General Discussion
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(182,788 posts)They will emphasize the Mr. thinking its clever and bring it up in conversation to the point where people would normally think Why are they talk about childrens toys
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)Nobody tell them that potatoes are self pollinating and have both male and female parts or they will have to cut the fries out of their fast food diets!
Ferrets are Cool
(21,106 posts)ARandomPerson
(2,406 posts)What happens to that?
jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)She has to use the potato head restroom with potatoes that used to be boys ... not to mention what happens to her chances in the potato head olympics...
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)... and then I found this:
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)PatSeg
(47,419 posts)This feels like a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist, but I suppose someone took issue with the classic toy.
Mr.Bill
(24,284 posts)Marjorie Taylor Green Potato head.
demmiblue
(36,845 posts)The toy giant Hasbro is rebranding its iconic Mr. Potato Head toy by dropping the Mr. from the name. On the surface, it may seem like a subtle shift, but it is designed to break away from traditional gender norms, particularly when it comes to creating Potato Head familieshow toddlers frequently play with the toy, according to Hasbros research. But starting this fall, when the new brand is unveiled, kids will have a blank slate to create same-sex families or single-parent families. Its a prime example of the way heritage toy brands are evolving to stay relevant in the 21st century.
...
Over the decades, the Potato Head brand has explicitly played into this tendency to create families. It has sold Mr. Potato Head family sets, with a male and a female character, along with smaller potato children. In 2012, Hasbro celebrated the 60th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head with a boxed set featuring the couple. But eight years later, the brand wants to stop leaning so heavily into this traditional family structure. Culture has evolved, she says. Kids want to be able to represent their own experiences. The way the brand currently existswith the Mr. and Mrs.is limiting when it comes to both gender identity and family structure.
The brands solution is to drop the gendered honorific title altogether. This means the toys dont impose a fixed notion of gender identity or expression, freeing kids to do whatever feels most natural to them: A girl potato might want to wear pants and a boy potato might wear earrings. Hasbro will also sell boxed sets that dont present a normative family structure. This approach is clever because it allows kids to project their own ideas about gender, sexuality, and family onto the toy, without necessarily offending parents that have more conservative notions about family.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90607931/the-iconic-mr-potato-head-gets-a-21st-century-rebrand
Solly Mack
(90,763 posts)Always color outside the lines and tell those who complain to go fuck themselves.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)PatSeg
(47,419 posts)Oh I love it! When Mr. Potato Head first came out, we used real potatoes, so I suppose you could get very creative. I can just imagine the monsters you could create with Cootie parts.
Solly Mack
(90,763 posts)IcyPeas
(21,863 posts)Solly Mack
(90,763 posts)Everyone I knew had the Cootie game and Mr. Potato Head!
csziggy
(34,136 posts)And we made some great aliens out of the cootie parts.
RussellCattle
(1,535 posts)Maeve
(42,282 posts)Geez...the world turns and the only thing constant is change
PatSeg
(47,419 posts)XanaDUer2
(10,662 posts)I'm old
Maeve
(42,282 posts)Silent3
(15,210 posts)Yukon labe!
dchill
(38,481 posts)sarisataka
(18,632 posts)Why are potatoes given special treatment. Don't they think there is some child out there that wants to play with Leek Head?
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)https://www.digitiser2000.com/main-page/the-forgotten-friends-of-mr-potato-head
LakeArenal
(28,817 posts)matt819
(10,749 posts)Mr.
Its a travesty to even consider that there may be a Ms or Mrs or they/them potato head. Whats next? A trans Ken aka Kendall or a trans Barbie aka Bobby, with a changeable body parts?
Come to think of it, that could be a great Kickstarter niche.
PatSeg
(47,419 posts)and I believe they've been around for a long time.
Meanwhile, kids have an imagination. They can make their toys anything they choose.
matt819
(10,749 posts)Many many many years removed from mr potato head days. So Im excused from not knowing or remembering this.
I think blocks and etch a sketch and maybe play doh are the only non gender toys left.
PatSeg
(47,419 posts)from my own kids, but apparently Mrs. came out in 1953, a year after the original. Then came Brother Spud and Sister Yam (I really don't remember those two).
Like I said, kids can make toys into anything they like. My sister and I used to play cowboys and we'd take turns being Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. I have six year old grandsons and most of the books and toys they have show both boys and girls doing the same jobs. When they act out a book or a movie, they choose the female role as often as the male one. It doesn't faze them at all.
Cuthbert Allgood
(4,921 posts)greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)Hmmmm?
demmiblue
(36,845 posts)PatSeg
(47,419 posts)crimsonandclover
(58 posts)Plastic body was not introduced until 1964.
RainCaster
(10,869 posts)him/his
them/they
Conzervative/Azzhole
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,339 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,311 posts)(Kartoffelkopf is just a word funny enough to say multiple times. Thank Blackadder.)
https://corporate.hasbro.com/en-us/articles/create_your_potato_head_family_launching_this_fall
fescuerescue
(4,448 posts)msfiddlestix
(7,281 posts)After all, I believe i witnessed a bunch of them busting through the halls of Congress on January 6th. There were a few Mrs. Potato Heads and Ms Potato Heads, but mostly were dudes.
Maybe I'm just old and gray, but I kind of feel like this getting really stupid. I'm mean REALLY stupid.
Peacetrain
(22,875 posts)I am so confused here..
edit to add.. all my potato heads with real potatoes when I was a kid.. gives away my age.. just plain old potatoes.
OilemFirchen
(7,143 posts)Kids have a hard enough time learning about new foods.