the end of his turn in the bukkaki ring.
Interesting reading
Target donated to both sides, $3,250 to support Prop 8 and $750 to oppose it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
I don’t believe the apology was sincere. But, more about trying to quell all the negative PR.
And this eye opener
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not enough for meHe apologized to his employees and not to the public. He’s made no restitution at all. And, he certainly didn’t address the maximum personal donations made by both he and his wife to this same candidate.
If both he and his wife have maxed out their personal contributions to this candidate, how is it possible to take anything he says about equality and diversity seriously?
Not good enough for meI respect that everyone has to come to their own conclusion about this but my sense is that this is a bullshit non-pology intended to smooth things out while corporate tries to find a better way of hiding its attempts to have undue influence on elections. Target took a huge hit on the market when the news broke that people were pissed about this, so they had to say something to try to dial back the damage, but it sounds like weasel-speak to me. For now I’m still boycotting. We’ll see what their next move is.
This is the first visible power struggle in the post-Citizens United climate and it will be very instructive to see what kind of corporate policy changes, if any, result from it.
“[A]ctions speak louder than words”Oh, the irony. Judge everyone by their actions and not just their words…. everyone except when judging the HRC “leadership,” in which case actions should be totally ignored.
We really need a way to alert on spam n/t
“Weasel-speak”?
I’m still boycottingToday at noon I’m showing up at the local Target and giving them my letter.
That “apology” wasn’t addressed to me, and they didn’t ask for their money back.
I’ll be getting my vacuum bags elsewhere
I think the Target Corporation..is talking out of both sides of its mouth. A classic example of having the cake and eating it too. It may be thought of as good business to donate funds to this anti-gay candidate, but it is also good business to not dispose of the trust relationship of your customers. It’s kind of like the Democaratic Party, isn’t it? Make promises, take your money, and then stab you in the back. Friends and fierce advocates don’t act like that!
I remain unconvinced of Target’s loyalty except to that of corporate profits. I love shopping at Target, but I can easily find other places to spend my money.
TOS ViolationI reported this using the TOS Violation button on the upper right hand side of the page. I assume the moderators are busy and will remove it when they have the opportunity.
Assumed right. I’m on it.
Jacobrude, that’s spam!…And SPAM is disallowed per our Pam’s House Blend Terms And Conditions Of Service.
Trap-door activated. Bye!
Right!Apologizing to his employees was bizarre. Um, it was MY MONEY, as an ex-Target consumer, that he donated.
and this one“UPDATE: As has been pointed out to me, yes, the Open Secrets figures here do not necessarily mean anything other than deep-pocketed individual employees of Target are making personal contributions to these ballot initiatives.
So, to be clear, Target employees were playing both sides of the Prop 8 fence. ”
which, to be fair, seems plausible given the small amounts of money involved and the large number of target employees, so I’m not sure if that’s as big a shopblocker as dropping $150k on a bigot in MN.
Money talksbullshit walks.
An apology – big woop. Doesn’t counteract the evil that will be done with that $150,000.
Wow, AutumnYou have more flair about it than I do. I just delete them.
Well, if folk comment about the spamming first……then I don’t want to delete our blenders comments about the spamming.
So, when blenders comment before I have a chance to delete the spammers then “we” (the royal and powerful version of me, hee-hee!) make a public spectacle out of deleting the spammers from our roles.
It’s a guilt-free banning when I ban spammers — I never am guilt free when I ban blenders for other TOS violations.
The usual corporate non-apology
He wasn’t at all sorry he made the donation, no sirree. He’s just sorry some people were disappointed by it. Well, I’m really, really sorry if Steinhafel is disappointed that I won’t be shopping at Target.
Ha ha, isn’t it though?All the big box retailers are anti-union, anti-tax, and anti-worker.
Surprise surprise.
This is America where businesses care more about short-term profit than long-term success.
They’ll offshore jobs in a second if it means cheaper labor and a tax write off.
Disgusting.
I won’t be shopping there until they have some pro-equality leadershipThe CEO and the CFO have given numerous times to anti-gay politicians and I refuse to support a company who hires anti-gay bigots like the likes of their CEO and CFO.
I’m running out of retail options.
::sigh::
All the big box retailers are anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-tax. I can SOMEWHAT accept that.
What I can’t accept are being all those things AND being anti-gay.
When is enough enough?
Lessons from the TrailOne of the most important lessons of life learned from R’s is how and when to apologize. Never pre-action apologize. Never post-action apologize unless caught and forced to apologize. Always make the apology one that makes the accuser the one who should be apologizing, not you. And, never stop attacking no matter what. Attack the accuser for being unjust and doing bad things.
Lessons from the R’s is a very hard read if one is humane and likes people.