In an effort to promote inclusion, the iconic brand Mr. Potato Head is becoming gender neutral, leaving aside “Mr.” title in favor of a more “modern” look. But the brand created confusion on social media when it made the announcement, and now fans are asking – aren’t the characters Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head any more?
Hasbro announced on Thursday that it would abandon “Mr.” brand name title “to better reflect the complete line.” He said that a set of toys will not bear the designations of Mr. and Mrs., Allowing children to raise their own potato families with two mothers or two fathers, a “celebration of the many faces of families”.
“Potato Head has offered endless creative possibilities for our preschoolers for almost 70 years and will continue to do so,” said Hasbro. “The possibilities for creating your own families are endless with the mixing and kneading of all parts and pieces.”
But at the end of the day, Hasbro clarified that the characters themselves will still present the gender titles – only with less prominence. The brand itself does not.
“Hold this Tot – your main potato, MR. POTATO HEAD is not going anywhere!” the company tweeted, after some confusion on social networks. “Although it was announced today that the POTATO HEAD brand and logo are no longer ‘MR.’ I am proud to confirm that Mr and Mrs POTATO HEAD are not going anywhere and will remain as Mr and Mrs POTATO HEAD. “
The toy was launched 70 years ago – when children had to provide their own potato to play with. In the last years, a series of brands have made an effort to be more inclusive, including Barbie and American Girl Doll.
GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, praised the change, calling it “a greater movement towards greater diversity and inclusion in toys and media geared towards children”.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Rich Ferraro, director of communications for GLAAD, said: “Hasbro is helping children to simply view toys as toys, which encourages them to be authentic outside the pressures of traditional gender norms.”