Target pulled a children’s Halloween costume from sale after social media users said its design evoked blackface and 19th-century minstrel imagery. The $25 “Kids’ Glow Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume Bodysuit,” sold through Target’s in-house Hyde & EEK! Boutique line, featured a clown outfit with black gloves, a mesh mask with a wide grin, and a small top hat.
Target spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo said, “As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry,” confirming the costume was designed and manufactured by a Target-owned brand rather than sourced from an outside vendor or third-party seller.
Why This Lands Differently Than a Vendor Mistake
Target being the actual designer and manufacturer of the costume, rather than a licensing or reselling partner, removes the usual response of blaming a third-party supplier for an insensitive product slipping through. That distinction is part of why the apology came quickly and directly from the company itself rather than framing it as a vendor’s error Target failed to catch.
Part of a Longer Pattern for Target
This controversy adds to a string of reputational setbacks for the Minneapolis-based retailer, which faced boycotts and sales pressure over its handling of a 2023 Pride Collection, followed by its scaling back of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in early 2025. Target has now drawn public backlash from multiple, politically opposite directions within the space of about three years, a pattern that suggests the company’s product review process, not any single ideological misstep, may be the more persistent underlying problem.
