Target apologizes for giving to group backing Emmer
CEO Gregg Steinhafel said he was "genuinely sorry" the $150,000 disappointed some workers as well as the public.
By JACKIE CROSBY, Star Tribune Last update: August 5, 2010 - 9:25 PM
Unable to extinguish a firestorm of protest among some of its customers and gay rights supporters, Target Corp. on Thursday took the unusual step of apologizing for making a political donation.
CEO Gregg Steinhafel sent a message to company leaders saying he was "genuinely sorry" that the donation had disappointed some. The message was posted on the company's Intranet, making it available to all employees.
Minneapolis-based Target had tried for days to emphasize that the $150,000 donation to MN Forward, a pro-business group backing Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, was based solely on a tax and jobs platform. But because of Emmer's stance against gay marriage, many perceived the donation as flying in the face of Target's longstanding commitment to workplace equality.
A Facebook page calling for a Target boycott has grown to more than 44,000 fans. The Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, condemned Target as well as Best Buy, which contributed $100,000 to MN Forward.
MoveOn.org, a liberal political action group, circulated its own petition aimed at collecting 150,000 signatures, and YouTube videos circulated of people cutting up their cards in Target stores.
"While I firmly believe that a business climate conducive to growth is critical to our future, I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry," Steinhafel wrote.
A new era of business
While the apology could put an end to what Heather LaMarre, a University of Minnesota assistant journalism professor, called "a PR nightmare," it could also signal the beginning of a combustible new era of corporate decisionmaking..................................>>>>..................>>>>................http://www.startribune.com/local/100051999.html
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