Mr Potato Head company backflips on gender neutral names: Drastic change to Toy Story character mocked

Hasbro has backflipped on its gender neutral name change for Mr and Mrs Potato Head saying the characters “aren’t going anywhere”.

Toy giant Hasbro sparked outrage after revealing one of Toy Story’s best-loved characters, Mr Potato Head, is no longer a male.

However, the change was quickly ridiculed worldwide and Hasbro has now released a statement claiming Mr and Mrs Potato Head “aren’t going anywhere”.

The company that makes the popular plastic toy announced overnight it was dropping the honorifics from the spud’s name – making him gender neutral – “to promote gender equality and inclusion”.

“Hold that Tot – your main spud, MR. POTATO HEAD isn’t going anywhere,” Hasbro said in a new statement earlier today.

“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.”

From later this year, the toy launched almost 70 years ago, will be known simply as “Potato Head”, but will still be called Mr and Mrs Potato Head, the company 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 pic.twitter.com/6I84KrxOLQ

— Hasbro (@Hasbro) February 25, 2021

Mr Potato Head is now just plain ol’ Potato Head. Picture: Nicole Emanuel

The toy was brought to life alongside Mrs Potato Head in the Toy Story film franchise, and would often angrily demand other characters not forget his title.

“That’s Mr Potato Head to you, you back-stabbing murderer,” the plastic spud memorably said to Woody, after the cowboy inadvertently knocked Buzz Lightyear out of a bedroom window.

However, Hasbro believes the toy needs to move with the times.

“Hasbro today announced the iconic brand will be reimagined for the modern consumer,” read a statement on the manufacturer’s website.

The rebranded toy, in which children add facial characteristics and clothes to the body of a plastic spud, will hit shelves later this year

It will allow kids “to imagine and create their own Potato Head family,” said Hasbro.

“The way the brand currently exists, with the “Mr” and “Mrs”, is limiting when it comes to both gender identity and family structure,” Hasbro general manager Kimberly Boyd told business magazine Fast Company.

“Culture has evolved,” she added.

However, the change has been ruthlessly ridiculed by many on social media.

Ah yes, Mr. Potato Head. The man who taught me about gender. Everything I know about my gender came to me the old fashioned way as it did for all the other girls in the neighborhood for generations before and hence and as is rightly so -- directly from Mr. Potato Head.

— Nellie Bowles (@NellieBowles) February 25, 2021

Now any child, of any gender, can look at a Potato Head and dream of growing up to be a plastic spheroid with interchangeable parts.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 25, 2021

I told my 7-year-old daughter that Mr. Potato Head is gender neutral now and she smiled and said, "This is the greatest day of my life. Finally I can be at peace." We hugged and I started sobbing. It was so beautiful.

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 25, 2021

Mr Potato Head first went on sale in 1952. On the back of its success, Mrs Potato Head was launched the following year, along with traditional feminised accessories.

The move follows other updates to classic brands, including Barbie, who was initially known for being tall, white and blonde but now comes in a range of ethnicities and body shapes.

In 2019, global toy giant Mattel released a line of gender-neutral dolls.