Mr Potato Head loses "Mr" Title. Are snowflakes to blame?

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I don’t think that it’s the actual name of the inanimate object that anyone cares about.

People are more averse to the general “woke culture” that seems to be arising in society, whereby the feminist and LGBT movements seem to take offence at pretty much everything, even the most minor of details, and society and large institutions have to go out of their way to accommodate their feelings, or risk being “cancelled”.

The question of “why do you care so much about such inconsequential things” can be applied both ways.

It’s not inconsequential though in the grand scheme of things. Every year that society, elected leaders, the media and large corporations give in a little more to accommodate this “woke culture” ... the number of hate crimes rises.

There’s a connection between accepted culture and counterculture that nobody is paying attention to. I see/hear more offensive opinions against minority groups now in a year than I ever did in a decade before “woke” became the mainstream. I’m not convinced that any of this woke stuff is actually helping. 🤨

Reply 61

tazarooni89

Original post by DiddyDec

Is there actually any evidence of someone calling for the name to be changed?

No there isn't. As I said in an earlier post, the name probably wasn't even changed for that reason. My impression is that they're just calling it "Potato Head" now because they're making new characters and they want it to refer to all of them, not just one.

The way the story is being presented in the media does make it sound like it is been done out of "wokeness" though, which of course is a problem that people care about, so it naturally leads to discussions about it.

Reply 62

tazarooni89

Original post by IanDangerously

To be honest, I agree with you. As wrong as it is how some people treat minority groups, I believe that many of these people object more to simply "being told what to do", rather than to the existence of the group itself.

My point about the inconsequential is simply that many of the "woke" arguments focus on this. They will ask "how hard is it really, to call a person 'they' instead of he/she?". It isn't - but the same can be applied in reverse. Is it really making a difference to your life if someone calls you he or she? And then it gets even more extreme when we're asked to say things like Mx instead of Mr or Mrs, or to spell the word "woman" as "womxn" or indeed "neopronouns" which don't be a simple he/she/they, but something else altogether (look it up to see how ridiculous some of them are).

When it comes to such trivial things, it is objectionable that the whole of society is expected to adjust for a few people's hurt feelings, rather than the other way round.

Reply 63

Megacent

Original post by tazarooni89

believe that many of these people object more to simply "being told what to do", rather than to the existence of the group itself.

It's called reactance. If people are being bossed around and told what to do, those with high reactance levels perceive that as an attack on their freedom or an attempt to limit their choices, and the brain goes into a defensive mode. It looks for ways to defend against the perceived attack and the obvious way of defending against being bossed around is to do the opposite of what you're being told.

Reply 64

imlikeahermit

Original post by tazarooni89

This was precisely my point a few posts ago. If anyone from the left seriously thinks that trivial little things like making a potato gender neutral helps in the cause for social, racial, gender or economic equality they’re sadly mistaken. All petty little things like this does is fuel hate, that in some cases doesn’t exist before this.

Reply 65

Cyberfan123

Original post by imlikeahermit

This whole debate draws attention to the brand and makes it more well known, that's what it is :cool:

Attention seeking helps brand marketing sometimes.

Reply 66

QE2

Original post by imlikeahermit

This is a common argument from the right... "taking steps to address problem x will only make problem x worse" (where problem x is often something the right is quite fond of) - whether it is gender prejudice, racism, low or no minimum wage, zero hours contracts, etc.
It would be interesting to see if there is any substance behind these claims.

Reply 67

looloo2134

Original post by imlikeahermit

It just good marketing I did not even know they were still making that toy. It sales will go through the roof.

Reply 68

Megacent

Original post by QE2

It would be interesting to see if there is any substance behind these claims.

Have you thought about done some work or research to find out whether there is?

Reply 69

QE2

Original post by Megacent

Have you thought about done some work or research to find out whether there is?

It was more of an ironic, rhetorical question, but feel free to have a go yourself.

Reply 70

Cyberfan123

Original post by looloo2134

It just good marketing I did not even know they were still making that toy. It sales will go through the roof.

aw haha you beat me to it about the marketing point :tongue:

Reply 71

IanDangerously

Original post by tazarooni89

I think that’s a big part of the issue, I know people who never really thought about these groups before they started being publicised all the time but now poke fun at the culture. Every time a discussion like this comes up it brings about opinions from both sides and everyone gets mad at each other when they were previously indifferent.

It’s starting to turn into a noticeable trend in some instances. Like a black footballer got racially abused online a few weeks ago and after the first case other people saw the amount of attention it got and more started doing it the next few weekends. :frown:

Reply 72

username5675736

You could argue that with it being a toy, this has no meaning. And yet you could also argue that this is a symbolic gesture of the times and how even the most miniscule of things such as a toy are being changed in order to fit a specific agenda.