According to Lady Gaga that is the case Target isn't saying that is so but it would surprise me if Target's desire to get an exclusive deal with her helped change things. http://www.twincities.com/ci_17455941?nclick_check=1 Can Lady Gaga, Target avoid a bad romance? Singer tells mag she laid out demands; store says position has evolved Did Lady Gaga persuade executives at Target Corp. to change their tune and support pro-gay causes? In a surprising interview with Billboard magazine, the music superstar suggests she did — though a Target executive framed it a bit differently. Earlier this month, Target announced an exclusive partnership with Lady Gaga to sell tracks from her pro-gay "Born This Way" album. The pairing raised some eyebrows because gay groups last summer were angry about Target corporate money helping an anti-gay-rights Minnesota gubernatorial candidate, Republican Tom Emmer. Lady Gaga told Billboard she was wary of Target, too. So she held an "intense" meeting with Target executives, she said, and made her demands clear. "Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they've made in the past," she told Billboard. "Our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they've made supporting those groups." So far in 2011, Minneapolis-based Target has pledged almost a half-million dollars to gay-equality groups, a company official told Billboard. Among them: Project 515, a Minnesota group that wants gay families treated equally with straight families under state law. But was Target's support due to Lady Gaga? Target won't go that far. "We have always supported various organizations within the LBGT community," Dustee Tucker Jenkins, Target's vice president of public relations, told Billboard. So how much did Lady Gaga affect Target policy? "Certainly her perspective was very helpful in conversations," Jenkins told Billboard. "But we've considered a variety of different perspectives along the way, and that's gotten us to where we are today." When contacted Tuesday, Target declined further comment. Read Lady Gaga's Billboard interview tinyurl.com/gagatarget and Target's perspective at tinyurl.com/targetgaga. — Tom Webb
Should i be glad she's taking a real stance on gay rights. Or should I be mad she's contributing the the bastardization of music distribution by granting exclusive rights to a single chain store Or should I just not care since i'm not a fan. When in doubt -- choose C.
I'm a little skeptical that Gaga can prevent her label from selling at a top 5 retailer, seems like somebody would get their ass sued. It also seems to contradict her having declined to boycott Arizona because of "dumb-**** rock stars" not being able to influence politics or policy.
It seems facile to conclude that Target opposes gay rights because they supported a candidate who opposed gay rights. Was there some indication that their political support was over gay-rights issues?
I strongly doubt Target's support had anything to do with Gay rights, it was mostly about tax and economic policy, but if they support a candidate who is against gay rights then it is fair to criticize them for it as that is a part of the candidate's platform.
Sure, you can criticize them. But, Lady Gaga and others seem to have made a leap in logic from "Target is willing to support anti-gay agendas" to "Target is unwilling to support pro-gay agendas" and are then surprised to find their conclusions don't hold true (and go on to take credit for bridging the gap). I just thought someone should explain to them that Target probably isn't pro-gay or anti-gay; they're just trying to maximize shareholder value.
Didn't really read the article, but Target has better looking chicks in there. There are only four I really go to.
Personally, I wasn't aware that Target wasn't friendly toward "the LGBT community." It's illogical to assume that Target is anti-LGBT because they supported some bigoted Republican. I guarantee anybody who is LGBT that their money is just as good at Target as somebody's who isn't LGBT. You get it.
I don't know and doubt that Target Corp was specifically anti-LGBT but I don't think they were specifically pro-LGBT either. I personally though am would not be surprised if to get an exclusive deal with Lady Gaga they were willing to change some policies to make them more LGBT friendly. I don't think this has to do with an ideological change of heart but as you note to maximize shareholder value since Lady Gaga has a huge following and an exclusive deal would increase profits for Target.
Sometimes companies do that at the expense of equal rights. Would you still support them then and chuck it off as "capitalism lol!" ?
While I'm not a fan of companies having free speech rights like a person, while they have them I don't think there's anything they could say (thru their contributions) in the context of free political discourse that is at the expense of equal rights. We're in a democracy so they should say what they want. So in this context, yes I'm cool with it. If they're maximizing shareholder value by grinding up babies to put in talcum powder, that obviously I have a problem with that.
I think it's great news that people with an illogical amount of power are actually using that power to support things they believe in. In all honesty, it would have been nicer for her to use her power to help starving children. Who knows though, maybe she's done that too and this is just the next priority.
