Hasbro says gender-neutral Easy-Bake on the way
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Hasbro says it will soon reveal a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven after meeting with a New Jersey girl who started a campaign calling on the toy maker to make one that appeals to all kids.
McKenna Pope, 13, of Garfield, N.J., got more than 40,000 signatures on her online petition at Change.org and the support of celebrity chefs including Bobby Flay, who backed her call for Hasbro to make a gender-neutral oven and to include boys in the ads.
She was prompted to start the petition after shopping for an Easy-Bake as a Christmas present for her 4-year-old brother, Gavyn Boscio, and finding them only in purple and pink.
Hasbro invited McKenna and her family to its Pawtucket, R.I., headquarters to meet with its Easy-Bake team, and on Monday, they drove to Rhode Island from New Jersey. During the meeting, Hasbro executives showed off a prototype of their newest Easy-Bake: one that's black, silver and blue.
Hasbro has been working on the new color scheme and design for about 18 months, and decided to invite McKenna to see it and offer her thoughts, said John Frascotti, Hasbro's chief marketing officer.
McKenna said the company is doing everything she asked, including putting boys in the ads.
"I think that they really met most or even all of what I wanted them to do, and they really amazed me," she said, adding that Gavyn thought the new design was "awesome."
Frascotti pointed out that the classic toy has had about a dozen different color schemes, from yellow to green to teal to silver, since first being introduced in 1963. The most recent iteration, introduced in 2011, is mostly purple with pink accents.
He said it's sold well since then, and that prompted the company to look for a way to update it and to broaden the consumer base by doing it in different colors.
"It's actually a product that's played with by both boys and girls," he said. "We will continue to offer the existing product too because it's so popular."
Hasbro plans to introduce the new color scheme at the industry's Toy Fair in New York in February. Frascotti said people are likely to see it on store shelves next summer.
As for McKenna's Christmas present for her brother, she said the TV show "Inside Edition" gave the family an Easy-Bake Oven after learning of her campaign. For Christmas, she said, she'll probably buy him some mixes to bake in it.
McKenna Pope, 13, of Garfield, N.J., got more than 40,000 signatures on her online petition at Change.org and the support of celebrity chefs including Bobby Flay, who backed her call for Hasbro to make a gender-neutral oven and to include boys in the ads.
She was prompted to start the petition after shopping for an Easy-Bake as a Christmas present for her 4-year-old brother, Gavyn Boscio, and finding them only in purple and pink.
Hasbro invited McKenna and her family to its Pawtucket, R.I., headquarters to meet with its Easy-Bake team, and on Monday, they drove to Rhode Island from New Jersey. During the meeting, Hasbro executives showed off a prototype of their newest Easy-Bake: one that's black, silver and blue.
Hasbro has been working on the new color scheme and design for about 18 months, and decided to invite McKenna to see it and offer her thoughts, said John Frascotti, Hasbro's chief marketing officer.
McKenna said the company is doing everything she asked, including putting boys in the ads.
"I think that they really met most or even all of what I wanted them to do, and they really amazed me," she said, adding that Gavyn thought the new design was "awesome."
Frascotti pointed out that the classic toy has had about a dozen different color schemes, from yellow to green to teal to silver, since first being introduced in 1963. The most recent iteration, introduced in 2011, is mostly purple with pink accents.
He said it's sold well since then, and that prompted the company to look for a way to update it and to broaden the consumer base by doing it in different colors.
"It's actually a product that's played with by both boys and girls," he said. "We will continue to offer the existing product too because it's so popular."
Hasbro plans to introduce the new color scheme at the industry's Toy Fair in New York in February. Frascotti said people are likely to see it on store shelves next summer.
As for McKenna's Christmas present for her brother, she said the TV show "Inside Edition" gave the family an Easy-Bake Oven after learning of her campaign. For Christmas, she said, she'll probably buy him some mixes to bake in it.
First of all, if someone's eight-year-old daughter plays with action figures, she's considered a cool tomboy but if a boy wants to play with an EZ-Bake, people start wondering about the kid's sexual preference wiring? Sends a bad message all around, doesn't it - that "girl" items (toys, books, movies) are somehow inferior, making it a humiliating step down for a boy, but praiseworthy if girls reject them in favor of "boy" things?
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If any toy company has caught onto the fact that boys sometimes covet "girl's toys," it's Hasbro. This is the company that bankrolled a sitcom about pastel colored ponies that attracts straight 20-something males by the herd. Besides, Mr. Flay has a point - there's nothing "girly" about wanting to learn cooking. We all gotta eat! The less garish coloration is a win all around. Â
Will it come with a pot-brownie recipe for Colorado and Washington children?
Good grief...
If ya don't like it, don't buy it.
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They should make them in wedding dress colors, because we all know the wedding dress should match the appliances in the kitchen!
 @JeepRex You could be a writer for a CBS sitcom with original wit like that!
