Giveaway: Family Basket from Target’s up & up

Over the years, I’ve seen studies that say mothers account for as much as eighty-five percent of household “buying power.” That’s the good news. The bad? Brand loyalty is waning.

And can you really blame us when generic has gotten better?

My own guilty secret has been the bullseye branded stuff from Target, everything from infant gas drops to my toddler’s detangler. But when I last stopped in to a Target, the bullseye was gone. In its place: up & up, which I soon learned is the “new and improved” version of Target branding.

When they offered to show us here at Babble why they revamped the line, we had one condition: show us something we need anyway. The result, a basket that included drinking straws for the kids (yup, we need ‘em), a pump dispenser of hand soap (yup, with kids we need that too), disinfecting wipes, lotion, bandages (Band-Aids is a branded name), lunch bags and a thermometer summed it up nicely: up & up has got what we parents need.

And considering the economy, the savings over the mega branded versions doesn’t hurt: at least when you consider they each did the same exact jop the others did in my house – I tested them all (or my child did – no kid says no to a bandage). Target has a few up on their Website, but most are in stores, and with eight hundred some products, it’s obvious prices vary (and, no, I didn’t test all of them).

Target’s willing to share the love – we’ve got one family basket for a Babble reader (with an extra pomegranate body was just because every parent could use a little love for themselves). To enter, send an e-mail to babblecontest@gmail.com with “Target” in the subject line and your address in the text. A winner will be chosen at random on Sept. 8.