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Gender-Neutral Mr Potato Head Proves Unpopular with Public, Polls Shows

Morning Consult survey reveals majority of public disapproves of the move

 on 23rd March 2021 @ 1.00am
the brand name neutering of mr  potato head is proving unpopular © press
The brand-name neutering of Mr. Potato Head is proving unpopular

Hasbro’s recent decision to go "woke" and introduce gender-neutral branding for the iconic Mr. Potato Head toy has proved to be widely unpopular with most members of the public, a new poll has found.

During a Morning Consult survey conducted Feb. 26 to March 1, over half (52 percent) of the 2,200 adults who responded say disapproved of the recent change.

Twenty percent approved of scrubbing "Mr." from the name and about a quarter (28 percent) had no opinion on the new "Potato Head" branding. 

The results suggest Hasbro has “[created] a strong net negative sentiment for the new brand name,” Morning Consult noted.

Morning Consult also broke down the results of their poll according to generation, noting that the name change proved unpopular even among younger generations, who generally have more liberal views regarding sexuality and gender.

kids are encouraged to  break norms  and  create your own potato head family © press
Kids are encouraged to 'break norms' and 'create your own Potato Head family'

As Morning Consult reported:

Even among younger consumers — who tend to be more accepting of gender fluidity and conscious of brand values in general — opinions on Potato Head’s name change were more negative than positive: 45 percent of millennials said they disagreed with Hasbro’s decision, compared with 30 percent who said they supported the move.

Following confusion as to whether the decision would impact the individual characters, Hasbro clarified that, while the brand will change its name to Potato Head, the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head characters will keep their respective titles. 

Hasbro’s Chief Communications Officer Rich Ferraro told Morning Consult in a statement:

“Hasbro’s decision to introduce Potato Head as a gender-neutral toy is the latest move in a larger movement towards greater diversity and inclusion in toys and media aimed at kids.

"By offering a toy that exists outside of the binary of male and female, Hasbro is helping kids to simply see toys as toys, which encourages them to be their authentic selves outside of the pressures of traditional gender norms.”

the morning consult polls shows most people don t support the change © press
The Morning Consult polls shows most people don't support the change

Hasbro has made alterations to other classic games and toys to better align with prevailing political opinions.

As The Daily Wire reported:

In recent years, Hasbro has rebranded and altered a number of its toys while taking heat for others over allegations that the toys are encouraging bad messages.

In August, the company pulled its then-newly released “Trolls World Tour Giggle & Sing Poppy” after a wave of online criticism accusing the company of encouraging sexual exploitation of children.

[…]

In December 2019, the company came under fire for its “Nerf” brand toy guns.

Activists and critics demanded that the toymaker pull the “assault style” toy weapons from shelves.

“As we watch holiday toy commercials, we see the Nerf Ultra One and other extreme Nerf machine guns for children and are reminded of mass shootings that have devastated American children and families for decades now. In these times, the TV ad for this product plays like a Saturday Night Live parody, except that it is not at all funny,” a letter from the Empire State Consumer Project said.

“It’s a matter of this being a very vulnerable consumer group. Children buy what they see and we’re not sure this is driven by market demand for assault weapon toys by children or the industry creating the demand.”

In September 2019, Hasbro unveiled a new version of its classic board game “Monopoly” that gives female players an advantage by paying them $40 more for passing go.

The new game, called “Ms. Monopoly,” is supposed to be an effort to draw attention to the so-called gender wage gap.

[RELATED] First Transgender Family Reveals Son, 5, is Undergoing Sex Change

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