Merry Christmas Is Back. Target's Change Signals DEI Shift

Is Merry Christmas back? And what does this signal?

In the ongoing corporate DEI evolution, retailer Target appears to have made some slight changes to their holiday strategy.

(Original Caption) Left to right are; Actor Bing Crosby, Actresses Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen, ... [+] and Actor Danny Kaye, dressed in Christmas colors as they sing during the 1954 Paramount production of "White Christmas." Undated movie still. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)

Recently, X users @BritHugoboom and @MariaLeaf posted a photo on their feeds of some of Target’s store-level holiday decor. This year, the message of “Happy Holidays” wasn’t front and center. Instead, the phrase “Merry Christmas” was the headline.

Not long ago, in the spirit of being more inclusive of all religious beliefs during the holiday shopping season, “Merry Christmas” was exchanged for a broader, more inclusive catchall term: “Happy Holidays.”

Among big U.S. retailers, Happy Holidays became normal nomenclature, and it even permeated its way into casual greetings between colleagues and clients, as well as cable news networks. And some news networks proclaimed the change in season’s greetings “The War on Christmas.”

This weekend I went to my local Target store, in the suburbs of Trumbull, Connecticut, to see this Merry Christmas for myself.

While this simple language detail on signage may not be something everyday shoppers pay much attention to, for me, it was a bit of a shock. I was accustomed to Happy Holidays. And Merry Christmas wasn’t on just one sign—it was displayed loud and clear throughout the store.

Merry Christmas display at Target location in Trumbull, CT

In 2023, Target began to make changes to its Pride merchandise, after the company and its employees became the focus of anti-LGBT+ threats—including confronting store workers, knocking down Pride displays and posting videos on social. Some blamed the “strong reaction” to Target’s support of Pride for the company’s quarterly sales falling for the first time in six years during that quarter.

Fast-forward to 2024. Target took a more proactive approach in sharing their strategy for Pride. One tactic was to sell only Pride-themed “adult apparel in select stores, based on historical sales performance,” which amounted to about half of their 2,000 locations. Not everyone was happy about this, and some big voices were vocal about their displeasure.

But therein lies the problem. Is there a way to satisfy everyone?

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 31: Pride Month merchandise is displayed at a Target store on May ... [+] 31, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Target has pulled some of its Pride Month merchandise from stores or have moved the seasonal displays to lesser seen areas of their stores to avoid conservative backlash that has threatened workers’ safety. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

While the rhetoric to evolve DEI ramped up throughout much of 2024, it was the November 4 election results—and the definitive win of President Trump—that kicked off an ongoing series of small, yet deliberate actions. Companies of all sizes, from coast to coast, began to eliminate, roll back and rename DEI. And with that change, numerous DEI professionals have lost their roles across the public and private sector.

A seismic shift in corporate interest, consumer behaviors and public demand has swung 180 degrees from just a few years ago. It’s hard to ignore the headlines pronouncing this shift.

This moment will serve as a litmus test for the next four years. Will there be pushback against changes targeting specific groups? Have we reached critical mass when companies openly admit they can’t be everything to everyone?

Will priorities pivot toward different areas of DEI? For instance, will accessibility and veterans take center stage in the larger corporate narrative? Or will there be a longing for more inclusive language?

On social media, the town square for public sentiment, will the groups who are no longer being included put these companies on notice? Or will the numbers speak a different message of power and privilege?

Or maybe . . . no one will notice at all.

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