I don’t know if the AP got the story wrong or Hasbro has reversed an earlier decision, but they just announced that Mr. Potato Head will remain a ‘mister’:
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
This doesn’t look nearly as controversial as what the AP described. Their first line literally said:
Mr. Potato Head is no longer a mister.
From the tweet above, it looks like Hasbro is only changing the overarching brand but keeping both Mr. and Mrs. in the names of each potato head.
The AP is now blaming Hasbro on creating the confusion:
Hasbro created confusion on Thursday when it removed the gender from its Mr. Potato Head brand, but not from the actual toy.
The company, which has been making the potato-shaped plastic toy for nearly 70 years, announced Thursday morning that it was dropping Mr. from the brand in an effort to make sure “all feel welcome in the Potato Head world.” That set off a social media frenzy over the beloved toy.
Later that afternoon, Hasbro clarified in a tweet that the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head characters will still exist, names and all, but the branding on the box will say “Potato Head.”
Well at the very least, I’m glad Hasbro came out and clarified. Perhaps the AP should have called Hasbro this morning and asked them about the change and we could’ve all avoided this story altogether.