Musical Mob Hits Target
Employees and customers of a West Seattle Target were caught by
surprise when a flashmob broke out in song all around them--complete with live band and spinning umbrellas--lamenting that "Target ain't people--so why should it be allowed to play around with our democracy...?"
The inspiration for the protest prank stemmed back to January, when the Supreme Court ruled that major corporations could spend unlimited money in public elections. Target, following this ruling, was revealed earlier this month to have donated $150,000 supporting a far-right wing Republican candidate with anti-gay values.
Self-described "net-roots subverting agency" Agit-Pop Communicationswas the group behind the Target musical flashmob. After hitting the web, their video of the event went viral- spreading rapidly through Facebook and various blogs. Youtube presently shows the video at over 800 thousand
views.
Moveon.org has called for a full boycott of Target and has so far gained over 260,000 signatures calling for the mega retailer to stop donating to political campaigns.
In response to the negative reaction his donation had created, Target President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel issued an apology to his employees, stating the contribution was made "to support economic growth and job creation." Writing that he was "genuinely sorry" over the way the donation affected Target Leaders he continued, saying that Target would "begin a strategic review and analysis of our decision-making process for financial contributions in the public policy arena."
No response was given when asked by the Human Rights Campaign to make things right by donating $150,000 to a "pro-gay" candidate.
- 8-23-10
- Zachary Koval's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
Comments
The sheeples are cute....
But, maybe they ought to do a little research first. Wikipedia is our friend. So is Capitalism. If we ever hope to evolve usefully as a species, then some of us are going to have to stop just falling for the first "cause" that makes us feel good, and put some serious thought into how shit actually works.
Target has been giving their employees same-sex partner benefits for years and years. They have been re-using buildings in urban areas, rather than building new ones, in some cases. They have tons of organic and other alternative/natural products. They hire people of every stripe. They built their first "green" building in 1995. Major corporations don't really get much better than this.
This video, while entertaining for a change, simply show how easily some folks are led to become *useful musicians* for the Union tools...who never cease spending my dues money in the AFL-CIO to line political pockets. Maybe these folks could spend a little of that rehearsal time, reading some Thomas Sowell or Milton Freidman.
"History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition."--Milton Friedman
"I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my values system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal."--Milton Friedman
"Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good."--Thomas Sowell
" A republic, if you can keep it"
--Benjamin Franklin
True
The second, and I think more important issue- which moveon.org seems to be calling them out on- is the fact that big businesses are now able to majorly and directly influence our elections- for better or for worse. The negative spotlight on Target may be unfair, as other major retailers have already done the same- but at least this brings the issue up and makes people aware of what is happening. If not- maybe it will make big businesses think twice or at least thoroughly examine their future donations. The Supreme Court removed limits- in part citing the basic right of freedom of speech. I'm all about freedom of speech for my fellows humans- but should that right really extend to corporations?
I haven't been following it closely....
But, it seems that most likely they are supporting a pro-business candidate, rather than an anti-gay one. In fact, their record suggests that. It'd be nice if there were perfect politicians...or even good ones. Fact of the matter though, is that politicians are rather a mixed bag.
What's hilarious to me, is that organizations like moveon.org, pretend that they have something legitimate to say, merely because they are not providing anything useful to society. They get their money from Soros, who is not only a businessman, but a foreign one. Should Target set up some fake middleman to make their donations through? Money talks in politics. That's just the way it is. I prefer that goes on out in the open though.
And, I welcome people who act on their beliefs with their wallets. I boycotted tuna for over a decade, for similar reasons. I will continue to shop at Target, simply because they do provide good products at fair prices, and I do like their overall corporate stance. I spent more money at Whole Foods when their CEO came out with a sensible health care reform piece. Of course, none of the politicians paid any attention to his thoughts. But, interestingly, their profits and patronage went up, after a similar boycott was called for, by the very people whom one would think would be for sensible solutions.
I'm guessing that the boycott on Target will turn similarly into a buycott. The people who really do take the time to read and think, tend to resent simplistic jingoism and demonizing.
" A republic, if you can keep it"
--Benjamin Franklin
Bulls eye
Target only those who use the money badly ... boycott the known politicians themselves.
Get an interactive web function that lists all such persons and their activities in a way that informs the general public ... make it detailed , connecting financial dots to where it serves more as an educational tool, rather than just a bandwagon, finger-pointing enterprise.
Without more sophistication in the revolution the causes will always be shadowed by the effects.
love it love it love it