Shankavi's International business assignment International business | Page 24

Learning Strand:

The learning strand that this relates to is marketing challenges, approaches, and distribution. It relates to this because people were against the new design of Christmas sweaters. The design of the sweater lost consumers because people did not want to buy clothing that may be disrespectful or offend others. It caused consumer and societal issues because of the OCD design on the sweater and people took offense to this design. The marketing techniques on this sweater hurt and affected many and caused negative reactions within society. Due to this offensive design, they lost sales and could lose their consumers because of this issue.

Thoughts and Opinions:

My opinion on this issue is that this design does bring discomfort to people and when looking at the product for the first time, we do miss understand it. I feel that they should not be selling the sweaters because to those who have or suffer from OCD, it may make them feel hurt or mocked. It makes them feel discomfort and others who wear the sweater may feel uncomfortable that the sweater says OCD on it. I feel that Target should not have made these sweaters because it is a serious illness and we do not want to make others feel hurt by it. They could have avoided this design and they may have made it unintentionally but obviously it was a wrong choice and hopefully they be careful of what designs they put on their products.

The 5 W's Breakdown:

Who: The Target Company.

What: Target made Christmas themed sweaters that had OCD on it which stood for Obsessive Christmas Disorder that caused a ruckus within society.

When: It started in the end of October and early November.

Where: The issue took place in American states where Target is present.

Why: There was a backlash with the sweater because people felt that OCD on sweaters mocked the actual illness which is known as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and it caused tension for society and company.

How: It started when people saw the OCD sweaters at Target and there were immediate reactions that consisted of anger due to the products being disrespectful to those that suffer from the disorder. It blew up on social media and spread to the public which caused a major issue.