This week proved eventful for Hasbro and its inedible starchy dress-up toy. The company announced a rebrand of the toy line Mr. Potato Head to just Potato Head. Then, it quickly assured customers Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head would still be sold as everyone was used to. The successive announcements caused a great stir from fans and opponents of the move. Through it all, though, Bette Midler says everyone should be concerned for Mr. Potato Head, but not the way they would expect.
Instead, she thinks the toy should be watching its back, and so should customers of the toy. That’s because its anatomical choices have kids and Mrs. Potato Head performing some very particular rituals to store the toy’s body parts – in its backside.
Bette Midler believes the real concern about Mr. Potato Head comes from behind
#Hasbro announced they are removing "Mr." from Mr. Potato Head's label, but that Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head will still exist. I can't believe people are worried about THAT, when what they SHOULD be worried about is how you store a bunch of dismembered body parts in the potato's ass!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) March 2, 2021
Whether kids owned one themselves or saw the toy famously included in the various Toy Story films, just about everyone knows the famous Hasbro property. That means they know how it operates, with its disjointed limbs attachable at various points of the body. And they know – hopefully – to clean up playing with this toy, by opening a hatch located on Mr. Potato’s lower back, to store the body parts.
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That’s where Bette Midler’s concern lies with the potato-shaped toy. “#Hasbro announced they are removing ‘Mr.’ from Mr. Potato Head’s label, but that Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head will still exist,” she mused after the recent announcement and the ensuing flood of reactions. She went on to jokingly add, “I can’t believe people are worried about THAT, when what they SHOULD be worried about is how you store a bunch of dismembered body parts in the potato’s ass!”
A cause for even more reactions and debates
People worry about the strangest things, and its the absolute minority who wreck it for the majority. Some really sad people out there. The fear of upsetting one or two (usually idiots) overwhelms society. We really need to stop pandering and live a little.
— John Daniels #FBPE #TORIESOUT Pic:My Doggy Son MAX (@pedleysjohn) March 2, 2021
This post by Bette Midler also sparked more discussion on the matter of Hasbro’s Potato Head. “People worry about the strangest things, and its the absolute minority who wreck it for the majority,” one tweet insisted. “Some really sad people out there. The fear of upsetting one or two (usually idiots) overwhelms society. We really need to stop pandering and live a little.”
Agreed! When I read the article, I didn't see it as "bending the knee" or anything controversial. Just an update to a "potato" toy. They don't have asses anymore than they have "seeing" eyes. Can we please focus on the country and the future of our children?
— Serenity Firefly (@SerenityFirefl5) March 3, 2021
However, another reply insisted the change was just a timely update. Replying to a comment noting that besides titles, Mr. Potato Head has no sex-defining anatomy, one user added, “Agreed! When I read the article, I didn’t see it as “bending the knee” or anything controversial. Just an update to a ‘potato’ toy. They don’t have asses anymore than they have ‘seeing’ eyes. Can we please focus on the country and the future of our children?”
Potatoes are self pollinating – so there never were Mr and Mrs Potato Heads! But now you have me really concerned about the "storage" issue! I will never look at my spuds the same way!
— DH women's rights are human rights! 🇺🇦 (@hustus_d) March 2, 2021
Yet another honed in on the issue Midler pointed out about the overall layout of the toy and what it has kids doing. The user tweeted, “Potatoes are self pollinating – so there never were Mr and Mrs Potato Heads! But now you have me really concerned about the “storage” issue! I will never look at my spuds the same way!” What do you think of this particular angle of the topic?