Hells yeah! Â I want to get me some easy bake action without the purple. Â I'll cook all up in that, YEEEAH! Â Bake me a tiny cake like a pimp smack rhubarb!
If they stopped making them at all would you all be happy? Or would that be wrong too? Or should they have ignored the requests of their consumers and just keep forcing that ugly purple thing on us?
That is the MOST ridiculous thing I've ever heard !
So, are we going to change everything that might be a "hint' of
woman or man to........... gender neutral??
Instead of G.I. Joe or G.I. Jane we'll have G.I. tranny?
Why don't be people find more productive things to do in
life other than worry about this crap?!
 @gangdestroyer "Tranny" is really offensive. It is as bad as using a racial slur. Transgender is good.
 @gangdestroyer Sounds like you're the one who's worried. Perhaps you should find something more productive to do with your valuable time?
 @gangdestroyer How does it affect you at all? If there's a market for a transgender doll, a company will make it. They aren't saying that they plan on turning all easy-bake ovens into a sterile, neutral grey, but that they're creating one that will have more appeal to a completely different demographic than the one they've been targeting for years. Do a search for old models of the toy and you'll see that it used to originally be more gender neutral. The old light blue one from the 60s that looked like a set of real ovens. The red one or the yellow/brown one from the 70s.
 @Shabadoo  @gangdestroyer I had the light blue one and the only gender neutral thing about it was that my brothers would send Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs, and the occasional Barbie shoes through it.  I don't really see them selling many more because of a color change.  Time will tell.
Hell, I remember when they used to actually look like an oven!
 @MaxVonToadenoff Mine looked like a microwave lol. That was the early 90s though.
Why do so many of you have an issue with them being released in other colors? I know many girls (myself included), who would rather had my easy bake in blue, gray or black. Hasbro is making sure that all of the kids who want to play with their product can have it like they want it. Not forced to have it purple/pink no matter what their gender.
@Justmyside83 It's not that, if Hasbro wants to make other colors and they feel they can make money doing it, then by all means. The problem is the public outcry for "gender-neutral" colors.
 @virtual anomaly  @Justmyside83 So a company who listened to their consumers, but their PR group said the wrong words (in your opinion), is bad. Yes, I see where they went wrong. Shame on them! I didn't realize that we stopped ignoring stuff we don't like.Â
@andyourpointis Thank you for the lesson in supply and demand. How many times do I have to say that Hasbro and the release of other colors is not a bad thing? Your screen name suits you, you clearly have a problem in reading comprehension.
 @virtual anomaly  @Justmyside83 Hey Virtual, that is how companies make money. They find a market and cater to it. It is called supply and demand. If a toy manufacturer heard there was a market for RuPaul Drag Queen dolls, they would make them. Not all girls want pink or purple and some boys adore it. Putting their product out in other colors is a smart move to appeal to a broader market, the same way Nintendo put out Gameboys in pink (now it the DS, but back in the day.)Â
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If a boy wants a Barbie and to wear pink that should be fine and if a girl wants toy soldiers and cars, good on her. I would never force the issue. But that does not mean having some nice gender neutral toys that could appeal to both is a bad thing and I don't get your problem with it.Â
@Justmyside83 "We should also be able to teach girls that its not just boys who like Black, Gray and Blue. It goes both ways"
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So you agree, thankyou. A mother or father who refuses to buy their child a toy because it is a "girl's toy" or a "boy's toy", pepetuates the problem of sex-role training.
 @virtual anomaly  @Justmyside83Â
We should also be able to teach girls that its not just boys who like Black, Gray and Blue. It goes both ways. So what if there was a public outcry, that was what I meant in ignoring something that we don't like. SO WHAT. If it was important to you, then you would be in support of it. Its something you don't agree with so its stupid. Does it affect you in any way? Is it going to force you to buy for purple one for your daughter or a black one for your son. Nope. Or even force you to buy one at all? Like I said, I would have preferred a black or blue one. I am glad that they are doing this.
@Justmyside83 Did you read my post? The problem is not Hasbro, should I repeat that? The problem is not Hasbro, it is the PUBLIC OUTCRY FOR "GENDER-NEUTRAL" COLORS.
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You want to stop sex-role training? How about teaching kids that girls AND boys can play with pink or purple toys.
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This country has become so PC that we have lost our ability to be reasonable. Seriously. A boy cannot use an easy bake because it is pink or purple?? C'mon.....
 @k_did Not that boys won't use pink and purple, it is more that the parents are more apt to buy it for their boys if it is not pink or purple
 @k_did This is not PC (a phrase primarily used by the right to trash attempts at diversity and equality). It is sex-role training, especially that the ads have no boys in them. Pay attention to reality and you will see that this training happens from the beginning.
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Another common ploy by the right is being "reasonable." It's only reasonable when it's your belief.
@Bill Michtom @k_did Doesn't changing the colors so that boys can play with them, perpetuate the color-specific sex-role stereotypes?
