We have power they don't even know we have

The Target Boycott is great but could it be better?

A news item came out today about Target, and how its new CEO is going to reverse the steady declines that corporation has suffered over recent years.

We all know that one factor causing this decline is us — our boycott. And that is sorta-kinda acknowledged in the article. But most of the reasons for the decline, and the band-aids being applied to fix those problems, that are cited in the article are about other things. Like the disturbance caused to customers who find an empty shelf instead of the thing they came to buy, or differences in how the stores look on the outside, or the quality of decisions about what to stock and what to push.

It is really too bad that Target does not get it. If they came out tomorrow with an apology, a restated commitment to DEI, with clear plans to reinstate LGBTQIA+ merchandise with an even clearer plan for next June’s PRIDE celebration, many of us would go to our nearest Target and buy a toothbrush (I am in the market for a toothbrush) or some other small item, to make the point. Then, later, when they come through with those promises, many of us who have not been to a target in a couple of years would go to our nearest Target now and then and buy the occasional thing, and they would see.

When I wrote the title of this piece, “We have power they don’t even know we have,” I mean that as a problem, not a good thing. We dealt Target a blow because of their asshattitude, but they don’t seem to know that we did that. Otherwise, they would just fix it. It is so easy to fix.

So, what do we do to make it clear to the new CEO that he is blind to his real problem? Maybe write a letter to your local newspaper pointing out that all the talk from Target about how they are going to fix their problems indicates that they missed the point, and that when they get the point you’ll return as a customer?

Our boycott power could be increased significantly if only the bocottee understood what we were doing to them. Let’s find ways to let them know.