Marks & Spencer has agreed to make the packaging of all of its toys gender neutral by spring 2017, after customers complained that it was marketing items according to stereotypes. Customers contacted M&S to complain at a range of toys called "Boy's Stuff", which included planes, cars, dinosaurs, racing cars, cat toys, a marble run and a pop-up fire station. The description on the latter said: "This pop up fire station is perfect for little fire men everywhere", while the description of a watch in the same range read: "The perfect wrist accessory no boy should be without," and a joke book read: "Boys know the best jokes and here are 500 crackers to keep you ahead of the girls." The Boy's Stuff range will be rebranded to use a simple graphic logo, while the "Little Miss Arty" range will become "Poppy and Blue", using character-based branding. M&S told the Guardian it was already in the process of updating its policy but this became public when it responded to a specific criticism on Twitter by Labour MP Stella Creasy. It Tweeted back: "Hi Stella, we've listened to customer feedback and by spring next year all of our toys will be gender neutral. Thanks." M&S said in a statement: "We offer a wide range of fun and educational toys, which are designed to appeal to children regardless of gender. We have listened carefully to feedback from our customers and by spring next year all of our toys will be gender neutral." |