A mister no more: Mr Potato Head goes gender neutral

A mister no longer. Photo / Getty

Mr Potato Head is no longer a mister.

Hasbro, the company that makes the potato-shaped plastic toy, is giving the spud a gender-neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year.

Toymakers have been updating their classic brands to appeal to kids today. Barbie has shed its blonde image and now comes in multiple skin tones and body shapes. Thomas the Tank Engine added more girl characters. And American Girl is now selling a boy doll.

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 pic.twitter.com/6I84KrxOLQ

— Hasbro (@Hasbro) February 25, 2021

Hasbro said Mr Potato Head, which has been around for about 70 years, needed a modern makeover.

Kimberly Boyd from Hasbro told Fast Company that children often used their Potato Heads to make families and the change will give them a blank slate.

"Kids like dressing up the toy, then playing out scenarios from their life. This often takes the form of creating little potato families, because they're learning what it means to be in a family."

"Culture has evolved," she said. "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."

Reaction has been swift to the news, with broadcasters like Piers Morgan and self-identified "bro dudes" taking issue with the change.

Imagine thinking in the middle of a global pandemic: 'What's really important is dropping the 'Mr' from Mr Potato Head & making him gender-neutral in case we upset a few wokies.'

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 25, 2021

Cancel Culture Comes for Mx. Potato Head https://t.co/G65pe84aJe

— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) February 25, 2021

Others remarked that the conservative reaction to Potato Head's announcement was overblown.

Gender neutral Potato Head is going to be conservatives’ Ft. Sumter pic.twitter.com/fpQ4VR6JVe

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) February 25, 2021

Expecting a Fox News segment on how “not even Mr. Potato Head is safe from the woke mob’s cancel culture” very soon. https://t.co/vp3K3KwrMj

— The Humanist Report (@HumanistReport) February 25, 2021

- Additional reporting, NZ Herald