Making Mealtime Meaningful: Discover how we're giving back with the 12T Cares program →

Every corporation knows the benefit of brand recognition but Target has taken things to the next level. They have a logo that works perfectly with the name of their company and it is even displayed on Bullseye, their bull terrier mascot. Perhaps one of the more unusual ways that they brand their store is the giant red concrete spheres that are found out front. It makes it easy to recognize the store, but according to Taste of Home, they provide for your safety as well.

The actual name for the giant red spheres is a bollard, which could be a wooden or metal post built along a wharf. It would allow sailors to tie their ships using mooring lines. Bollards can also be descriptive of posts that are in front of buildings. Distracted drivers would hit the bollard before they drove through the front door.

Photo: Pixabay

Typically, the bollards are shaped more traditionally, but Target got creative and made them a sphere. Some baseball stadiums do something similar, making the bollards look like baseballs.

Target’s bollards are supposed to be a safety feature and they are there to reduce car accidents. They may also pose a danger of their own. Back in 2016, Target was sued by a New Jersey mother for $1.6 million. Her five-year-old son was climbing on one of the spheres and fell, shattering his elbow. That injury required surgery and his range of motion was threatened for the long-term. Another woman had filed a lawsuit the following year after one of the 2-ton spheres broke loose and hit her car.

I guess no system is perfect!