Retailer blames sales decline on backlash against 'gender fluid mugs'

An American retail chain has faced extreme right-wing homophobic violence against certain products. Credit: melissamn/Shutterstock

U.S. retail giant Target blamed the backlash against Pride products for falling sales.

The Minneapolis-based company reported a 5% drop in sales to $24.8 billion ($19.5 billion). pound sterling) in the second quarter, the first decline in six years. years.

This comes after Target faced backlash for its range of LGBT-friendly products. communities, including displaying merchandise to celebrate Pride month.

The retailer has faced criticism and homophobic slurs from far-right figures over products including gender-fluid mugs, «queer all-year» calendars and children's books. called Bye, Bye Binary, Pride 1,2,3 and I'm Not a Girl.

Other collections included a collaboration with British trans designer Eric Carnell's Abprallen brand, which has been criticized for creating clothing from pentagrams, horned skulls and other satanic items.

Target eventually removed some products from its Pride collection, which includes 2000 copies, citing the safety of the staff after an increase in confrontation between customers and employees and damage to displays.

The decision prompted further protests from Target employees who are celebrating Pride.

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Target executives said they couldn't determine exactly how much the boycott had affected sales, but in July sales improved from Happy June.

Brian Cornell, chief executive of Target, said the company has learned from the backlash and will be more careful with its merchandise during «heritage» months dedicated to various ethnic and marginalized groups.

“However, focusing on the ever-changing operational and social environment, we are applying acquired knowledge to be closer to our guests and meet their expectations from Target.”

This follows a similar crisis at Bud Light, whose sales plummeted in the US amid controversy over its collaboration with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, said the fall Bud Light's sales contributed to a 10.5% drop in second-quarter revenue.

Target said weak sales figures were also driven by the impact of rising inflation on consumer spending, while high food prices strained household budgets and higher interest rates are making credit cards more expensive to use.

The chain said sales will continue to decline through the end of the year, worsening its earnings outlook. Bosses also pointed to the imminent end of the student loan moratorium, which eased the burden on students during the pandemic.

Despite this, Target posted higher-than-expected profits of $835M in most cases . in the most recent quarter as he cut inventories to reflect more cautious consumer spending.