Might be tough to recycle these boxes

The boxes of the season may not be the ones under the Christmas tree, but the piles of them stacked on your front stoop.

America's doorsteps are awash in a sea of boring tan or white cardboard, as online shopping intensifies for even the simplest of items.

Target Corp. is now injecting a bit of color and design into its standard shipping fare.

Last month, the Minneapolis-based retailer introduced three sizes of cardboard boxes adorned with playful images of its canine mascot, Bullseye.

The large boxes show a merry mutt romping through a house: listening to music through headphones, snoring on a bed, trotting out the door with a hat in its mouth. The medium-sized boxes show Bullseye driving a truck. In the small ones, the pooch appears to be hiding within.

"We wanted to take a routine interaction, like receiving a shipping box on your doorstep, and turn it into an expression of joy using Target's iconic branding," said Todd Waterbury, Target's chief creative officer, in an e-mail.

Waterbury said the boxes "elevate the everyday."