Mr. Potato Head to keep his name, despite toy product line being renamed gender-neutral ‘Potato Head’
Mr. Potato Head appeared to be losing his gender — but there’s more than meets the detachable eye.
Word came out Thursday morning on the website Fast Company that toymaker Hasbro was renaming the potato-shaped plastic Mr. Potato Head toy it introduced in 1952 to the gender-neutral moniker “Potato Head.”
But Hasbro, which linked to that announcement, followed up hours later with a declaration clarifying that wasn’t the whole story.
“Hold that Tot – your main spud, MR. POTATO HEAD isn’t going anywhere!” the company tweeted. “While it was announced today that the POTATO HEAD brand name & logo are dropping the ‘MR.’ I yam proud to confirm that MR. & MRS. POTATO HEAD aren’t going anywhere and will remain MR. & MRS. POTATO HEAD.”
The classic dress-up statuette with changeable facial features including removable noses, eyes and ears will be packaged to reflect the brand’s updated name.
Via @FastCompany: The iconic Mr. Potato Head gets a 21st-century rebrand #HasbroInvestorDay https://t.co/xoZYTCFGAa
— Hasbro (@Hasbro) February 25, 2021
As part of Hasbro’s rebranding, a new Potato Head set will hit stores this fall allowing kids to create families that have a pair of moms or a couple dads.
The new Potato Head line “is a celebration of the many faces of families allowing kids to imagine and create their own Potato Head family with 2 large potato bodies, 1 small potato body, and 42 accessories,” Hasbro said in a press release. “The possibilities to create your own families are endless with mixing and mashing all the parts and pieces.”
GLAAD’s Chief Communications Officer Rich Ferraro celebrated “Potato Head” as part of a larger movement toward greater diversity and inclusion.
“By offering a toy that exists outside of the binary of male and female, Hasbro is helping kids to simply see toys as toys, which encourages them to be their authentic selves outside of the pressures of traditional gender norms,” he said in a statement.
Hold that Tot – your main spud, MR. POTATO HEAD isn’t going anywhere! While it was announced today that the POTATO HEAD brand name & logo are dropping the ‘MR.’ I yam proud to confirm that MR. & MRS. POTATO HEAD aren’t going anywhere and will remain MR. & MRS. POTATO HEAD pic.twitter.com/6I84KrxOLQ
— Hasbro (@Hasbro) February 25, 2021
Mattel has similarly updated its blond and busty Barbie dolls to reflect the nation’s growing diversity in recent months, including one figurine who is in a wheelchair.
With News Wire Services
