#Hasbro #PotatoHead #Stimulus
Toy manufacturer Hasbro Inc. is updating its iconic Mr. Potato Head, dropping the “Mr.” in favor of a kit that will let kids create a Potato Head family from a variety of pieces.
At first, the company said it was making a “modern” update to the nearly 70-year-old toy.
“Hasbro is making sure all feel welcome in the Potato Head world by officially dropping the Mr. from the Mr. Potato Head brand name and logo to promote gender equality and inclusion,” the company said in an initial announcement.
The company has since updated the announcement on its website to remove this language.
“Hasbro is officially renaming the Mr. Potato Head brand to Potato Head to better reflect the full line. But rest assured, the iconic Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head characters aren’t going anywhere and will remain Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head,” the updated news release indicated.
The new Potato Head toy is slates to be available in the fall.
The announcement was one of many during Hasbro’s investor event, in which the toy maker introduced updates to a number of its brands and even the way it reports its quarterly results.
The company also announced that it is launching the first Peppa Pig theme park at the LegoLand resort in Florida.
Opening in 2022, the Peppa Pig Theme Park will require a separate ticket and include water rides, interactive attractions, and other features.
Hasbro’s Nerf brand has partnered with NFL Flag to provide footballs and flag belts to the more than 1,600 NFL Flag U.S. leagues starting in the summer. Children under six years old will use Nerf-style foam balls, while older children will use traditional, air-filled Nerf footballs. The partnership also includes school programs and NFL Flag branding on packaging at select retail locations starting spring 2022.
In entertainment, a new “My Little Pony” movie is heading to Netflix in 2022, a new series for preschoolers called Kiya is coming in 2023, and dozens of other projects in the pipeline.
Hasbro has also extended its partnership with Epic Games, the company behind the popular “Fortnite” videogame.
The company is also launching new Monopoly games, new product lines for PJ Masks are coming soon, and there will be digital game launches for “Magic: The Gathering” and “Dungeons & Dragons.”
Behind the scenes, Hasbro has revamped its financial reporting segments, which the company will begin using in April for its first-quarter earnings release. Consumer products will include toys and games; Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming will encompass “Magic: The Gathering,” “Dungeons & Dragon”s and licensed Hasbro digital gaming; and entertainment will include Hasbro and eOne entertainment across family brands, TV and film, and music.
“Our expectation is that we return to growth in revenues, earnings and EBITDA in 2021,” said Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s chief executive, in a statement. (Goldner was MarketWatch’s CEO of the Year in 2008.)
“This includes revenue growth in all three segments to potentially achieve double-digit revenue growth across Hasbro for the year.”
Hasbro reported fourth-quarter earnings in early February, beating expectations.
Hasbro shares were up 1% on Thursday, and have gained 11.3% over the past year. The benchmark S&P 500 index is up 22.9% for the period.
