"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.]