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While Madonna's been busy expanding to the Kabbalah Centre's empire by invading the New York City school system, Defamer readers are taking the fight to the streets. Well, they're taking it to happy, red-and-white draped family superstores through the internet. An "activist" was disturbed that Target was selling the Kabbalah Centre's red string bracelets on their website and sent them a disapproving e-mail. And the retailer folded like Michael Moore showed up in the Housewares aisle with a bullhorn and a copy of the Centre's plans for world domination—the Kabbalah Red String is no longer available for purchase at Target.com or sold in their stores.

When I saw your post about Kaballah Red String being sold at Target.com I went ballistic. I sent an e-mail to them through their site, the long and short of which said "As long as you support The Kabbalah Center by selling the red string through your site, Target's lost a customer." Check out these responses:

7/29 Dear X,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Kabbalah Red Strings you found objectionable on target.com web site. I apologize that you are offended by this item.

Target is a trend retailer that wants to provide you the latest merchandise at the lowest possible price. We understand that content is a sensitive issue for some of our guests. Target is a family retailer that serves many guests with varying interests. We recognize that everyone will not always agree with our decision to feature certain merchandise. However,
we feel the final decision to purchase an item is always in the hands of our individual guests, and we want to respect that choice. We are always looking for ways to make the Target experience better for every guest.

We value you as our guest and hope this apology will convey how sincerely we regret having disappointed you.

Sincerely,

XX
Target Guest Relations
www.target.com

And then on 8/4:

Dear X,

Your concerns about the Kabbalah string that was sold on www.target.com have been forwarded to my office.

I wanted you to know that the Kabbalah string is no longer available on our Web site at www.target.com. This item is not sold in Target stores. Please accept my personal apologies for any offense or disappointment this item has caused you.

I hope that you'll continue to shop at www.target.com and Target stores.

Sincerely,

XY
Target Executive Offices

I checked the site and sure enough the page is gone.

We briefly flirted with the idea that a well-timed e-mail campaign might cause the Centre to collapse, but then realized they probably have a giant red string tied around their server that would harmlessly bounce our messages back. Let's just enjoy this victory while it's still fresh in our minds.