In the doghouse: Bullseye mascot provider says Target owes $740K for breaching contract

A California company that provides animals for live events is demanding that Target fork over nearly $740,000, claiming the Minneapolis-based retailer did not cancel an auto-renewing contract in time for the use of its Bullseye dogs with a “sweet temperament” and a “confident attitude.”

“Worldwide Movie Animals enjoyed a lengthy relationship with Target and was pleased to be an integral part in the development of the iconic Bullseye brand,” the plaintiff’s lawyer said in an email to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

“It is unfortunate that, without any explanation, Target unexpectedly canceled the contract, terminating a twenty-two year relationship, and now refuses to pay amounts owed under the contract.”

Worldwide Movie Animals, based in Santa Clarita, Calif., has since 2002 provided Bullseye, played by English bull terriers with a red Target circle painted around their left eyes, at events such as Thanksgiving parades, red carpet events and opening bell ceremonies on Wall Street, the lawsuit said.

Filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the suit is sealed.

Worldwide’s lawyer, Tiffany Hedgpeth of Edgcomb Law Group, said the company opposes Target’s request to keep the suit under seal “as there is nothing about the contract that warrants depriving the public from its right to review judicial records.”

Target on Friday declined to comment.

In the lawsuit, obtained by Law.com, Worldwide said that for years, Target would call the animal provider to ask to use Bullseye without using a contract or agree to the company’s standard contract, which applied only to one event at a time. Around 2016, though, Target told Worldwide that it was requiring vendors to enter multiyear agreements with the company, the complaint said.

“While [Worldwide Movie Animals] was reluctant to enter into such an agreement, preferring to use its own agreement, which provided flexibility, Target insisted,” the suit said.

The contract required the animal provider to make two dogs available at any time to the retailer. It also stated that Target needed to cancel the contract six months before a three-year term auto-renewed. Therefore, to prevent the contract from renewing last Feb. 5, Target had to provide notice of cancellation by Aug. 4, 2023, the suit said.

The retailer “inexplicably” mailed a cancellation notice on Aug. 4, and the animal provider received it three days later, the lawsuit said. “As notice of cancellation of the agreement was not effected before Aug. 4, 2023, by its terms, the agreement automatically renewed on Feb. 5,” the suit said.

Target has not paid the $739,314 it owes for the remaining fees for the three-year term that started on Feb. 5, it said.

“While defendant Target Enterprises LLC (“Target”) seeks brand loyalty from its customers, it has shown that it is anything but loyal to those responsible for bringing its brand to life,” the suit said. “After twenty-two years of providing Target’s Bullseye dog mascot, Target inexplicably canceled its agreement with” Worldwide Movie Animals.