Target Responds After Criticism Over Black Friday Sale

Target is under fire — again.

With backlash still simmering over summer partnerships with various “Pride” and Trans groups that many claimed focused on messaging to children, the retail chain now appears to have attempted to recoup lost sales by misleading Black Friday advertising and pricing.

Many outlets reported that post-Thanksgiving sales figures are down this year — owing to a tepid appraisal of the economy. The Associated Press reported that sales were down due to “hesitant shoppers.”

Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said: “The customer is under pressure. You see it with what is going on in luxury. That is a recent development.”

Amid economic uncertainty, shopper DeJay Downey went to Target to see if their advertised “Black Friday” sale prices were too good to be true.

Downey profiled her findings in a TikTok video — garnering more than 38 million views in a few days.

In her video, Downey checked prices and looked to see what was under the “sale” tags on Target merchandise.

An unpleasantly surprised Downey found that in most cases, the purportedly marked-down “Black Friday” sale price was the same as the price on the tag covered by the new sale tag.

https://x.com/SaycheeseDGTL/status/1728816708914233738?s=20

Many responded to Downey’s post by expressing outrage. To Target’s chagrin, TMZ and other outlets shared the video on various social media channels. Radio stations have also run with the story.

KISS FM reported that Downey explained in a follow-up post that “she was going to purchase some snacks at the store and wanted to see if some of the videos she had seen online claiming Black Friday prices were marked the same or even increased during the sale were actually real.”

One former Target employee posted: “I worked at target back in 2015 thru 2020 and it was always like that that things are on sale a month before black friday.”

Others posted how Walmart was guilty of similar practices.

https://x.com/ReyBReal/status/1729170639305806001?s=20

Hoping to quell the fire, a Target spokesperson issued a statement:

A recent TikTok video showed a guest questioning if there was a sale on three Samsung TVs that had both a Black Friday sale sign, as well as a sale sign behind it indicating the same price. …

In fact, the TVs were on sale before Black Friday as part of our early Black Friday sales. We continued to offer those items at the same discount during Black Friday, but updated the signage to reflect the extended timing.

In both instances, guests would have saved the same amount, between $20-$80 depending on which TV they purchased. Those discounted prices compared to the regular prices are clearly shown in both sale signs in the video.

We know our guests are looking for flexibility when they shop holiday deals, which is why we began Black Friday deals in late October and will continue offering great discounts throughout the holiday season. We also offer a Price Match Guarantee, and will match the price of any item purchased by a guest that is offered at a lower price later in the season.

Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.