13-Year-Old Gets Hasbro to Make Gender-Neutral Version of Popular Toy

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In response to an online petition by a teen girl, Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) is coming out with a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven.

McKenna Pope, who’s 13, started an online petition to change the classic children’s cooking toy and got more than 40,000 signatures, the Associated Press reports. She also attracted some celebrity attention when chef Bobby Flay, famous for his shows on Food Network (NYSE:SNI), gave Pope his support.

Her petition complained that, while she was shopping for a gift for her 4-year-old brother, she could find Easy-Bake Oven only in purple or pink. Hasbro executives took note and eventually invited McKenna and her family to its headquarters to view a prototype for a new Easy-Bake Oven, now in black, silver or blue.

“I think that they really met most or even all of what I wanted them to do, and they really amazed me,” Pope told AP. The company is even putting boys in its ads for the toy.

The Easy-Bake Oven is a classic toy. First launched in 1963, it has gone through many color schemes over the years. Hasbro says the new colors will be on shelves by next summer.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/12/13-year-old-gets-hasbro-to-make-gender-neutral-version-of-popular-toy/.

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