Last week we reported on 13-year-old New Jersey girl McKenna Pope and her campaign to have Hasbro develop a “less girly” Easy-Bake Oven. On Monday of this coming week, Hasbro will meet with Pope to discuss her ideas for the company’s popular baking product.
McKenna started a petition after her brother refused to buy or use the oven because it “comes in gender-specific hues.”
The young girls petition was a resounding success, racking up more than 40,000 signatures since going live online.
Pope not only managed to gain the support of everyday folks, TV personalities including Chopped contestant Joshua Whigham and restaurant mogul Laurent Tourondel signed on to support the girl’s efforts. In some cases, celebrities even took to YouTube to support a gender neutral Easy-Bake Oven.
One dissenter from the girl’s fight is Top Chef judge Hugh Acheson, who tweeted:
“Whatevs about the whole Easy Bake oven in ‘dude’ colors,” he tweeted. “The tough boy chef is the one who cooks 10 course tasting (plus amuses & mignardises) w/PINK Easy Bake oven & not give a hoot about color.”
The petition for the Easy-Bake oven campaign can be found at Change.org/EasyBake. In the meantime, here is a video report of the girl’s attempt to change Easy-Bake Oven’s colors:
Do you think Hasbro should create a gender neutral version of its Easy-Bake Oven? It does seem a little odd that the company still focuses its main baking product solenly women, especially in a day and age when more men are taking to the kitchen.
