If you've been paying attention to corporate America's so-called "DEI retreat," Target has been front and center in the headlines. The retail giant made a big show of scaling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in early 2025 — pulling back on supplier diversity goals, eliminating certain DEI-branded hiring programs, and quietly removing rainbow merchandise from prominent Pride displays.
Conservatives cheered. Conservative media declared victory. And then Target's new CEO Michael Fiddelke promised a "reset year" focused on "cleaner stores" and operational excellence rather than social justice signaling.
Don't be fooled. Target still scores a 71 out of 100 on the BuyWokeFree woke scale — firmly in our "Extremely Woke" category.
The Left Boycott That Tells You Everything
Here's what the mainstream media won't headline: while conservatives were celebrating Target's supposed DEI rollback, a year-long left-wing boycott organized by the Black community was quietly winding down — after Target made concessions to that very community.
That's right. Activists led by figures like Nina Turner and Tamika Mallory organized a sustained "Strike For All" campaign demanding that Target restore its DEI commitments to the Black community. And Target buckled, giving the Black press and social media advocates a "share of the credit" for bringing the retailer back to the table.
This is the Target two-step: roll back DEI enough to make conservative headlines, then quietly recommit to the woke agenda when progressive activists apply pressure. The company is playing you for a fool — and the numbers don't lie.
What Target's Woke Score Actually Measures
At BuyWokeFree, we rate brands across six dimensions of corporate activism:
- ESG commitments and climate activism pledges
- Political donations to progressive causes and candidates
- DEI hiring and supplier diversity programs
- Pride and LGBTQ+ activism including product lines and sponsorships
- Social justice statements and employee activism support
- Corporate governance and board composition mandates
Target scores a 71/100 because while they trimmed some visibility, the underlying infrastructure of woke corporate activism remains firmly in place. They still have extensive LGBTQ+ employee resource groups. They still make significant political donations skewing hard left. Their ESG reporting remains robust. And as the boycott story proves, they're still susceptible to progressive pressure campaigns — and responsive to them.
For comparison, Walmart scores a 90 and Amazon scores a perfect 100 on our woke scale. Target is trailing the worst of the worst, but a 71 is no badge of honor.
The Corporate Theater Playbook
What Target is doing has a name: performative rollback. It's a calculated PR strategy that's become increasingly common among large corporations facing pressure from both the right and the left:
- Announce high-profile rollback of the most visible DEI optics (Pride merchandise, supplier diversity percentages)
- Generate positive conservative media coverage
- Quietly retain the underlying DEI bureaucracy, employee programs, and political giving
- Make private concessions to progressive stakeholders to avoid sustained left-wing boycotts
- Repeat the cycle as needed
It's cynical. It's deliberate. And it works — if you're not paying attention.
Target's new CEO Fiddelke has been candid that 2026 is about recovering from a "yearslong sales slump." That sales slump wasn't caused by being too woke — it was caused by getting caught between two boycotts and alienating everyone. Their solution isn't to actually change course. It's to manage optics better.
Where to Shop Instead
If you're genuinely committed to pulling your consumer dollars away from activist corporations, here's a quick comparison for everyday retail needs:
- Publix (Woke Score: 42) — Significantly less activist than Target, particularly strong on not imposing political agendas on customers
- Kroger (Woke Score: 56) — Still woke, but at least honest about it and without the performative theater
- In-N-Out Burger (Woke Score: 0) — The gold standard for a major chain that simply refuses to play the social justice game
- Coinbase (Woke Score: 0) — Proof that major companies can explicitly ban political activism at work and thrive
For general retail, local independent stores and regional chains without national DEI bureaucracies remain your best bet. When you must shop a national chain, use BuyWokeFree to compare your options before you pull out your wallet.
The Bottom Line
Target's "rollback" is a masterclass in corporate gaslighting. They cut the pride flags from the front of the store and kept the woke infrastructure humming in the back office. They generated positive conservative press while simultaneously making concessions to the very progressive activists they were supposedly standing up to.
A 71 woke score doesn't lie. Target remains an extremely woke corporation run by executives who view DEI not as a failed experiment, but as a political commitment they're willing to temporarily obscure when it costs them sales.
Don't reward the theater. Check Target's full profile on BuyWokeFree — and then find somewhere better to spend your money.