The matter illustrates how companies must allign their corporate and consumer communications.
Karen Doyne, president of Doyne Strategies, a crisis communications firm, says Hasbro should have anticipated all types of questions and confusion and planned accordingly with a formal announcement, rather than an aside at an investor conference. She noted that many brands misunderstand that investor conferences and calls are often also attended by mainstream media outlets.
“This is definitely a lesson for the formal launch—to tell the story better and more clearly,” she says, noting that “making sure the language and the intent of the announcement was clear to all of [Hasbro’s] audiences would have helped avoid confusion, consumer pushback and even some amount of ridicule.”
Hasbro is not the only company rethinking its branding for today’s modern consumer. In recent months, the brands formerly known as Uncle Ben’s and Aunt Jemima have undergone rebranding in order to distance themselves from racial stereotypes. Several toy and apparel companies are rethinking their gender expressions, in some cases removing in-store signage designating “girl” or “boy” sections. Two years ago, Hasbro rival Mattel debuted a gender-free doll, similar to Potato Head Family, where children can make their own creations without gender assignments.
“The trends have shown us for a while that gender is moving in a new direction,” says Wilke, pointing to a recent poll from Bigeye Agency that found that younger generations believe gender binary is outdated.
“They could be harming themselves with the young consumer groups in that study,” Wilke says. “Millennials and Gen Z are already there, in their minds, if they see a company doing a rollout like this poorly, that doesn’t feel authentic and the brand could suffer.”
The Hasbro spokeswoman did not respond to a request for further comment about any additional clarification or marketing of the new product line, which is expected to launch in the fall.
