‘Future President’ Onesie Only in Boys Section at Target

A misplaced set of onesies has sparked quite the controversy for Target.

A mother was shopping at her local Target when she noticed a number of baby onesies with the words “Future President” emblazoned on the chest

Jamie Herndon was displeased that the onesies were only in the boys section of the store, so she picked up some of the merchandise and delivered it to the girls section as well.

She then sent a tweet photographing the poorly placed onesies. “Hey, @Target – these onesies were only in the boy’s section. So I put them in the girls’ section, too. #fixedthatforyou,” she wrote alongside the photograph. The tweet quickly went viral with over 2,000 retweets and 5,000 likes.

The retailer’s obvious flub turned out to be completely unintentional, as the garment is actually a unisex piece that was supposed to be placed in the baby department.

“First and foremost, we’re sorry this guest was disappointed during her recent trip to Target. [The onesie] is available for a limited time in our stores to coincide with the election. Our store teams have been placing it within the department where there is open space,” Joshua Thomas, a Target communications rep, told Refinery29.

Herndon was surprisingly met with harsh feedback for the tweet — so much so that she decided to make her profile private.

This isn’t the first time Target is in the news for its controversial merchandise. In 2015 the retailer was criticized for selling a black top with the word “Trophy” emblazoned on the chest. The offensive shirt caused a massive uproar on social media, and one woman even created a petition to halt the sale of the shirt.

At the time, Target released a statement to Business Insider saying, “It is never our intention to offend anyone and we always appreciate receiving feedback from our guests. The shirt you’re describing is part of a collection of engagement and wedding shirts that are available in our women’s and plus size departments. The collection also included shirts that say ‘Team Bride,’ ‘Mrs.’ and ‘Bride.’ These shirts are intended as a fun wink and we have received an overwhelmingly positive response from our guests.”

The retailer also was under fire last month for its “Batgirl” shirt, which featured a to-do list on the front with items like “dryclean cape” and “wash batmobile.” Customers felt the shirt negatively enforced archaic gender stereotypes. Target Australia discontinued the T-shirt soon after.

The reaction to the onesie misplacement shows just how much progress our country has made in the fight for gender equality. It is still hard to believe that in the ’90s a T-shirt was pulled from shelves at Walmart because it had the message, “Someday a woman will be PRESIDENT!” printed on it.

The feminist message allegedly went against Walmart’s ‘family values’ at the time, but since then the company has changed its perspective.

“Wow, it still pains us that we made this mistake 20 years ago. We’re proud of the fact that our country — and our company — has made so much progress in advancing women in the workplace, and in society,” a Walmart spokesperson told Jezebel.
People like Herndon only help our country advance toward equality — even with a simple action like moving a few onesies.

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