Patterico's Pontifications

2/25/2021

Goodbye, Mr. Potato Head

Filed under: General — Dana @ 11:06 am



[guest post by Dana]

Mrs. Potato Head was shocked to learn today that 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.

Toy makers 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.

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

Do you know who doesn’t give a whit about Mr. Potato Head “needing a modern makeover”? Every kid who has happily played with a Mr. Potato Head in the past 70 years. Hasbro can do what they want with their product, and if this decision generates more sales, then it will prove to have been a smart marketing decision.

I just hate to see any long-standing relationship come to an end. Certainly it’s got to be hard on Mrs. Potato Head to learn that her husband is no longer quite the spud he used to be:

potato head

–Dana

23 Responses to “Goodbye, Mr. Potato Head”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (fd537d)

  2. I wonder what the sales were from Hasbro? Is this just a “shake up” of a languishing product in a dead market, I know a lot of the legacy toy product sales are way down.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (1367c0)

  3. Hello.

    Technically, the appropriate way to play with these Potato Heads is to ensure each has male/female qualities since that is how the tubers are in nature. Calling it “Mr.” or “Mrs.” is hateful and wrong.

    Hoi Polloi (7cefeb)

  4. Somewhat off-topic:

    The Babylon Bee is concerned that the hostility shown them by Big Tech will grow into the kind of cancellation drive that took down Parler and has locked other organizations out of social media. Snopes often labels their satire “fake news”, as though humor and satire are “news” to begin with.

    Here is the content of an email I received:

    The internet is quickly becoming a very different place, and one that is more hostile than ever to our freedom of speech and thought. But we can forge our own path in it — together. I’m sending you this email to invite you to join the Babylon Bee as a subscriber, and to help us preserve a place online where humor, community, and free thought are upheld and cherished.

    I hope you’ll click here now to get started.

    (benign signup link)

    Left-run Big Tech companies are selectively enforcing their policies to silence political opposition on a grand scale. They’re doing it blatantly, right out in the open. And they’re doing it with impunity. It doesn’t end with Trump and Parler—it begins with them.

    Free speech advocates like Elon Musk know this. As an informed media consumer, I’m sure you do, too.

    When we first launched our subscription service, the primary reason we gave for supporting us was to help us reduce our dependence on Big Tech. That hasn’t changed. In fact, as Big Tech has become more tyrannical, the need for independent financial support has only increased.

    So I’ll close with the same call to action you might have heard from us before: If you value The Babylon Bee and want to see us prevail in the face of Big Tech censorship, please consider becoming a subscriber. Your support will make a difference.

    Join with this growing community of free speech lovers, humorists, and at least one Mars-loving billionaire as we continue the fight to defend free expression from the left-wing censorship of Big Tech.

    From our whole team, thank you for your loyal readership and support.

    Seth Dillon
    CEO

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  5. Calling it “Mr.” or “Mrs.” is hateful and wrong.

    Also borders on the illegal, as marrying a potato (to yourself or to another potato) is not allowed.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  6. THis also allows them to sell more fashion accessories, hair styles, mustaches, etc.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  7. I saw a funny joke about Girl’s / Boy’s toys

    Flow chart to determine what toy goes with what gender

    Do you use your genitals to interact with this toy?
    If Yes: This toy is not for children.
    If No: This toy is for girls or boys.

    Kidding aside, I’ll bet you there’s a product manager at Hasbro that’s *begging* the lord to have Tucker Carlson rant about this.

    Time123 (cd2ff4)

  8. I’ll bet you there’s a product manager at Hasbro that’s *begging* the lord to have Tucker Carlson rant about this.

    Heh. I bet there is, and I bet he will! This is red meat for him.

    Dana (fd537d)

  9. After stepping on the wrong side of his eye as a kid, he had it coming.

    Paul Montagu (77c694)

  10. This is so cynical and transparent. More unpaid product promotion, a la Trump’s free media in 2016. No one cares about eunuch potatoes. Our Stupid Times [The Onion].

    J DAlessandro (0923bb)

  11. Spud-nuts.

    Yes. It’s a tasty sinker to dunk into a-mugga-hot-java, too.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  12. Heh. I bet there is, and I bet he will! This is red meat for him.

    This has antifa’s fingerprints all over it…

    (Cue cocker-spaniel doing quantum field theory face…)

    Dave (1bb933)

  13. I’ll bet you there’s a product manager at Hasbro that’s *begging* the lord to have Tucker Carlson rant about this.

    Heh. I bet there is, and I bet he will! This is red meat for him.

    Dana (fd537d) — 2/25/2021 @ 12:54 pm

    It’s a win / win / win. Hasbro gets to sell more bits of plastic, Tucker has something outrageous to fill airtime with, his viewers get to reinforce their persecution complexes because now even toy companies are attacking their way of life.

    Even I get to win because I get to feel all smart a superior for seeing through it.

    Mr. Potato Head really does bring joy.

    Time123 (6e0727)

  14. Just think of the possibilities with the game “operation.”

    felipe (484255)

  15. Have Barbie and Ken gone transgender yet? Given that they have no equipment anyway, it should be easier for them.

    And I shudder to think what the aftermarket “Potato” attachments might be. Now, you will too.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  16. Tater-Tots be tasty w/ketchup, too.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  17. “WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday carried out an airstrike in Syria against a structure belonging to what it said were Iran-backed militia, two officials told Reuters.

    The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was approved by President Joe Biden.”

    Hello, Mr. Potato Head.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  18. I agree with just about everyone else. Headline grab.

    Nic (896fdf)

  19. But it was a fun one to write!

    Dana (fd537d)

  20. @20. You know, part of the fun of decompressing from work was to go to a toy store every quarter and see what new -and old- toys were popular and still selling. It gave one a sense of what the marketplace was like for that target audience. Now they’re going gender neutral and it just ruins the experience. Wait ’til the go after grocery stores.

    DCSCA (f4c5e5)

  21. @20 Oh, not you, the change. I totally support you writing about it, you can’t write about depressingly awful human beings all the time.

    Nic (896fdf)

  22. Who knew:

    Mr. Potato Head first hit the toy scene in 1952, when it didn’t 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.

    Dana (fd537d)


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