Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary blasts Target's decision to launch Pride collection trends now
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary said Target's marketing decision to launch its Pride collection was a 'huge mistake' as the retail giant dropped $10 billion in market value in the span of 10 days.
The entrepreneur weighed in on the controversy during a Fox News segment on Sunday after Target's stock fell to its lowest trading value in a year and lost $10billion in just the span of 10 days.
O'Leary said companies like Target and Bud Light - 'cannot be partisan in any way' when selling consumer goods and services. Bud Light's sales have plummeted since April after teaming up with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.
Target and Anheuser-Busch have lost around a combined $28 billion in market value as of Friday, FOX Business reported.
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary said Target's marketing decision to launch its Pride collection was a 'huge mistake' as the retail giant dropped $10 billion in market value in the span of 10 days
Prior to the controversy, Target shares were trading at $160.96, giving the retailer a market valuation of roughly $74.3billion. By the time The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) closed Friday, the blue-chip stock was trading at $138.93 - marking a loss of $10.1billion
O'Leary first pointed to Bud Light, which has continued to grapple with the backlash from its marketing decision to team up with a transgender activist.
'When Bud happened, I can't believe that boards didn't wake up to that decimation market cap… Budweiser was the American beer,' he said. 'It took decades to build that brand and they blew it up in 30 hours.'
He added that there's a reason why big companies do not take a stance on a controversial issue.
'Let me give you an example,' O'Leary said told Fox News. 'Do you ever hear a CEO that represents a company ever talking about abortion? Never. Because that is an issue that will never be resolved. It's a personal issue, it's a family issue, it's a religious issue.
It's partisan forever. You don't touch it. Same thing with politics, same thing with gender identity. Everybody has a personal opinion about it. When you actually get involved in a fight like that, you lose 50 percent of your constituency.'
O'Leary blamed social media for being what he described as a 'giant polling system' and that 'when something goes viral, it can be a good thing, but mostly it's negative, and it's decimated these brands very quickly.'
O'Leary said companies like Target and Bud Light - 'cannot be partisan in any way' when selling consumer goods and services
The latest merchandising controversy come as an increasing amount of moderate-minded shoppers have taken issue with Target's new 'Pride Collection', particularly with items in its children's section
Outraged over LGBTQ-friendly slogans such as 'Trans People Will Always Exist!', 'gay', and 'Live Laugh Lesbian', they have accused the retailer of grooming
'Fixer Upper' stars Chip and Joanna Gaines, who have a home and kitchen line with Target, have received some backlash for not speaking out on the controversy, but O'Leary warned them to 'stay out of it.'
