Target’s 2025 Pride collection launches with mixed reactions
Target released its Pride collection for 2025, and some consumers have noted a decrease in offerings and a printing mistake on some clothing labels. The product line launches as the retailer experiences falling sales and consumer boycotts.
As recently as 2023, Target offered more than 2,000 Pride-related products across multiple departments, according to Reuters. That same year, Target addressed criticism and alleged threats that employees received over the Pride collection, saying it would be “making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.”
In 2024, Target’s Pride collection encompassed only about 75 items, and they were available only in what the company called “select stores, based on historical sales performance.” Target offered the entire collection online.
For 2025, Target is selling around 53 items in stores, with the collection expanding to around 115 when online-only items are included. Many of those items are labeled as being for “Adults.”
Was a mistake printed on some clothing labels?
On social media, some consumers have pointed out that a few items in this year’s Pride collection appear to have tags with incorrect or placeholder text.
Straight Arrow News went to Target and confirmed that tags on some items display text that reads “header copy” above “lorem ipsum” — placeholder text often used in graphic design.
“We’re aware of the error that originated with our vendor and are working to address the issue,” Target said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
Target did not respond to a request for comment from Straight Arrow News.
How are people reacting?
Several users have taken to social media to express opinions on this year’s collection.
Many comments mention the tag error, while others emphasize 2025’s more muted, beige-toned color scheme.
LGBTQIA groups and their relationship with Target
In previous years, Target shared its support of organizations like the Human Rights Campaign and Family Equality in fact sheets accompanying its Pride campaigns. In 2024, the company participated in local Pride events nationwide, including Twin Cities Pride in its home state of Minnesota.
After Target announced it would scale back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives earlier in 2025, Twin Cities Pride announced it was dropping the company as a sponsor, according to The Minnesota Daily.
Target has not yet released a fact sheet for this year’s Pride campaign regarding any involvement in local celebrations or support for advocacy groups.
Target’s sales and DEI
After Target’s shifted its DEI strategy, some groups and individuals responded with boycotts, which may be a factor in its declining sales.
Straight Arrow News reported May 22 that Target’s comparable sales fell in the quarter that ended May 3, to $23.8 billion, compared to $24.5 billion in the same period of 2024.
Target CEO Brian Cornell cited multiple factors, including a decrease in consumers buying nonessential items.
However, he acknowledged to The Wall Street Journal that boycotts “played a role in our first quarter performance.” Cornell also said the company is “focused on being a place where our guests and our teams and our partners feel included.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
