Unlike Mattel and Lego, Hasbro hadn’t caved to modern sensibilities by separating its business units by gender. But suddenly, the third biggest toy and board game company, whose brands include Star Wars, My Little Pony and G.I. Joe, considers gender a very dirty word.
And now CEO Brian Goldner boldly claims that gender doesn’t even exist.
“We look at our brands more inclusively than ever. In fact, we eliminated the old delineation of gender,” Goldner tells The Hollywood Reporter in a new interview.
“And if you think about a brand, be it My Little Pony, where 30 percent of our global TV audience is boys, or Star Wars, where we are launching [all-female animated series] Forces of Destiny with Lucas and Disney, you’re seeing people who want to be engaged in these stories.”
Historically Hasbro has done better with boys epitomized by sales for Star Wars and Jurassic merchandise. But last year it bought the Disney Princess and Disney Frozen licenses which boosted its sales among girls no we can’t use the term because Hasbro has ‘eliminated the old delineation of gender’.