Gilt's Tucker and Mulberry for Target sales were over in minutes, but the major frustration for shoppers seems to focus Gilt's association with Target after Target's recent controversial donation to a political campaign.
Target's recent $150,000 contribution to gay marriage-opposed Minnesota gubernatorial candidate, Tom Emmer, incited the LGBT community and its supporters, and the backlash extended to Gilt for its involvement with the chain on its Target-focused sales today.
According to Elle's blog, Gilt's Facebook page lit up with wall posts from angry members threatening to boycott the sample sale site for its support of Target. The company's CEO Susan Lynne responded directly with a statement separating their efforts from corporate donation decisions and acknowledging their support of the LGBT community. Of course, commenters continued to speak out, putting the inherent dynamics of social media to a fascinating test.
Politics aside, we were mostly frustrated by the two-minute duration of the sale itself. We're pretty sure that's a good talking point in terms of Gilt's PR, but it makes for a rather unsatisfying user experience.
