Target's 'Local Pride' T shirt collection is not going over so great

Target: The rent is too damn high, but so are these savings. Via Target.com.

Target: Where the rent is too damn high, but so are these savings. Via Target.com. — Target: The rent is too damn high, but so are these savings. Via Target.com.

Target is known for being a big retailer that has the stuff you need, and also as a place you should also never ever EVER go to on a Saturday or Sunday unless you want to vacation in a Mad Max style hellscape of empty shelves and war boys riding down the aisles in blasted out shopping carts, trying to salvage the last two-pack of contact solution. They’re generally considered less evil than Walmart, and earned some progressive bonafides this year with their trans-inclusive bathroom stance. Over the past year, Target has been trying to tap into a local pride market by making clothing specifically targeted to areas like New York, Chicago and San Francisco. They’re by designer Todd Snyder, an Iowa native who lives in New York. Like any move by a retailer whose feet are too giant to see what it’s stepping on, it hasn’t gone over great with actual locals some places. Brokelyn’s Rachel Eve Stein spotted the above shirt this weekend at the Atlantic Center Target in Brooklyn over the weekend. It seems like making jokes about the dire affordable housing situation in the city is going after the wrong kind of local pride here. It’s not the only time the line has gotten some heat from locals across the country.

This is in the "Local Pride" selection of @Target. Thanks for acknowledging our affordable housing crisis? @Brokelyn pic.twitter.com/3hxorfZX5f

— Rachel Eve Stein (@RachelEveStein) August 27, 2016

Here are some other shirts in the New York collection, which sell for $15 online:

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This one reeks of a certain era of glossy, Taylor Swiftian New New York. Also, this isn’t really correct? A bodega is a corner store/deli/beer store/magic wonderland of sandwiches and pet cats, not a grocery store.

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Ah the classic battle of the Brooklyn vs. the Bronx. Wait, what did the Bronx do to us? We like the Bronx! They’re dealing with the same gentrification crap that Brooklyn has been going through for decades. We’re one the same side.

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Ah, everyone’s favorite line from that classic New Yawk movie: Muppets Take Manhattan.

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Do you think Target knows they spelled New York wrong.

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Elsewhere in the country, other locals think Target missed the mark (sorry) with this line too:

San Francisco:

Nothing says "I'm not local" like calling San Francisco "San Fran." Nice try 'Local Pride' by @ToddSnyderNY @Target pic.twitter.com/tUTytGA4zN

— Justin Michael (@iJustinMichael) April 26, 2016

@toddsnyderNY is about to get hated hard in SF. https://t.co/WxuNvwIvLL

— ryan around (@ryanaround) April 27, 2016

Boston:

Also, at Target, these authentic #Boston t-shirts feature the "Nepsonset" River. What a morning… #ItsNeponset pic.twitter.com/DQn7QIuOla

— Steven with a ph (@steveannear) March 6, 2016

Wait a minute, local pride clothing isn't made locally at @Target? http://t.co/xU6lP8DuUv

— Erica Moura (@EricaMouraNEWS) August 11, 2015

The Boston shirts led to accusations of plagiarism from a local designer; something brands have often been guilty of.

We’re constantly wary of brands trying to appeal to the local market without ever doing anything that actually supports the local market. Take, for instance, Budweiser, with this Respect the Hustle Brooklyn campaign that went down like a slug of its beer: watery, distasteful and leaving you feeling gross the next day. Maybe instead of trying to force the idea of “local pride” by employing one artist to rep the whole country, Target would do better to hire local artists to design the shirts themselves.

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