Hasbro Makes New Oven After 'Sexist' Complaint

When McKenna Pope tried to buy an Easy-Bake oven for her four-year-old brother she was annoyed to discover they only came in pink and purple.

So the 13-year-old schoolgirl from New Jersey decided to act, and it seems Hasbro has listened.

The toymaker has said it will soon reveal a gender-neutral oven, after meeting McKenna, who garnered more than 40,000 signatures for her online petition at change.org.

In a video posted on the website she complained: "I feel that this sends a clear message: women cook, men work."

She pointed out that there were many "male culinary geniuses like Gordon Ramsay".

Hasbro invited her and her brother Gavyn Boscio to its Pawtucket headquarters on Monday to meet its Easy-Bake team, and to cast an approving eye over a prototype of their newest model.

The company said it has been working on the black, silver and blue colour scheme for months.

McKenna said it is doing everything she asked, including putting boys in the TV commercials.

"I think that they really met most or even all of what I wanted them to do, and they really amazed me," she said.

She added that Gavyn thought the new design was "awesome".

The toy was first introduced in 1963 and has gone through a number of changes since but the most recent models are mostly purple with pink accents.

"It's actually a product that's played with by both boys and girls," said John Frascotti, Hasbro's chief marketing officer.

"We will continue to offer the existing product too because it's so popular."

The new gender neutral model will not be on sale until next year.

But Gavyn is making do with a free pink one donated by a TV show until then.

McKenna is going to get him a few mixes to bake in it for Christmas.