--- title: Target's Gender-Neutral Push Endorsed By Internet Troll | TIME description: Someone made a fake Target-branded customer-service account to troll those who were angry about the retailer's move towards gender-neutral toy aisles. canonical: https://time.com/video/5T6VFyGq/ og:title: Target's Gender-Neutral Push Endorsed By Internet Troll og:description: Someone made a fake Target-branded customer-service account to troll those who were angry about the retailer's move towards gender-neutral toy aisles. og:url: https://time.com/video/5T6VFyGq/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5T6VFyGq/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Target's Gender-Neutral Push Endorsed By Internet Troll twitter:description: Someone made a fake Target-branded customer-service account to troll those who were angry about the retailer's move towards gender-neutral toy aisles. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5T6VFyGq/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Target's Gender-Neutral Push Endorsed By Internet Troll > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Target's Gender-Neutral Push Endorsed By Internet Troll [Watch (HLS stream): Target's Gender-Neutral Push Endorsed By Internet Troll](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5T6VFyGq.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2015-08-14. Someone made a fake Target-branded customer-service account to troll those who were angry about the retailer's move towards gender-neutral toy aisles._ --- Jul 27, 2023 6:39 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) ['A Doll For Everyone': Meet Mattel's Gender-Neutral Doll](/video/Rv12gzJk/) ### 'A Doll For Everyone': Meet Mattel's Gender-Neutral Doll ['My Pronouns Are They/Them.' Singer Sam Smith Changes Pronouns to Gender-Neutral](/video/cUDkiTyj/) ### 'My Pronouns Are They/Them.' Singer Sam Smith Changes Pronouns to Gender-Neutral [#The Brief: Net Neutrality is a battle for the internet](/video/JlXNTEu9/) ### #The Brief: Net Neutrality is a battle for the internet --- ## Transcript Target is getting rid of the gender divide between boys' and girls' toys and some people have a lot of strong opinions about this. I think it's a slap in their faces this whole gender neutral business is going too far. At first the idea there can have no gender, I thought, well. How am I gonna find their clothes? Or shoes? But the most visible action happened on Facebook where outraged customers complained about Target's new policy on social media. They were met with what appeared to be an unusually sassy customer service rep. The Target branded Ask For Help Facebook account actually belongs to Mike Melgard, who does not work at Target but supports Target's new initiative and found the trolliest way to express that. Target's not happy about having it's brand co- opted by an internet prankster, Melgard's account has been taken down and the retailer issued a statement, distancing itself from his comments. The prank probably hasn't been great for Target's PR. The retailer initially abolished the gender divide in the toy section, after facing pressure from shoppers. Target said in a statement, " preferences and needs Change and as guests have pointed out, in some departments, suggesting products by gender is unnecessary. Now Mel Garts comments have been reposted in articles, all across the internet. Along with the negative Target bashing post that inspired them. But the fake Target account does at least aluminate some of the absurdity of this discussion. As a writer for Time puts it, gender identity has nothing to do with signage in a store. 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