Even Mr. Potato Head finds gender conformity un-apeeling!
The classic spud-shaped plastic toy is getting a new, gender-neutral name — just plain Potato Head — with the toymaker Hasbro scrapping the “Mr.” portion.
The company said Mr. Potato Head, which first hit the shelves nearly 70 years ago, needed a fresh, modern makeover. The toy’s new moniker will begin appearing on boxes next year.
“Culture has evolved,” Kimberly Boyd, Hasbro’s senior vice president of global brands, told Fast Company. “Kids want to be able to represent their own experiences. The way the brand currently exists — with the ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’ — is limiting when it comes to both gender identity and family structure.”
Some cheered the “woke” change while others called it half-baked to label a vegetable “non-binary.”
“Mr. Potato Head will always be… a potato. Hasbro can’t take away the genitals of a spud that never had any to begin with. #thiscountryisNUTS,” one observer tweeted.
Others wondered about the fate of Mrs. Potato Head, who launched in 1953 with traditionally feminine accessories, such as hair bows and red high heels.
“What I want to know is are they retiring Mrs. Potato Head?” one Twitter user asked.
There was also no word on Potato Head’s preferred pronoun — or whether the studly spud will keep its signature black mustache.
The move by Hasbro comes after several toymakers have updated their brands to appeal to kids today — including Barbie, who shed her blonde image and got a makeover to include more skin tones and body shapes.
Thomas the Tank Engine also added more female characters and American Girl is now selling a boy doll.
“While we’re renaming the MR. POTATO HEAD brand to POTATO HEAD to better reflect the full line, the iconic MR. and MRS. POTATO HEAD characters aren’t going anywhere and will remain MR. AND MRS. POTATO HEAD. The new product we announced today, CREATE YOUR POTATO HEAD FAMILY, is a kit that includes enough potatoes and accessories for kids to create all types of families,” Hasbro said in a statement.
With Post wires