Hasbro announced a branding change to their popular toy line, but did not eliminate the Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head toys themselves. The woke left tried to use it as a way to push “gender neutrality” on its readers while the right claimed Mr. Potato Head was the latest victim of the woke mob.
Summary
Toy maker giant Hasbro announced this week it will be changing the branding for the iconic Mr. Potato Head toy series, removing the “Mr.” from packaging for the entire line.
- After receiving some questions and backlash, Hasbro clarified that while the overall branding is being changed, the individual Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head toys will not be changing names or losing identities and will still be available for purchase.
- Hasbro said dropping “Mr.” from the brand name (not the individual toy) was an effort to give it a more “modern” and “inclusive” look, “allowing kids to create their own potato families with two moms or two dads.”
- The news made it to the stage at CPAC in Orlando, Florida as Congressman Matt Gaetz made light of the announcement saying “Mr. Potato Head was America’s first transgender doll, and even he got canceled!”
- CNN leaned into the confusion, leading their reporting with the misinformation (or fake news, if you will) that the toy “Mr. Potato Head” is being renamed, putting words into Hasbro’s mouth by saying the company wants to “to untether one of its most famous products from a binary gender identity.”
- Celebrating the news, USA Today compared it the House of Representatives passing “The Equality Act”, which expands protected classes from discrimination but also limits protections for religious institutions. The newspaper then provided a list of resources on how readers can be “more gender neutral.”
- Slate derided reaction to the news from the right, criticizing the more humorous, if misguided, “hot takes” on Hasbro’s announcement.
- The Federalist, like USA Today, drew parallels between Hasbro’s announcement and the House passage of “The Equality Act” but came to much different conclusions, saying the bill will “Potato Head” the entire country by giving leftism “the full force of the law to go after anyone who doesn’t fall into step with their genderless orthodoxy.”
- Townhall’s take fell deep in the rabbit hole, misrepresenting what Hasbro was changing and how, saying “Mr. Potato Head is probably among many victims of the woke rewrite in the toy industry.”
- The most responsible and thorough reporting on this issue came from the Wall Street Journal, which did not bury the lede, highlighting upfront the most important elements of the story that both sides ignored or distorted.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
