Hasbro has announced it's renaming its popular Mr Potato Head brand to drop the 'Mr', giving the "Potato Head" line a less gender-focused identity.
The toy, which first launched over 70 years ago, can be decorated with various plastic parts that can be attached to a plastic spud.
Now the company is launching a "Create Your Potato Head Family" kit, calling it "a celebration of the many faces of families".
One picture on the box shows a figure with a moustache and a pink nose, a colour often associated with females.
Toy companies have been changing classic brands to reflect public calls respecting and endorsing diversity in US culture.
But the company insists Mr Potato Head and Mrs Potato Head will still be sold.
"This is a really smart move for Hasbro," said Allen Adamson, co-founder of branding firm Metaforce.
"I think this change shows Hasbro is not just taking care of old brands and trying to do the same old, same old every year, but they really understand that brands need to be reinvented, reimagined, and kept fresh."
Rival Mattel's Barbie has introduced new lines of dolls in multiple skin tones, body shapes and professions, steering away from its classic blonde image in the past few years, and American Girl launched a boy version of its dolls four years ago.
Reuters
