PhotoDude.com

Fri. Dec 19, 2003

Off Target

Off Target – My wife came home the other day saying, ”I can’t shop at Target anymore, because they’re owned by the French, they’ve mistreated veteran’s groups, and they won’t even participate in the Toys for Tots program.”

[while typing] ”Huh? Where’d you hear this?”

Of course, it’s a word of mouth thing. And it’s apparently a popular one at this time of year, as I’ve seen Donald Sensing and Glenn Reynolds make mention of it, due to e-mails they’ve gotten.

People, when you hear something that sounds so bad, so wrong, that your brain yells ”that can’t be right” and you start getting angry … trust your instincts. And if you feel the need to spread information to others ”that you’ve heard,” don’t you have an obligation to check it out first?

As Susan was explaining to me who’d told her, I was typing ”www.snopes.com” into my browser, and in their search box I typed one word: ”Target.”

In five seconds, I got this result:
· The Target Corporation does not contribute to veterans’ causes: False.
· The Target Corporation is French-owned: False.
· The Target Corporation provides corporate grants for ’gay and lesbian causes’: False.
· The Target Corporation does not contribute to the ’Toys for Tots’ program: False.

You’ll find the rumor is over a year and a half old, even if you just now heard it. The page then explains in detail how these false rumors began and then spread. You’ll even find an apology and retraction from the man who started it all: ”I made a mistake on this one, and I’ve learned a hard lesson that’s for sure. What started out as a message for the members in our organization has turned into a hate-type thing. I never wanted to start any national boycott. I just wish it would all stop. Some people have used my words and perpetuated lies. It’s sad that some of these people would use veterans as a way to push their own political views. I’ve sent out a retraction, and no one pays any attention.”

This is just one example of this type of bogus rumor, and they can be dangerous. Obviously this one is dangerous to Target, but sometimes you’ll get a claim by e-mail that is dangerous to you (the e-mail that says your computer has a virus and you must delete a certain file to get rid of it … except it’s no virus you’re deleting, it’s a prank to get you to delete a Windows component that you need to run your computer).

So before you spread misinformation or act on it, check it out. Search Snopes, or use Google. If you don’t, you can do damage to others. Or even yourself.