Vendetta1 said:

Yes but a lot of times you have people that want an actual hard copy with the book and artwork which is likely why he chose to also go the Target route.

I Listen to the music but if your looking for some... I dunno, something else from the man himself...Expecting something, you will most likely be disappointed. [Edited 3/3/09 19:06pm]

I agree and disagree. I hate that Prince went this route with the album. He should swallow his pride and get back to a label and have it distrubuted everywhere.
Now as far as the Union..The union is good and bad. I dont see why its a big deal when it comes to the wages. Every major chain cant pay every employee 10-15 bucks an hour. If they did, their prices would go thru the roof. Now if they are involved in copyright infringment like Wal Mart (see adidas lawsuit against wal mart) then screw em... if theyre breaking labor laws like wal mart, then screw em...but wages? Thats just life. Some places pay great, some dont. I mean come on, next thing ya know, employees working the drive thru at McDonalds will be getting paid $13 an hour so they can have a "living" wage and we'll be paying $7 for a cheeseburger and $10 for the combo.

noah said:

Trickology, thank you for putting so much effort into your post. Critical thinking of this kind is all too scarce and you are to be highly commended for this contribution to the public dialogue.

This is absolutely something we should all think about. Target Corporation presents many significant ethical problems, such as paying employees fair wages, its anti-union stance, its dependence on foreign slave labor, its dependence on long oil-based and environmentally harmful supply chains, its contribution to sprawl and to "clone towns", and its attack on local economies by leaching money to centralized business centers.

Prince, you should be ashamed for supporting this kind of entity. It is a sad sign of how uninformed or ill-caring you must be.

As for the Prince fan community, I urge you all to avoid purchasing any of Prince's upcoming albums from Target. Shopping from this outlet will tarnish you in the same way that it has now tarnished Prince.

Bria Valent-suck-my-purple-dick- e. At least they're not pretending to have any class.

An in depth critical thinking panel on the ethics of(Target) this chain store.

Should Not be in a Prince forum.

Trickology, thank you for putting so much effort into your post. Critical thinking of this kind is all too scarce and you are to be highly commended for this contribution to the public dialogue.

This is absolutely something we should all think about. Target Corporation presents many significant ethical problems, such as paying employees fair wages, its anti-union stance, its dependence on foreign slave labor, its dependence on long oil-based and environmentally harmful supply chains, its contribution to sprawl and to "clone towns", and its attack on local economies by leaching money to centralized business centers.

Prince, you should be ashamed for supporting this kind of entity. It is a sad sign of how uninformed or ill-caring you must be.

As for the Prince fan community, I urge you all to avoid purchasing any of Prince's upcoming albums from Target. Shopping from this outlet will tarnish you in the same way that it has now tarnished Prince.

i think this thread is reaching.

i like prince. he's not without fault, but i like the majority of what he's done.

i like target. it's not without fault, but i like the majority of what target does.

prince is selling his new music at target. well, okay then.

i don't mean to be dismissive, but he could have made far worse choices for a retail distributor.

I'm sorry, did you accuse Target of "slave labor" practices? If that's really the issue here, shouldn't you be calling for the boycotting of way more than Prince's cds?
[Edited 3/4/09 7:22am]

I'm sorry, did you accuse Target of "slave labor" practices? If that's really the issue here, shouldn't you be calling for the boycotting of way more than Prince's cds?
[Edited 3/4/09 7:22am]

See the title? Yea, that means people who are prone to go with Prince like the wind this thread isn't for you. It's for people like Wall,ColAngus,and whoever wants to join in a in depth critical thinking panel on the ethics of this chain store. What really humors me, is the backlash of anyone who offers a dissenting view to the usual.

Of course if you disagree you can join but cheerleading is discouraged in this thread. It's not hating to be critical. (So Mod's let's not get trigger happy on locking when you give plenty of brash Orger's on here passes because they despise Prince criticism. It happens and we all see it. No naming names but it's just facts. IT happens. )

I find this topic interesting for a few reasons because it was touched on but not in a depth fashion. Truth be told I think Prince linking up with Target he didn't do his homework on the moral/ethical practices of Target. Which just goes to show everyone needs to do a little background check on making exclusive business merge deals with a unethical company when you will be a mascot for them. Prince will be a mascot for Target. So now he has a responsibility to hear the background history of Target's abuses.

This thread will cover the ethical practices of Target & what fans are brushing off. Regardless if it's being made available elsewhere, Prince is co signing with a store that delves in SLAVE labor. I am sure you see the irony in this. Let me say that again for all my perceptive critical thinking Orger's. Prince is doing a direct deal with a chain store that involves "SLAVE LABOR" regarding their products. There is no grey there, it's just a fact.

