Did Target Really Sell A $123,000 Turkey?
Target is a retail store where you cannot help but drop $100 every time you walk through their doors even if you just went for one thing. You hear it all the time. Per Business Insider, the "Target Effect" is real, and you can blame the store's layout for making you feel so carefree about spending. However, as Thanksgiving quickly approaches, we are seeing a photo that, per Snopes, first appeared in 2015. The photo in question is of a frozen turkey with a Target price tag of $123,199.88. It weighed 12.32 pounds and cost $9,999.99 per pound.
Now, we love Target as much as the next person. But we don't care what the store layout might be – we don't think anyone feels that carefree with our pocketbooks. In fact, if you are like us, you might be wondering if that turkey is covered in gold. Who can afford poultry with a price tag like that? Most people would contend that this had to be an error or a joke, right?
Well, PolitiFact did a little fact-checking, and it seems that the photo first appeared on Reddit. It was posted by someone from Minneapolis who explained that when they showed the bird to a cashier, "the ticket didn't have a barcode to scan." But did the turkey really cost $123,000, and did anyone actually buy such a pricy bird?
The cost of turkeys is rising, but not that much
PolitiFact reveals that the short answer is no. Target did not sell a turkey for $123,000. It was a simple human error, and it only occurred at the one store at the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. But you may have to take out a second mortgage to afford a turkey this year. Okay, that's hyperbole, but according to USA Today, our Thanksgiving day dinner will cost us 14% more than it did in 2020. Based on a survey conducted by the Farm Bureau, we can expect to pay $53.31 for a Thanksgiving day spread that will feed 10. This is a $6.41 increase from 2020 when the average cost for dinner clocked in at $46.90.
But, how much can we expect to dole out for the star of Turkey Day? Well, the good news is it isn't anywhere close to $123,000. However, a 16-pound bird will set you back by around $23.99. Additionally, USA Today is reporting our pocketbooks are experiencing the effects of a 31-year high for inflation, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that the cost of food at grocery stores is up 5.4%.