| Original Message |
Anonymous (no login)
Posted Dec 22, 2003 5:12 PM
Comments: I contacted the Target Corporation, which informed me that the above incident did actually happen, but it was a case of miscommunication, not a blanket refusal on the company's part to support Vietnam Veterans.
The specific request was turned down, Target says, because company policy prohibits individual stores from handing out donations except in the form of gift cards. Requests for cash grants must go through corporate headquarters.
"Unfortunately," Target's statement continues, "the veteran and his organization were not provided the proper information to facilitate consideration of a grant from either the store or our corporate office. We are truly sorry for the manner in which this was handled and the resulting confusion that has taken place."
According to a Veterans of Foreign Wars press release defending the company, Target has agreed to be a corporate sponsor of the 2003 tour of The Wall that Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
2003 Variants: What began as an exaggerated account of a real incident grows more and more false as additional claims and comments are anonymously added to the message:
In February 2003 (six months after the message first began circulating) a variant appeared containing the addendum "Also, TARGET STORES will not donate to the Marines for Toys For Tots either!" I couldn't find any information to substantiate this claim — indeed, historically, Target stores have participated in the Toys for Tots program, though it appears the decision whether or not to do so is made on an individual, store-by-store basis.
In March 2003 yet another variant appeared in which the sentence "They only donate to the areas of arts, social actions and education" was changed to read, "We only donate to the areas of the arts, social actions, gay and lesbian causes, and education." Like the previous allegation about Toys for Tots, the phrase "gay and lesbian causes" was inserted into the message — by someone other than its original author — for no other purpose than to incite further outrage in its intended audience.
At approximately the same time, a variant appeared combining into one message all of the above charges plus unrelated allegations to the effect that the auto parts retailer Pep Boys has summarily fired all military reserve and National Guard employees called to active duty.
And, lastly, in a France-bashing April 2003 revision, the false claim "TARGET IS FRENCH-OWNED — WHAT WOULD YOU EXPECT?" was anonymously appended to the standard text.
(Target Corporation, comprising the Target, Marshall Field's and Mervyn's department store chains, is a U.S.-based company headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.)
full article here:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-target-veterans.htm |
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