Oh the HuManatee!

Target is looking to expand its clothing footprint with a foray into aquatic mammal fashion.

That’s not just the setup to a weird and tasteless fat joke — it’s what Target actually called the color of some of their plus-sized clothes. The company was put on the defensive last week after calling the color of one of their larger dresses “Manatee Gray.” The petite version of the dress is called “Heather Gray.”

Target says the labeling was a mistake, but it still makes you wonder: why the hell would you name a dress color Manatee Gray anyway? What exactly is appealing — to a woman of ANY size — about a color named after a slow-moving water elephant that weighs half a ton and has flippers shaped like ham hocks? Seriously, the thing looks like a big sad sausage.

Naming colors is fun. It lacks a lot of the hoops and constraints that are in play with company naming or product naming. With colors from Tangerine and Spanish Crimson to Fuzzy Wuzzy and Metallic Seaweed, it’s pretty hard to screw up. But when picking color names for your product, try to have a little situational awareness. That’s what fashion sense is all about. You know you shouldn’t wear plaid with stripes, so why would you describe your clothing as something awkward and physically unattractive?

Don’t want your brand to be a lumbering sea cow? Check out what it takes to make your brand the most interesting person in the room.