#toyfair2013

[eozenart]

The real Darth Punk. #vader #daftpunk #cosplay #toyfair2013

[lrabin01]

A few months ago, when 13 year old McKenna Pope went to get her 4-year-old brother the Easy Bake Oven he wanted for Christmas, she discovered that all the Easy Bake Ovens were marketed to girls--they were pink and purple and only girls appeared in the advertisements. Disappointed that she couldn't get her adorable brother what he wanted, she posted a video of her adorable brother and began a petition to get Hasbro to make gender-neutral ovens. 

Having followed this story, I can say that the internet has been a huge player in this push for a gender neutral oven. Starting with McKenna's video, she used the internet to publicize here adorable brother's plight and maximized the effects by starting an online petition. Once it was out there on the internet, anyone--including Hasbro--was forced to confront it. She garnered support from famous male chefs who posted their own videos of support and signed the petition. Eventually, the pressure mounted on Hasbro and they invited her family to the Hasbro offices to discuss the matter. Not only is that a great PR move for Hasbro--truly listening to their consumer--but it proves the power of the internet. It is unlikely that letter writing campaign or another pre-web method would have gained so much traction. 

Once they had the Pope family in the offices, they pulled out their "gender-neutral" easy bake oven that they had supposedly been working on for 18 months. Sounds a bit convenient to me, but I'll give it to them.

Jump ahead a few months are we are at the NYC 2013 Toy Fair, just over a week ago. In this video, the Hasbro representative carefully discusses the 50th anniversary new easy bake oven design, never mentioning the fact that the silver, black, and blue colors are a gender-neutral push. Do they think mentioning the fact that they are trying to appeal to girls AND boys is a negative? Regardless, she introduces the new oven, and the camera pulls away to reveal the Easy Bake Oven Toy Fair display--pink and purple with a picture of two girls using the product! It does seem like the new oven's packaging is blue and purple with one boy and one girl using the product, but the display is clearly pink and frilly--and all of the accessories are still pink! I have no problem with pink, and I definitely have no problem with boys using a pink toy, but the pink accessories send the message that Hasbro has really only half-heartedly dealt with the heart of McKenna's (and the 44,000 others who signed her petition) concerns. The pink, frilly accessories and the cheerful tween girls on the boxes say to her brother, "Sure you can use this, but we didn't make it for you." 

See McKenna's original video here.

[jedimike1128-blog-blog]

Toy Fair 2013 and Hasbro's 5 pt. Articulated Figures and Star Wars Action News Podcast!

[toywizdotcom]

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Plush at ToyFair 2013 The Beanie Babies look awesome, and finally, we're seeing a bit of expansion in the official plush line. Hello, Applejack!