Target Made Their NYC Store Look Like CBGB + People Are Pissed
Punk fans and native New Yorkers are pissed off at Target for their new store in the East Village in New York City. To generate buzz and emulate New York culture, Target put up a 'TRGT' awning in the style of legendary punk venue CBGB, which helped birth punk rock as the home of legendary acts like the Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, Blondie, and others.
As shown by Brooklyn Vegan, Target filled their CBGB storefront with shirts in the venue’s classic lettering, along with guitars, wristbands and “battle of the bands” decor. Along with the letters TRGT, the letters OFMUG, which famously stood below the CBGB logo, have been replaced simply with BANDS.
Music fans have vented their frustrations with Target’s use of underground punk culture to promote their massive corporation. "To see the artifacts of my own life, my cultural and spiritual awakening, my home, displayed above the cash registers in a Target store is to be cast into a state of confusion and dystopic dysphoria,” writes Yahoo contributor and Vanishing New York author Jeremiah Moss. “What am I seeing? Who are these people? What happened to the world?"
Others used Twitter to voice their distaste for Target’s CBGB ploy:
Target offered an apology earlier today (July 25) to anyone who found their awning distasteful:
When Target opens a new store, we often host a one-day celebration that shows the neighborhood how excited we are to be part of their community. Our goal is to connect with our newest guests and, in this case, celebrate the heritage of the East Village. We sincerely apologize if some event-goers felt it was not the best way to capture the spirit of the neighborhood. We always appreciate guest feedback and will take it into consideration as we plan for future opening events.
As Target states, the CBGB iconography was just a one-day event, and it has since been taken down. Fans expressed similar outrage in 2015 when it was announced that a CBGB restaurant would be opening at New Jersey’s Newark Airport.
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