Maybe they should just make them clear
 @barkingmad Someone would complain about that too. lol
Isn't calling a certain color either a boy's color or a girl's color itself stereotyping and judgemental? To call something gender-neutral based on color is ridiculous.
Bottom line, Hasbro is in it to make money (as is every other company). If they feel they can make a profit off of making a gender-neutral oven, then they'll do it. If not, they won't.
Purple is pretty gender neutral. So is pink for that matter. It's all in your head....
 @mhungry It is in our culture, which is why it's in one's head. I work in day care and often hear from the kids that something is "for boys" or "for girls" because of the color.
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Time to get a clue.
 @Bill Michtom  @mhungry We run into that as parents of a 9 month old all the time. We have a hand-me-down chain, and we're not afraid to pull out things that are "for girls" if we like them and think they're cute. We don't necessarily go for the frills mind you (though, we have no problem with him wearing them later if he chooses to LOL). They're clothes though, and if they're clean, they'll work. Same goes for toys. We get people saying oh, we don't want that because it's a "girl" toy. And I say "why not?"
Oh for the love of God this is crazy.
 @godawgs Why?
"Hasbro has been working on the new color scheme and design for about 18 months" Just wait for it. Somebody here (perhaps someone who's not otherwise occupied with bashing and stereotyping big sister for trying to come up with a great gift for little brother) is going to suggest the whole thing was a publicity stunt thought up by Hasbro. Big sister was paid, right?
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Gotta love our predictable little world.
 @kitsapuser Maybe it didn't start out as a publicity stunt, but the free advertising probably more than offset the set-up costs in China to crank off a batch of the ones with the boys on the box, just run it up the flagpole and see who salutes. Keeping in mind what happened with the pink Lionel train sets. Rest assured it's all business for them, and that's the way it should be.
This is so ridiculous... You know what? I'm pissed, I want a gender neutral curling iron that I can identify with-when am I gonna get that option? Because mine is specifically marketed to females...
 @rightandexact Yeah, and why aren't there boys on the tampon packages too. Boys want to be able to ride horses, play tennis, and swim just as much as girls do.
Negative revenue from this product, maybe it won't sell much as somebody commented. BUT, millions of dollars worth of public image and free media buzz for the company.
First, very few 13 year old girls these days care about Easy Bake ovens, or regular ovens for that matter. Second, any boy over 5 years old that wants to use an easy bake oven, would probably much rather have it shiny and pink.
 @Robinsnest Classy jab at homosexuality. Many of the most successful chefs are male.
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 @Melissa Angevine How about reading my reply to Steve. No where in my comment did I mention homosexuality. And actually MOST of the successful chefs are male.
 @Melissa Angevine I apologize for mistyping. I meant any boy "under" 5 would prefer shiny, and yes my husband was concerned for a few minutes because quite frankly no father would prefer their son be homosexual. Most of us in this world were raised to associate certain colors with a certain gender. My husband didn't freak out seeing his 5 yr old son want a pink car, but rather showed concern to only me which led us to talking. I think you are quick to read into anything said by anyone as immediately being against homosexual. I admit, I do not support the homosexual agenda that is being propagated so aggressively, however I would never treat my children or anyone differently for being homosexual. That is their right to be whatever they want and should never be harmed in any way because of it. And as it is their right, it is also my right to not agree with their way of life and also my right to not be harmed for my beliefs. But then again, those that don't agree are called bigots, haters etc... All for just not agreeing. What does that say about acceptance?
 @Robinsnest  "Second, any boy over 5 years old that wants to use an easy bake oven, would probably much rather have it shiny and pink."
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That sentence has zero benefit to your comment, it was more of an akward, unnecessary afterthought.
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What else would you be implying with that sentence?
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I did read your reply where you mentioned your husbands concern about your son liking pink. Why the concern?
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Just going off of what you wrote......
 @Robinsnest I had an easy bake when I was a kid and I turned out ok. Are you saying that anyone who cooks is either a woman or gay?Â
 @Steve Cardin No, not at all. My son is 18 and loves cooking(and clearly not gay even though I have asked.hahaha) but looking around at young girls now days, they don't want any easy bake oven and as for little little boys using them, they would rather like the shiny bright colors anyways. As they get older they would rather use a real oven. When my 9 year old son was at Toys R Us when he was 5, he went straight for the Barbie car(which worried my husband but I assured him that little boys like brighter prettier colors). As for my 22 year old daughter, she wanted nothing to do with an easy bake even at 6yr let alone 13 and my 13 year old now would rather use a real oven, but that is only if she is starving and actually had to cook something. LOL The color of the easy bake oven is not the issue, it's the age at which they are trying to market them.
I'm glad to see the company was able to make a decision based on feedback that it received from a consumer instead of being forced to do something based off a lawsuit.
What? So they can sell 10 of them maybe?
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 @Dhnr Its a pretty big deal. I know alot of idiot parents who refuse to buy their boys anything pink.