Off-Target with bloggers

So…apparently, Target won’t answer questions from bloggers asking about the goofy campaign ad that includes a woman making a snow angel on top of the Target logo. Personally, I don’t think the logo is a problem, but I guess for some people who have the function of the crotch on their mind…

Anyway, that hullabaloo inadvertently revealed that Target has a policy of only speaking to nontraditional media. From Poynter’s E-media Tidbits:

But just as interesting is how Target responded when Amy Jussel, executive director of Shaping Youth, asked the company for comment. Target replied: “Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets. This practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guests.”

That’s not cool. Blogs don’t reach their core guests? I can think of at least two local bloggers right off the bat who love Target and regularly blog about their finds there. But, with all this uproar, it seems they’re looking to revamp their policy:

By Wednesday night, Paul Schmeltzer of the Minnesota Monitor had wrung a rethink out of Target’s PR department. The key quote: “[Target spokesperson Amy VonWalter] acknowledges that, with the decline in the newspaper industry and more people getting information from online sources, the policy needs an overhaul, and one has been in the works for some time. ‘In today’s media world, we recognize it’s worth revisiting.'”