Target, Bud Light face backlash over LGBTQ marketing

CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Brands and corporations are making more of an effort to be inclusive, especially as LGBTQ+ Pride Month approaches in June, but some retailers are facing backlash over their partnerships and Pride collections.

Target is taking heat for selling ‘tuck-friendly’ bathing suits as part of its Pride collection, which also includes items for babies and children. The design is made to help conceal male genitalia.

Consumers have also slammed Target for selling t-shirts that read “Queer,” “Trans People Will Always Exist”, and “Live, Laugh, Lesbian.”

Target’s collection has provoked outrage on social media, with calls for the retailer to receive “the Bud Light treatment.” Consumers have ignited calls to boycott Target.

Meanwhile, hundreds of consumers have tweeted in support of the bathing suits.

“I see what it’s for, but I don’t see anything wrong with it,” one customer told NewsNation. “I think it’s cute. I think it’s dope!”

“I think whenever it’s an issue of identity, that’s a deep issue, and a matter of expression,” another customer told NewsNation. “There are people who want to express their identity and have a right to do so.”

NewsNation reached out to Target for comment but has not yet heard back.

It comes after Bud Light’s attempt to broaden its customer base by partnering with a transgender influencer backfired. On April 1, Dylan Mulvaney posted a video of herself with a Bud Light can with her face on it that the brand sent her, setting off backlash almost immediately.

Bud Light sales have plunged nearly 25% and its stock has been downgraded following the fallout since the promotion.

Some have said more companies are pushing for cultural change, while others have said retailers are jumping on a bandwagon to make money. Still, marketing experts say younger people support diversity efforts and want companies to take a stand on controversial issues.