Satan The Devil Teams Up With Target, Loses Billions of Dollars in one week
When Target approached the brand Abprallen to design clothing for its 2023 "PRIDE" collection, the retail giant was fully aware of the brand's Satanist-inspired merchandise, according to a statement posted on Instagram by the designer.
Target initially sold three Abprallen products: a messenger bag saying "We Belong Everywhere" across trans-flag colors and planets, a tote bag with the message "Too Queer for Here" beneath a UFO, and a "Cure Transphobia, Not Trans People" sweatshirt. The three items are no longer for sale online.
Other Abprallen products, which were not sold at Target, included Satanist imagery and glorified violence against alleged "transphobes."
"When I was approached to create products for Target they told me that my work such as 'Satan Respects Pronouns' wouldn't be a good fit, they were observant enough and had the necessary critical thinking skills to realise that my use of occult imagery is as harmless as any horror movie targeted towards adults but wanted my collection for adults to be a bit less gothic," Abprallen's designer, a self-described "gay trans man" who goes by "Erik," wrote in a series of Instagram Stories.
Transgender designer Erik Carnell has seen a surge in demand for his pins, prints, stickers and T-shirts after retailer Target pulled his products amid a backlash by some customers to its Pride collection, he said on Thursday.
Target's Pride collection included more than 2,000 products from clothes and music to home furnishings, and while several are under review the only ones removed so far from its website and stores are from Carnell's brand Abprallen.
Target said this year's Pride collection led to an increase in confrontations between customers and employees and incidents of Pride merchandise being thrown on the floor.
Backlash on social media was mainly targeted at Abprallen products that were not sold at Target, some of which contain images of pentagrams and horned ram skulls that some people associate with Satan worship.
Products sold on Abprallen's Etsy shop included a pin featuring the slogan "Satan Respects Pronouns" for 5.20 pounds ($6.56), and an 8 pound ($10.10) enamel pin with the slogan "Trans Healthcare Now."