A petition on Change.org has accumulated thousands of supporters demanding Target remove their in-store Annie ads and issse Quevenzhané Wallis an apology.
According to the petition, recent ads and in-store displays depict a misleading depiction of the movie as it shows a Caucasian young lady opposed to the star of the film, Quvenzhané Wallis.
Though the model is quite professional, she does not speak to the relevance of the movie or main character. The Red Dress is synonymous to Annie and we are not seeing that in any of your ads. When the original Annie came out, everything was about Aileen Quinn or a character/person that emulated her…why not now Target?
In the current stench of racism and division amongst Americans, why would Target singlehandedly disrespect Quvenzhané Wallis and add more pain to injury as it relates to race relations?
Target recently released a statement defending their Annie ads.
Girls from a variety of backgrounds were featured within the campaign, reflecting that anyone can embody the spirit and character of Annie.
The Annie collection was designed to have a limited-run, and it will be out of stores by the end of this week. Most of the department store’s ads for the “Annie” line have already been taken down, Target noted.
CNN reports that Target won’t be apologizing to Wallis, but a spokesperson said the company has been in contact with the actress and her representatives about the situation.
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