In March, Target emerged as a value-based brand by investing a total of $300 million in new initiatives to compensate and thank employees who are continuing to work during the pandemic.

In June, Target committed $10 million to support social justice, and then, blocked their ads from running in news stories related to the Black Lives Matter movement. Articles mentioning police-brutality, protests, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd were off-limits for their ads.

Target says the reason is that they want to avoid appearing exploitative of tragedies and show respect by not advertising. However, news publishers say that this blocklisting punishes media companies from covering important issues because they earn less money.

“It’s defunding our journalism at a time when it’s imperative for us to be the front lines doing this kind of work,” said Paul Wallace, Vice Media’s vice president for global revenue products and services.* BLM coverage was Vice's most popular content in June, but ad prices were 57% less than other topics. *Target, MTV Blocked Ads From News Mentioning ‘George Floyd’ and ‘Protests

Where do you stand? Is Target showing respect to the movement by not advertising?

I can sympathize with the sentiment, but not the action. Target should continue advertising on content that is important to their shoppers, and adjust the message by mentioning their $10 million++ for rebuilding efforts and advancing social justice. Unless their solidarity is a 'woke-wash,' why not use it to show support for the journalists keeping the issue front and center?

Join the conversation on my post here on Linkedin.