So, I got a shovel and as soon as I touched ground, behold the evidence of this company not being on "TARGET" with ethics and the working class. (you like that pun? Yea, more puns coming in a minute)

Prince will probably be mad or embarrassed at this. Bria Valente would be wise to think through this partnership as well. Because Im guessing she didn't do her homework on a business arrangement like this. And her name is going to be branded for a long time.

So Mr "Planet Earth/Animal Kingdom/Dear Mr Man/"etc needs to realize how deep Target goes in unethical practices. I really can't believe that even alot of the mods didn't pick up on this. It's bad,people. it's really toxic association for alot of reasons. It's not going to be the right thing to sweep it across and say "SO? " Prince should know EXACTLY who he is doing business with. That is what this thread is here for.



Of more than 1,400 Target stores employing more than 300,000 people nationwide, not one has a union. Employees at various stores say an anti-union message and video is part of the new-employee orientation. At stores in the Twin Cities, where Target is headquartered, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union Local 789 has been trying for several years to help Target employees organize, with little luck.


Strike One, not one store has a union which leads to abuse in the workplace unethical business practices. Which is not supposedly the American way.
An anti-Union message. Prince is linking up with association of Anti-Union. Why is this important to an artist like Prince? It just doesn't look good at all. Everyone involved needs to know these things because their names are associated to Target as well. Bria Valente should know about the history of Target. this shouldn't be Taboo to discuss this.



People we are already off at a bad start. But it just gets worse, Embrace the horror as one of my favorite youtuber would say.



"People ask what the difference between Wal-Mart and Target is," said UFCW organizer Bernie Hesse. "Nothing, except that Wal-Mart is six times bigger. The wages start at $7.25 to $7.50 an hour [at Target]. They'll say that's a competitive wage, but they can't say it's a living wage. We know a lot of their managers are telling people, 'If we find out you're involved in organizing a union you'll get fired.'"

Strike Two: Target doesn't promote a living wage. This is bad publicity for any independent artists. We all know what Bruce Springsteen went through. Not promoting a living wage is toxic to eliminating a middle class in this society and without a middle class we lose more of what makes America the land of opportunity. It just gets worse with every fact. Intimidation? will get into that a bit.



A Target employee who asked that his name and store location be kept secret said he can barely make ends meet on his salary of $8.40 an hour.

"After three years, I have received less than $1 an hour in raises. I started at $7.65," said the worker, adding that he does love his job because of camaraderie with his co-workers. "We are never compensated and rarely even recognized for meeting our goals."

The starting wage he describes would put a single parent with two kids working full time at Target just slightly above the poverty line; someone with more children or working fewer hours would fall below the poverty line.

Compare that to Target CEO Robert Ulrich, who earned $23.1 million in 2005, according to Forbes, making him the second-highest paid CEO in the retail sector. That's more than 1300 times as much as the worker we spoke to.


Foul: This is a example of how Chain Stores are operating with the profit margin being considerably raped at the top. A race to the bottom is not how a society will thrive and prosper. By making a contractual agreement (Oh, But what happened to no more contracts? That went out the window too) Prince has to take "personal responsibility"for the business deals he prospers from. Because if we don't, we race further to the bottom. That's why it's good to have safeguards.


Now we get to the subject that everyone who is affiliated with Prince should pay attention to. Because this is the truth of "CHAIN STORES"
Which is why most of America has to have a detox of this







*****S L A V E L A B O R*****


Meanwhile a glance at labels on a few racks of stylish $20 cardigans and capri pants shows that, like Wal-Mart and most major clothing retailers, Target itself sources its products in India, Indonesia, Guatemala, Mexico, Bangladesh, Kenya, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and other low-wage, developing countries.

"The way the global garment industry is, there are so few factories that respect workers' rights that there is no way Target gets its clothes from workplaces where workers' rights are being respected," said Allie Robbins, national organizer of the group United Students Against Sweatshops.

Target doesn't differ from most major clothing vendors; you usually have to seek out small specialty companies to find union-made, American-made textiles. But as one of the country's major retailers, Target is an industry leader, fostering and profiting from the U.S.'s general culture of consumerism: We buy, buy, buy at ever lower prices in a market system sustained by very low-paid, non-union workforces in impoverished countries.

This sounds just like Wal-Mart only no real investigation because they aren't as big as Wal mart. But the big thing is Slave Labor,orger's. And being that Prince was always talking about Slavery, and all for freedom I think being associated with having Target advertise you is not being On "Target" with your principles.

