Article claiming KitchenAid has pulled items from Target shelves is satire

CLAIM: KitchenAid has stopped offering its famous stand mixers and other familiar appliances at Target stores following backlash over the retailer’s support of the LGBTQ+ community.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The claims originated from a satirical news website that labels its content as “fiction.” KitchenAid products are still for sale on Target’s online store.

THE FACTS: Social media users are claiming Target is facing another setback following the ongoing backlash over its seasonal Pride month collection.

Many are sharing posts that include the screenshot of a headline that reads: “American Icon KitchenAid Pulls Its Products From Target: ‘We Have Different Values’.”

“In another serious blow to the Target Corporation, KitchenAid Appliances has decided to pull its stock from the shelves and discontinue doing business there,” wrote a Twitter user in a widely shared post.

But the headline comes from an article on the Dunning-Kruger-Times, a website that labels itself as satire and whose content is often mistaken as real.

“Dunning-Kruger-Times.com is a subsidiary of the ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’ network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery,” the “About Us” section of the website reads.

Several blogs that do not include the satire warnings republished the article, and these posts were shared as real by many social media users.

Spokespersons for Target and KitchenAid didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment Friday, but there’s no evidence on either company’s websites that they’ve parted ways.

There was no statement from KitchenAid about any change regarding Target, and a wide range of the company’s wares were readily available on Target’s website as of Friday afternoon, from its classic mixers to pots and pans, cheese slicers and other kitchen gadgets.

The satirical article had included an alleged comment from KitchenAid’s CEO, identified as “Joe Barron” — a name frequently used in the site’s parody articles. KitchenAid is owned by Michigan-based Whirlpool, whose CEO is Marc Bitzer.

Both companies are among the familiar names targeted by conservatives on social media over promotional campaigns featuring transgender people.

KitchenAid is one of the companies that partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer known for documenting her gender transition on social media.

She also promoted Bud Light on her social media accounts, prompting calls for boycotts of the beer company.

Target, meanwhile, has faced protests, hostile outbursts and other threats to its workers and customers over its LGBTQ+friendly Pride month collection.

The Minneapolis-based retail chain has also seen its fair share of falsehoods in recent weeks, from false claims that the Pride collection features a bathing suit for kids that’s “tuck-friendly” to claims that it was selling satanic-themed apparel for young children.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.