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.
Brazil, the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, saw its Catholic population decline further in 2022, while evangelical Christians and those with no religion continued to rise, census data released on Friday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) showed. The census indicated that Brazil had 100.2 million Roman Catholics in 2022, accounting for 56.7 percent of the population, down from 65.1 percent or 105.4 million recorded in the 2010 census. Meanwhile, the share of evangelical Christians rose to 26.9 percent last year, up from 21.6 percent in 2010, adding 12 million followers to reach 47.4 million — the highest figure
A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the US for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, who leads field
‘THE RED LINE’: Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised a thorough probe into the attack on the senator, who had announced his presidential bid in March Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.” The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay, 39, covered in blood being held by several people. The Santa Fe Foundation
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza. Thunberg, 22, was put on a flight to France, the ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there. Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, Israeli rights group Adalah, which advised them, said in a statement. They are being held at a detention center ahead of a
RSS