Mr. Potato Head, the classic Hasbro toy brand which includes the mustachioed Mr. Potato Head and clean-shaven Mrs. Potato Head, will soon be rebranded as the gender-neutral “Potato Head” toy line.
The new branding will be reflected on packaging scheduled to debut later this year, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
Hasbro says its Mr. Potato Head brand, which includes all kinds of toy tubers, is being changed simply to “Potato Head” in order to “better reflect the full line.” The brand stresses, however, that neither of the individual Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head toys will be renamed.
“While we’re renaming the Mr. Potato Head brand to Potato Head to better reflect the full line, the iconic Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head characters aren’t going anywhere and will remain Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head,” the brand wrote in a statement shared with Fox News.
Kimberly Boyd, the senior vice president of global brands and general manager at Hasbro, told Fast Company that the rebranding reflects a more modern era.
“Culture has evolved,” Boyd told the outlet. “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.”
Boyd added that Hasbro hopes the rebranding will allow for kids to make “little potato families” however they see fit. To that end, the Potato Head toy line is also debuting a new product — the Create Your Potato Head Family — that includes “enough potatoes and accessories for kids to create all types of families.”