Target’s recent decision to remove gender-specific labeling for kids toys and other child-specific products has drawn the ire of customers who’ve chosen to voice their concern — or outright denouncements — on the company’s Facebook page.
This week, one particular Facebook user vaulted himself into news headlines for his comments in defense of the department stores’ gender-neutral stance. Using the profile name “Ask ForHelp” and selecting the Target bulls-eye as his profile photo, Mike Melgaard responded to various user comments with a level of vigor the beloved store could not.
Adweek featured the headline-grabbing story Thursday, including screen shots of Ask ForHelp’s responses to Target customers who disapproved of Target’s gender decisions.
One user with the profile name “Deanna Unruh” told Target she was now going to shop at Wal-Mart “because we think removing boys/girls distinctions is unnecessary.”
Ask ForHelp responded with an allusion to the pain one would experience by sitting on a steel post.
Well, Deanna. We’re sorry to hear that. Good luck with your new relationship with walmart. Be careful, we hear they sell bikes without the seats on them.
Other responses by Ask ForHelp were more tame. After one user named “Lisa Marie” said she was “EXTREMELY OUTRAGED” at Target’s “stupidity,” Melgaard’s alter ego responded, “Lisa, you sound like you need a snickers. We sell them by the packs here at Target.”
The Huffington Post published a story Saturday in which reporter James Michael Nichols spoke with Melgaard about the kerfluffle.
Melgaard was quoted as saying he “remembers how easy it was” to succumbed to social pressures which told him boys act a certain way and girls act a certain way.
Do you know how detrimental it is to a little child’s development if he or she is too afraid to explore other interests all because society says, ‘That’s a boy subject’ or ‘That’s a girl thing?’ Why put that kind of stress on a child?
In spite of Melgaard’s defense of Target’s new policy, his Ask ForHelp profile was shut down in less than 24 hours.
