Hasbro on Thursday created confusion when it announced that it would drop the “Mr” from the Mr Potato Head brand to be more inclusive and so all could feel “welcome in the Potato Head world.”
It also said it would sell a new playset this fall without the Mr and Mrs designations that would let kids create their own type of potato families.
However, Hasbro later on Thursday wrote on Twitter that while the brand is changing, the actual Mr and Mrs Potato Head characters would still live on and be sold in stores.
Photo: AP
In an image posted on Twitter, the “Mr” and “Mrs” names are less prominently displayed at the bottom of the box, instead of the top.
“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 company wrote.
The post came after news of the brand name change exploded on Twitter, with people asking if Barbie would change her name next.
“I think Hasbro needs to drop the ‘Bro’ and just be ‘Has,’” another person wrote.
Hasbro appears to want to have it both ways: expand the brand, while not killing off its most iconic characters, which appeared in the Toy Story films.
“They are looking to broaden the franchise,” said Robert Passikoff, founder of marketing consultancy Brand Keys. “You take the focus of what is essentially one character and now allow it to be a platform for many characters.”
Kimberly Boyd, a senior vice president at Hasbro, said that the intention of the brand name change was to be more inclusive and to have the characters still live within the Potato Head universe.
“It created a lot of excitement,” she said about the reaction.
“It’s a potato, but kids like to see themselves in the toys they are playing with.” said Ali Mierzejewski, editor in chief at toy review site The Toy Insider, about the new playset.
Barbie, for example, has tried to shed its blonde image, and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes.
The Thomas the Tank Engine toy line added more female characters and American Girl is now selling a boy doll.
Mr Potato Head first hit the toy scene in 1952, when it did not 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.
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