NEW YORK — After announcing that Mr. Potato Head would go gender neutral, Hasbro took back the decision: Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head aren’t going anywhere.
In a tweet last Thursday, Hasbro said, “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.”
Before it reversed its decision, Hasbro, the company that’s made the potato-shaped plastic toy for nearly 70 years, wanted to give the spud a gender-neutral new name: Potato Head.
Many toymakers have been updating their classic brands in recent years, hoping to relate to today's kids and reflect more modern families.
“It’s a potato,” said Ali Mierzejewski, editor in chief at toy review site The Toy Insider. “But kids like to see themselves in the toys they are playing with.”
Barbie, for example, has tried to shed its blond image and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes. The Thomas the Tank Engine toy line added more girl characters. And American Girl is now selling a boy doll.
Mr. Potato Head first hit the toy scene in 1952, when it didn’t even come with a plastic potato — kids had to supply their own vegetable to poke eyes, a nose or mustache into. Hasbro, which also makes Monopoly and My Little Pony, bought the brand and eventually added a plastic spud.
Rich Barak of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.
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