0:00:00.616,0:00:03.113 I'm McKenna Pope. I'm 14 years old. 0:00:03.113,0:00:05.102 And when I was 13, I convinced 0:00:05.102,0:00:06.832 one of the largest toy companies, 0:00:06.832,0:00:09.235 toymakers, in the world, Hasbro, 0:00:09.235,0:00:11.193 to change the way that they marketed 0:00:11.193,0:00:13.443 one of their most best-selling products. 0:00:13.443,0:00:14.917 So allow me to tell you about it. 0:00:14.917,0:00:16.503 So I have a brother, Gavin. 0:00:16.503,0:00:19.023 When this whole shebang happened, he was four. 0:00:19.023,0:00:20.543 He loved to cook. 0:00:20.543,0:00:22.730 He was always getting ingredients out of the fridge 0:00:22.730,0:00:24.885 and mixing them into these, needless to say, 0:00:24.885,0:00:26.366 uneatable concoctions, 0:00:26.366,0:00:29.269 or making invisible macaroni and cheese. 0:00:29.269,0:00:32.449 He wanted to be a chef really badly. 0:00:32.449,0:00:35.738 And so what better gift for a kid[br]who wanted to be a chef 0:00:35.738,0:00:37.857 than an Easy Bake oven. Right? 0:00:37.857,0:00:39.604 I mean, we all had those when we were little. 0:00:39.604,0:00:42.053 And he wanted one so badly. 0:00:42.053,0:00:44.503 But then he started to realize something. 0:00:44.503,0:00:46.864 In the commercials, and on the boxes, 0:00:46.864,0:00:48.252 for the Easy Bake ovens, 0:00:48.252,0:00:51.524 Hasbro marketed them specifically to girls. 0:00:51.524,0:00:52.922 And the way that they did this 0:00:52.922,0:00:56.032 was they would only feature girls[br]on the boxes or in the commercials, 0:00:56.032,0:00:58.561 and there would be flowery prints all over the ovens 0:00:58.561,0:01:01.467 and it would be in bright pink and purple, 0:01:01.467,0:01:04.516 very gender-specific colors to females, right? 0:01:04.516,0:01:06.794 So it kind of was sending a message 0:01:06.794,0:01:10.062 that only girls are supposed to cook, boys aren't. 0:01:10.062,0:01:11.963 And this discouraged my brother a lot. 0:01:11.963,0:01:15.124 He thought that he wasn't[br]supposed to want to be a chef, 0:01:15.124,0:01:17.227 because that was something that girls did. 0:01:17.227,0:01:18.870 Girls cooked, boys didn't, 0:01:18.870,0:01:21.391 or so the message that Hasbro was sending. 0:01:21.391,0:01:23.162 And this got me thinking, 0:01:23.162,0:01:25.588 God, I wish there was a way that I could change this, 0:01:25.588,0:01:28.624 that could I have my voice heard by Hasbro 0:01:28.624,0:01:30.110 so I could ask them and tell them 0:01:30.110,0:01:31.415 what they were doing wrong 0:01:31.415,0:01:33.059 and ask them to change it. 0:01:33.059,0:01:34.655 And that got me thinking about a website 0:01:34.655,0:01:36.434 that I had learned about a few months prior 0:01:36.434,0:01:37.995 called change.org. 0:01:37.995,0:01:41.236 Change.org is an online petition-sharing platform 0:01:41.236,0:01:43.530 where you can create a petition and share it 0:01:43.530,0:01:45.921 across all of these social media networks, 0:01:45.921,0:01:47.255 through Facebook, through Twitter, 0:01:47.255,0:01:48.748 through YouTube, through Reddit, through Tumblr, 0:01:48.748,0:01:50.571 through whatever you could think of. 0:01:50.571,0:01:52.506 And so I created a petition 0:01:52.506,0:01:55.735 along with the YouTube video[br]that I added to the petition 0:01:55.735,0:01:57.715 basically asking Hasbro 0:01:57.715,0:01:59.639 to change the way that they marketed it 0:01:59.639,0:02:02.969 and featuring boys in the commercials, on the boxes, 0:02:02.969,0:02:05.027 and most of all creating them 0:02:05.027,0:02:07.761 in less gender-specific colors. 0:02:07.761,0:02:10.867 So this petition started to take off, 0:02:10.867,0:02:14.028 like, humongously fast, you have no idea. 0:02:14.028,0:02:18.010 I was getting interviewed by[br]all these national news outlets 0:02:18.010,0:02:21.352 and press outlets, and it was amazing. 0:02:21.352,0:02:24.108 In three weeks, maybe three and a half, 0:02:24.108,0:02:28.901 I had 46,000 signatures on this petition. 