NJ teen wants Easy-Bake Oven to appeal to boys (barphalert)

Associated Press ^ | Dec. 7, 2012 3:36 PM ET | Michelle R. Smith

[Olog-hai]

Four-year-old Gavyn Boscio loves to cook and asked for an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas. But when his big sister went to buy one, she discovered to her disappointment that it comes only in girly pink and purple, with girls—and only girls—on the box and in the commercials.

So the eighth-grader from Garfield, N.J., started an online petition asking Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro to make the toy ovens in gender-neutral colors and feature boys on the package.

By Friday, 13-year-old McKenna Pope’s petition had garnered more than 30,000 signatures in a little more than a week.

And celebrity chef Bobby Flay, who owned an Easy-Bake Oven as a boy, is among those weighing in on her side. …

[newheart]

I don’t understand the barfalert. So guys shouldn’t cook? I suppose they should just hit something over the head, drag it past the fire and eat it raw?

[Venturer]

Horse dung.

What difference does it make what color it is?

Toss the Easy Bake in the trash and teach the kid to cook on a real stove.

[Olog-hai]

It’s not a reference to the oven itself, but to the endless search for so-called “gender-neutral” everything. I learned how to cook a full Irish breakfast before I was six years old after all . . .

[Olog-hai]

Teach ‘em on an open flame. Nothing like meat cooked in that fashion . . .

[JRandomFreeper]

I am male. I'm a culinary professional. You have a barf for that?

Petitioning the manufacturer, instead of suing is the right way.

/johnny

[goodwithagun]

Why doesn’t mommy cook with both of them in their real kitchen? That’s what this mommy does with my four year old son and 14 month old daughter. The bigger the mess the more the fun!

[Olog-hai]

Did you happen to notice the words “gender neutral” in the body of the article . . . ?

And I may be no professional, but I learned on the real thing in my youth, both with electric and gas stoves.

[razorback-bert]

I learned how to cook a full Irish breakfast before I was six years old after all . . .

Bushmills it not just for breakfast anymore.

[nascarnation]

Is this the Irish version of Ke$sha, LOL

[JRandomFreeper]

It should be gender neutral. Heck, if Hasbro changed the colors and used Bobby Flay as a sales flack, they might sell more of them.

I applaud the sales of AR-15 style firearms in pink, so they appeal to girls, why wouldn't I be happy if Hasbro made an Easy-bake in OD green? I might buy one for the grandsons.

/johnny

[Defiant]

It appeals to me. I want to stick this kid’s head in one.

[JRandomFreeper]

Bushmills it not just for breakfast anymore.

But it does pretty good if you can't get a real Tennessee breakfast.

/johnny

[ProudFossil]

Only when girls want the Red Ryder bb gun.

[boop]

How are they going to keep making these ovens anyway? Don’t they use an incandescent lightbulb to cook the food?

[Olog-hai]

Jameson is usually the preferred one for Dubliners, what with it having been the local one originally (before they became a big conglomerate). One of my relatives prefers Paddy, though (Cork brand).

I was able to cook most of this at a young age. Only preferred the bacon and sausage at the time, because that was all my stomach could handle . . .

[svcw]

Teach the kid to use a real oven, good lord, people have way to much time on their hands.

[musicman]

"NJ teen wants Easy-Bake Oven
to appeal to boys"

[Olog-hai]

Don’t know about anyone else, but this kind of stuff is what sets my teeth on edge in regards to the phrase “gender neutral” nowadays, since the phrase is deliberately associated with same. If that had been left out of the notion of marketing the Easy-Bake Oven to boys, then I doubt I would have had reacted negatively . . .

[Jonty30]

We don’t have to cook. We marry the cook, dishwasher, coffeemaker, Roomba.

BBQ and fishing is what we do best.