"Target stores change their corporate policy regarding The Salvation Army," said the news anchor.
"Not so fast," replied the blogger.

When Target decided to ban Salvation Army bell-ringers at their stores, they gave the lame excuse that allowing one charity "wasn't fair" to other charities. "Allowing these organizations to solicit means that Target would also have to permit solicitation by organizations whose causes or behavior may be unacceptable to our guests," said a statement on their website. What a crock! Is slipping a dollar to one homeless person "unfair" to every other homeless person? If I let one person park on my property am I suddenly obligated to let everyone park there? Of course not, to both. It's no other charity's business who any retailer decides to let onto their properties. It was a bogus excuse to justify what they knew would be an unpopular decision.

Maybe they underestimated how unpopular. The level of outrage has been so great that one group sent out more than 2 million e-mails calling for a boycott of all Target stores. (I agree. Stick it to the suckers!) It also didn't help that Target seems to have lied about their communications with the charity. The website press release said, "Target also asked the Salvation Army to look for other ways we could support their organization under our corporate giving guidelines. At this date, they have not provided a proposal that fits those guidelines." However, Salvation Army spokesman Maj. George Hood, says Target rejected several compromises.

Facing so much vilification, Target threw their P.R. department into overdrive and managed to dupe some news media into proclaiming they had "reversed their decision." Have they really? Nope. A closer look shows it's Grinch-ing as usual.

While the story I saw talked about a "change of policy" at Target, it was actually about a measly $20,000 donation made by the company to a local Salvation Army chapter. When you consider some reports have the charity losing $50,000 per day because of the decision, $20,000 doesn't even look like spit in the ocean. (Last year, the Salvation Army took in nearly $9 million from Target locations alone. Divide that by a 30 day campaign window, and you're looking at more like $300,000 per day lost.) I guess we should get a warm sensation deep in our bowels because Target claims to give $2 million a week to charity. (When I think of Target I get a sensation deep in my bowels, but it's not warmth.) The entire story and all the promos were a huge puff-piece for how great and generous Target is, and how they and the Salvation Army work bell-in-gloved-hand to support the community.

Bovine scatology! Attention, Target: You cannot put a good face on this one so stop trying, and stop making excuses. Just say, "It's our policy to not allow solicitation of any kind," and leave it at that. I'll get off your case when you do that, when you stop putting the onus on the charities -- and when you make an $8 million donation to The Salvation Army. That's just December's worth of your "$2 million a week in donations." For an organization as generous as you, that should be just a "drop in the bucket."

[While you're boycotting Target, you can donate to The Salvation Army online at www.1800salarmy.org or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY.]