Target says its 'Minnesota Badgers' onesie is donesie, apologizes

A fashion misstatement has Minneapolis-based Target apologizing to Minnesota Gophers fans.

The fan website GopherHole.com tweeted a photo from Kileigh Carpenter of a maroon onesie sporting a block "M" insignia with the words "Minnesota Badgers" — the nickname for neighboring Big Ten rival Wisconsin.

"Color us red," Target said in a statement on Tuesday that leaned on the shade that the retail giant shares with the Badgers and is known to reveal embarrassment. "As a Minnesota-based company, we know we are home to the Gophers. We've worked with our vendor to remove this item and apologize to any sports fans who might have been left scratching their head."

Target added that two of the onesies were purchased in the less than 24 hours that they were available in four Twin Cities stores a few days ago. The remaining 22 went back to the vendor.

Carpenter said that "as a former employee, and huge fan of the Gophers, this was hilarious." She said she worked in the ticket office and marketing departments while attending the U, then afterward as a social media manager.

She said she noticed the onesies while shopping Sunday night in the Target located in the Quarry retail district in northeast Minneapolis, and "I had to look at this a few times and questioned myself. … I'm happy to see both fan bases unite."

Alas, Carpenter only has her Twitter memories of the discovery. "I didn't buy it," she said. "I wish I would have."

The design dust-up prompted others to tweet previous Gopher goofs on apparel over the years. They include a Gophers shirt bought at Macy's in Roseville with a map of Oregon, and another Minnesota shirt with "Hawkeyes" on the inside back of the collar.

Vikings fans were nominally thrown for a loss for words in a similar manner in 2014, when a Target store in Edina had for sale jersey-style shirts that had newly acquired quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's last name spelled B-R-I-D-E-W-A-T-E-R.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482