Not So on Target?

The Target Up & Up store brand has been on shelves for about a year now, and I'm still not sure I get the marketing goal here.

Yes, the design is clean, bright and not unpleasant to look at. Yes, it provides consistent branding. But it doesn't communicate, does it?

Take this Up & Up package for their baby formula.

The most prominent components, those that draw the eye, are the stuffed toy image and the Up & Up brand logo. What do these items tell you about what you're getting? Absolutely nothing. To find that out, you'll have to read the non-descript header near the top. Which would not be so unreasonable if you weren't looking at a sea of similarly labeled products.

Branding: 1
Communication: 0

Design that doesn't communicate serves no purpose. Even pure art communicates and connects to us. This is worse than a blatant case of "make the logo bigger." We have to add, "disguise the purpose of this package, please."