Model Bri Teresi pulled out her shotgun to express her feelings about Target amid the retail giant facing right-wing condemnation over its support for the LGBTQ+ community.
The conservative influencer shared the viral video with her combined 2.5 million Instagram and Twitter followers on Tuesday. In the clip, Teresi takes aim at the popular big-box store chain, saying: “Target you have put the children in your crosshairs and now you have become the target.”
Target, one of numerous companies under fire online by conservatives, is facing boycott threats over pro-LGBTQ+ marketing initiatives that included a Pride Month clothing line. The products provoked the outrage of some social media users, who called for the chain to receive “the Bud Light treatment.” The popular retailer has since scaled back its Pride Month merchandise after saying its employees have received threats over the items, with the most controversial being the “tuck-friendly” swimsuits in the Pride collection.
In an email interview with Newsweek, Teresi shared why she’s joining the wave of Target backlash. Newsweek has also reached out via email to Target representatives for comment.
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When asked what made her take aim at Target, Teresi says the company is “indoctrinating and confusing” children.
“Life is confusing enough, especially for the young adolescents,” she told Newsweek. “They are trying to normalize the transgender narrative. Target is using child mannequins to sell ‘pride’ merch and other sexualized items.”
Teresi also assailed Target’s decision to partner on the 2023 Pride collection with designer Erik Carnell, who owns the company Abprallen, referring to him as a “satanic designer.” Carnell has faced criticism over a small portion of his collection, which makes a reference to Satan. He defended the items, which include a pin that reads, “Satan respects pronouns,” saying they were meant to be tongue-in-cheek, according to The Washington Post. None of the “satanic” items were sold in Target’s 2023 Pride Month collection.
Teresi first went viral in April after she shared her own version of musician Kid Rock’s widely viewed response to the Bud Light controversy. Her clip, which garnered more than 7 million views, shows the model shooting cans of Bud Light, tampons and lingerie. She lashed out again at Bud Light this month when she accused the beer company of targeting children though its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Her ire toward Bud Light is part of a right-wing wave stemming from early April when Mulvaney posted a video on social media featuring a customized Bud Light can with her face on it to celebrate her transition to becoming a woman. The personalized can sparked an avalanche of criticism and calls to boycott the beer brand.
While donning an American-flag bikini top and denim shorts in a viral April social media clip that amassed millions of views, Teresi took aim at Honey Birdette lingerie, Tampax tampons and cans of Bud Light.
“These companies have all gone woke,” she said on Twitter. “Tampax tampons used a biological male to promote their tampons. Honey Birdette used a biological male to model their lingerie. & y’all know about Bud Light.”
Teresi told Newsweek that her involvement in the right-wing boycotts started after Honey Birdette, for which she previously modeled, decided to “use a biological male to model their lingerie.” After that, she said, she had to take a public stand because she felt it was “totally unnatural” but also took away “job opportunities from women.”
“All 3 of these brands have not reached out to me,” she said of Bud Light, Target and Honey Birdette. “But I can tell you I have made an impact.”
She said to Newsweek that her goal for her viral videos is to raise awareness, and that she maintains she is “not against the gay community.” Rather, she said, she is protesting against “indoctrinating and grooming” minors.
“My goal with these videos is to raise awareness of the pedophilia and satanic agenda,” Teresi said. “I have a platform and feel I need to take a stand and use it for good.”
While the trend of right-wing condemnation of brands supporting the LGBTQ+ community has been escalating in recent months, such support from companies has been standard practice for decades. Many experts have said such marketing campaigns allow brands to appeal to a variety of customers. But critics have argued that companies are alienating their traditional customer base.
Teresi on Tuesday weighed in on the Target controversy on her social media accounts, where she shared a video clip of her use of Target bags for target practice.
“Their target is children. Keep in mind @Target hired a designer for their ‘pride collection’ that is a literal satanist,” she said on Twitter. “Go Woke. Go Broke. #BoycottTarget.”
In a follow-up tweet, she shared a picture with the word “boycott” and Target’s logo.
“Groomers have a target on children. @Target you have put the children in your crosshairs and now you have become the Target! Go woke go broke! #BoycottTarget,” she said on Twitter.
The Target backlash has been gaining momentum in recent days. A song called Boycott Target released by Forgiato Blow, one of former President Donald Trump’s supporters, climbed to the top of the iTunes charts. The track was even topping new songs from Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus as of Tuesday morning.
Target, in an online statement, responded to the controversy. The retail giant said it has offered an “assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month” for more than a decade. The company said given the current “volatile circumstances” and concerns for employees’ safety, some items from the 2023 Pride collection have been removed.