Political correctness works against organic families. This has been evident for years. Lately, it has gotten worse. Political correctness, or propaganda compliance, has gone commercial. Now companies far beyond energy corporations feel the need to bow to PC dictates.
The left mastered the art of boycotts. Now the mere specter of a boycott or a hashtag campaign keeps businesses compliant to leftist dictates. The right has not been as proactive about boycotts, but with the trends in executive decrees and the implosion of basic words, organic families feel more pressure and, therefore, the need to push back.
A clever company even noticed the desire and designed an app that rates companies on things conservatives care about. But the trouble is, PC pressures have been so effective that we are running out of places to shop.
Avoiding Target and Leaving Lands’ End
The frustration with Target had been building. There were breastfeeding incidents and the Fifty Shades of Grey branding, among others. Conservatives started actively avoiding Target when it announced its new bathroom policy which discriminates against organic women.
It’s not been an absolute boycott. The right isn’t as fastidious about such things.
I could get most things I once bought at Target at our local HEB (Texas’s best grocery store), but I still showed up at Target once a month because we used that pharmacy. (I say “used” because CVS bought the pharmacy business last year. Our store was one of the last to turn over, and the niceties of the Target pharmacy disappeared. I’m switching us this month and so won’t be at Target at all anymore.)
Still, even a mere avoid-when-able boycott has had a negative effect on Target’s business. Their board members deny a problem, but they underestimate how much their business owed to customer loyalty.
Earlier this year, Lands’ End self-inflicted a public relations disaster when their CEO thought it would be a great idea to highlight Gloria Steinem. They lost many family customers and parochial schools who source their uniforms though the company. And when the company backtracked, their feminist customers boycotted that move.
A few weeks ago, I started an article about the inconveniences and expenses I faced trying to prep four children for summer camp while avoiding Lands’ End and Target. Between the two stores I could pull off the mom grand slam of inexpensive, durable, convenient, and kid-approved cool.
I didn’t finish that article because it was taking so much longer to do the camp prep. I’m not a Wal Mart fan—just a personal preference—and other individual stores were often more expensive and were ones I had rejected in the past for something or other. Sourcing stuff through Amazon took more time because of the number of options.
But I had Old Navy. Hubs took the kids there about 10 days ago. Jeans for the boy in a growth spurt. T-shirts and shorts for the girls.
Et tu, Old Navy?
Then I saw Old Navy’s Father’s Day promotion.
This is gross, @oldnavy. Fathers are just as worthy of celebration as Mothers. https://t.co/peELNhKxIz
— Michaela (@musingunicorn) June 11, 2016
Old Navy apparently doesn’t think fathers are worth celebrating. https://t.co/GO08WeknjZ pic.twitter.com/F9LUUhgEJJ
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) June 11, 2016
My friend’s link goes to Brandon Morse’s excellent post about why the It’s Father’s Day shirt attitude is an insult to men—and, just incidentally, damaging to their children. I concur with Brandon and many of his commenters who don’t care to spend another dime at a store where the staff has such offensive views, and I wonder if their board looks as “diverse” as the Huffington Post editorial board.
#huffPoSoWhite Editor Fails Hard at Trying to Prove Staff Diversityhttps://t.co/r0mU8ZX0z5 @instapundit @LeslieLoftisTX
— Terry Brennan (@TerryBrennan211) May 24, 2016
But now I completely dread school shopping. How will I do school shopping when I need to avoid Target, Lands’ End, and Old Navy? At this rate, I’ll have to start sewing the kids’ clothes, and none of my family wants that.
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