I said my piece, now it's your turn.

CherrieMoonKisses said:

Plus, the question about Target's ethics compared to Prince's? Everyone knows Prince's ethics are exactly the same as Target's: pitch it cheap, sell 3 times as much, hire workers for slave dollars, take home all the big juicy profits, and most of the women in the company fuck their way to the top. Exploit the worker for corporate greed.

Prince finally wound up right where he belongs, and so did Bria Valent-suck-my-purple-dick- e. At least they're not pretending to have any class.

noah said:

Noah, you scare me with your humorous logic. When you do think about it, it does fit Prince's psyche. This is exactly the point that alot of people are making that are seen as "haters" because they point it out & demonstrate it. That's why this Slave shit and this Planet Earth nonsense had me laughing at how all the fans were fawning over Prince's social conscience. Wow the gullibility has hit alltime high. Kevin Smith spelled it all out for us with Prince's stalking of that director. Calling him up saying to film a rambling manifesto of Jehovah Witness pseudo Jim Jones cult craziness No payment? A wasted week? And no thanks? That's douche bag city in the highest. I don't care who you are. That's unethical with no compensation and be a douche bag? He deserves no money from the general public.



I thank you for your insight and astute observations on why Prince would get a deal from Target. I think you hit it on all cylinders. I really really do. You get it, not Prince or his disciples can lecture us on ethical nature,corruption and morality.

noah said:

Noah, you scare me with your humorous logic. When you do think about it, it does fit Prince's psyche. This is exactly the point that alot of people are making that are seen as "haters" because they point it out & demonstrate it. That's why this Slave shit and this Planet Earth nonsense had me laughing at how all the fans were fawning over Prince's social conscience. Wow the gullibility has hit alltime high. Kevin Smith spelled it all out for us with Prince's stalking of that director. Calling him up saying to film a rambling manifesto of Jehovah Witness pseudo Jim Jones cult craziness No payment? A wasted week? And no thanks? That's douche bag city in the highest. I don't care who you are. That's unethical with no compensation and be a douche bag? He deserves no money from the general public.



I thank you for your insight and astute observations on why Prince would get a deal from Target. I think you hit it on all cylinders. I really really do. You get it, not Prince or his disciples can lecture us on ethical nature,corruption and morality.

I'm sorry, did you accuse Target of "slave labor" practices? If that's really the issue here, shouldn't you be calling for the boycotting of way more than Prince's cds?
[Edited 3/4/09 7:22am]

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

If he is so concerned about slave labor practices by Target, then you're right, he should be out there boycotting them if the accusations are true, as well as Walmart and all the hundreds of employers that are doing the same. Going on a P fan site and ranting about isn't doing those workers any good now is it?

Dude has another agenda and it is obvious. Calling everyone else names because they call him out on it is not going to do the local Target worker any favors. As a matter of fact, I have to shop at Target this weekend. They have some good sales going on. .

2elijah said:

Bingo g-money. Trickology has had a 'problem' with Prince for years. He si a fan of many other artisst but never delves crtiically into any of their personal or professional practices. Only Prince. Maybe becasue Prince is "evil and the devil" perhaps.

xlr8r said:

Maybe Tricky needs to get a life. I betcha its on sale at Target.

purplecam said:

Get this. He even complained about Prince's Rock n Roll Hall of fame tribute, While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

These folks will find a way to say someting negative about every move Prince makes.

xlr8r said:

oh lord. you know, there are PLENTY of things about prince a fan could complain about, so why pick on things that are actually kind of okay? i'm all for bitching and complaining - don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to be fammie mcfammkins here - but i think some people are so used to complaining about what prince does, they're permanently stuck in a sour groove.

xlr8r said:

oh lord. you know, there are PLENTY of things about prince a fan could complain about, so why pick on things that are actually kind of okay? i'm all for bitching and complaining - don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to be fammie mcfammkins here - but i think some people are so used to complaining about what prince does, they're permanently stuck in a sour groove.

There have been three types of response to this thread which have been both prevalent and poor contributions to the dialogue. They are along the lines of:-

1. "Target's practices have nothing to do with Prince".
Target's practices now do have something to do with Prince. By selling his product in Target's stores, he is supporting the corporation and its practices.

2. "Stop wasting your time hating on Prince. Go somewhere else if you are unhappy with what he does."
This evasive response does not address the arguments contained in this thread.

3. "The kind of practices in which Target engages are prevalent across the industry."
This point is weak. The prevalence is a practice is unrelated to whether or not such a practice is moral.