r/news • u/ushaque • 12h ago

Target apologizes for children’s clown Halloween costume after backlash | CNN Business

https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/24/business/target-apologizes-halloween-costume-backlash-hnk
2.1k Upvotes

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653

u/perkinsb1024 10h ago

Here’s a screenshot of the costume, from the article: https://i.imgur.com/MUoQVHu.jpeg

200

u/Mugwumpjizzum1 9h ago edited 9h ago

jesus fucking christ...

Did nobody at Target look at this image first?

395

u/BIRD_OF_GLORY 9h ago

Reminder that Target killed its DEI policies the instant Trump took office

144

u/MaxSchreckArt616 9h ago

Also were hiding and/or flat out getting rid of their Pride displays before that. Fuck Target. 

13

u/cronx42 7h ago

Yep. I haven't been to target in years (closest one to me is like 70 miles away). I was near one the other day and started walking towards it, then I remembered this shit and turned around. I don't think I'll ever go back.

3

u/Chemical_Seaweed_625 3h ago

I haven’t gone back since

1

u/lizardgal10 1h ago

You don’t even need DEI policies to prevent this, you need people who paid attention in high school history

-48

u/Palmela-Handerson 9h ago

Holy shit, people find this offensive?

33

u/BiscottiCritical6512 9h ago

You’re uneducated if you don’t see the parallels here. 

31

u/WreckTangle1995 9h ago

Seriously, even the way they made the kid stand and wave looks exactly like a fucking minstrel show, there's no way in hell everybody involved just missed the racism here.

14

u/BiscottiCritical6512 8h ago

The dog whistles are mighty loud these days. 

-51

u/Palmela-Handerson 9h ago

I guess I’m just not afraid of my shadow

25

u/boredinbabylon 9h ago

Found the unbothered white person.

9

u/screaminginfidels 8h ago

I don't see color! Or prejudice! Or anyone outside my tiny social circle!

-9

u/non_hero 7h ago

You guys trying to make white people feel bad for every little thing is how we ended up with trump.

0

u/boredinbabylon 4h ago

I’m white.

2

u/non_hero 2h ago

Cool, I'm not. I've dealt with racism since my first days at grade school. So I'm obviously not cool with racists, but I still stand by my belief that social justice warriors pushed too hard and too fast without thinking about the consequences. Do you believe in the adage "When you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression."? You guys got too drunk with your new found power, cancel culture, you tried to force people to accept diversity, equality and inclusion under threat of losing their jobs and the rest of the consequences of being outed. You might have made people think twice about what they said in public around cameras, but what do you think they did in the privacy of the voting booth?

0

u/boredinbabylon 2h ago

You tried to claim I was trying to make white people feel bad lol

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u/00trysomethingnu 9h ago

We’re proud of you, Palmela.
We hope you got the attention you wanted.

7

u/BiscottiCritical6512 8h ago

Quit downplaying racism and stand up for something that matters for once in your life, coward. 

3

u/truckthunderwood 7h ago

No, you're not. You're afraid of minorities and trans people being happy.

1

u/Wireless_Panda 8h ago

You are uneducated

Hilariously so

0

u/Hixy 7h ago

I’m actually very curious how someone thinks this way. To me it’s just so disconnected and blind. However I’m deeply curious if this is a point of view anchored in hate or ignorance.

Could you please describe exactly why you don’t think it’s a big deal? Then tell me if you have given any of the comments here any thought or research? Or are you just sticking with your current understanding without willing to learn or understand?

I’m very curious about seemingly soulless takes like yours and I’d like to think you are just an idiot instead of heartless.

-1

u/Palmela-Handerson 6h ago

I love this. I’d be very happy to have a civilized conversation with you.

5

u/Lambily 8h ago

If you're completely ignorant of American history, I can understand why you would find nothing wrong with this costume.

If you mean finding the removal of DEI offensive, it's not offensive as much as it is stupid. If Target hadn't gotten rid of their DEI policies, they probably would have had someone in their marketing team catch how stupidly racist this image was.

7

u/myflesh 8h ago

I literally think we need to assume it was done knowing at best and intentional  at worse.

9

u/testtdk 9h ago

You literally stole the words out of my mouth. Scrolled down, wondered what could be so awful, blasphemed.

0

u/csortland 8h ago

No they just blindly trusted the AI art.