Are Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head Going Gender-Neutral?
America's favorite spuds, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, appeared to be going gender-neutral, but how it's not so clear. Could this attempt at woke-ness be Hasbro's "New Coke" moment?
Hasbro originally said they are dropping the "Mr." and "Mrs." designations and officially renaming the brand "Potato Head" in an effort to be more inclusive and so all kids can feel "welcome to the Potato Head world", as reported by Dakota News Now.
After a considerable amount of backlash on social media, Hasbro appeared to walk that claim back a bit. The company later said the "iconic Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head characters aren't going anywhere and will remain Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head." However, the Mr. and Mrs. designations will be relocated to the bottom of the box.
The company did take the opportunity to plug their "Create Your Potato Head Family." These characters will be gender-neutral and will allow kids to imagine and create potato families, including two moms or dads. Each "Create Your Potato Head Family" will include two large gender-neutral potato bodies and one small potato body along with 42 accessories.
Mr. Potato was introduced in 1952 at a cost of $0.98. The original kit included hands, feet, ears, two mouths, two pairs of eyes, four noses, three hats, eyeglasses, a pipe, and eight felt pieces resembling facial hair.
The kit didn't have a plastic body, kids used a real potato. The plastic body finally came along in 1964 because kids shouldn't play with their food.
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