Lady Gaga partnering with Target to release 'Born This Way'

​Lady Gaga has a thing for Minnesota companies. In addition to working as a creative director for the Minnetonka-based Polaroid, Gaga announced today that she's partnering with Target to release an "exclusive deluxe edition" of her new album, Born This Way, which is due out May 23.

Partnering with Gaga is quite the PR score for Target, who has been under scrutiny of late after its CEO Gregg Steinhafel donated a large sum of cash to the notoriously homophobic Tom Emmer's gubernatorial campaign. Target's public image has been so tarnished in the GLBT community that the National Conference on LGBT Equality passed up having the company involved in its event at the Minneapolis Hilton earlier this month.

Lady Gaga is an avid supporter and advocate for gay rights, and Born This Way is a record about tolerance and acceptance.

The press release announcing the partnership didn't hint at any of the company's controversies, of course, but it did include a pretty blase quote from a Target rep about how the company promotes diversity:

"Target has a long history of working with a diverse group of musicians, entertainers and designers that appeal to a broad spectrum of our guests," said Michael Francis, chief marketing officer for Target. "Lady Gaga is one of the most dynamic artists of our time, and we are excited to add her to Target's outstanding list of music partnerships."

Gaga's manager, on the other hand, says that the partnership will help boost sales:

"Target and Lady Gaga together is a win-win," said Troy Carter, Lady Gaga's manager, and chairman and chief executive officer of Coalition Media Group. "The partnership provides us with an opportunity to really engage the fans early and widen our reach on the album promotion."

Born This Way will be available for pre-sale this Friday, February 11 at 8 a.m. via Target's site, and fans who pre-order the album will receive a free download of the title track.

UPDATE: The single is out now, click here to stream.