0:02:28.901,0:02:31.222 (Applause) 0:02:31.222,0:02:32.996 Thank you. 0:02:32.996,0:02:35.203 So, needless to say, it was crazy. 0:02:35.203,0:02:39.840 Eventually, Hasbro themselves[br]invited me to their headquarters 0:02:39.840,0:02:41.500 so they could go and unveil 0:02:41.500,0:02:43.779 their new Easy Bake oven product to me, 0:02:43.779,0:02:45.773 in black, silver, and blue. 0:02:45.773,0:02:48.347 It was literally one of the best moments of my life. 0:02:48.347,0:02:50.790 It was like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. 0:02:50.790,0:02:52.614 That thing was amazing. 0:02:52.614,0:02:54.253 What I didn't realize at the time, however, 0:02:54.253,0:02:56.134 was that I had become an activist. 0:02:56.134,0:02:58.000 I could change something that, 0:02:58.000,0:03:00.715 even as a kid, or maybe even especially as a kid, 0:03:00.715,0:03:03.483 my voice mattered, and your voice matters too. 0:03:03.483,0:03:05.407 I want to let you know it's not going to be easy, 0:03:05.407,0:03:06.562 and it wasn't easy for me, 0:03:06.562,0:03:09.389 because I faced a lot of obstacles. 0:03:09.389,0:03:13.012 People online, and sometimes even in real life, 0:03:13.012,0:03:16.014 were disrespectful to me and my family, 0:03:16.014,0:03:18.694 and talked about how the whole[br]thing was a waste of time, 0:03:18.694,0:03:20.158 and it really discouraged me. 0:03:20.158,0:03:21.968 And actually, I have some examples, 0:03:21.968,0:03:23.092 because what's better revenge 0:03:23.092,0:03:25.501 than displaying their idiocy. 0:03:25.501,0:03:27.751 So let's see. 0:03:27.751,0:03:30.383 From username liquidsore29 0:03:30.383,0:03:32.361 —interesting usernames we have here— 0:03:32.361,0:03:37.588 "disgusting liberal moms making their sons gay." 0:03:37.588,0:03:40.942 Liquidsore29, really? Really? Okay. 0:03:40.942,0:03:44.643 How about from whiteboy77ags: 0:03:44.643,0:03:49.070 "people always need something[br]to [female dog] about." 0:03:49.070,0:03:51.130 From jeffreygutierrez: 0:03:51.130,0:03:54.375 "omg shut up you just want money and attention." 0:03:54.375,0:03:56.571 So it was comments like these 0:03:56.571,0:03:59.203 that really discouraged me from[br]wanting to make change in the future 0:03:59.203,0:04:01.260 because I thought people don't care, 0:04:01.260,0:04:04.219 people think it's a waste of time, 0:04:04.219,0:04:06.987 and people are going to be disrespectful to me 0:04:06.987,0:04:08.065 and my family. 0:04:08.065,0:04:10.272 It hurt me, and it made me think, 0:04:10.272,0:04:12.998 what's the point of making change in the future? 0:04:12.998,0:04:15.519 But then I started to realize something. 0:04:15.519,0:04:18.173 Haters gonna hate. 0:04:18.173,0:04:19.625 Come on, say it with me, one, two, three: 0:04:19.625,0:04:22.662 haters gonna hate. 0:04:22.662,0:04:24.159 So let your haters hate, 0:04:24.159,0:04:25.858 you know what, and make your change, 0:04:25.858,0:04:27.669 because I know you can. 0:04:27.669,0:04:29.008 I look out into this crowd, 0:04:29.008,0:04:31.157 and I see 400 people 0:04:31.157,0:04:33.296 who came out because they wanted to know 0:04:33.296,0:04:34.532 how they could make a change, 0:04:34.532,0:04:36.980 and I know that you can, and all[br]of you watching at home can too 0:04:36.980,0:04:39.730 because you have so much that you can do 0:04:39.730,0:04:40.866 and that you believe in, 0:04:40.866,0:04:43.702 and you can trade it across all these social media, 0:04:43.702,0:04:44.578 through Facebook, through Twitter, 0:04:44.578,0:04:46.403 through YouTube, through Reddit, through Tumblr, 0:04:46.403,0:04:48.369 through whatever else you can think of. 0:04:48.369,0:04:49.886 And you can make that change. 0:04:49.886,0:04:51.261 You can take what you believe in 0:04:51.261,0:04:53.703 and turn it into a cause and change it. 0:04:53.703,0:04:55.772 And that spark that you've been hearing about 0:04:55.772,0:04:56.893 all day today, 0:04:56.893,0:04:59.177 you can use that spark that you have within you 0:04:59.177,0:05:00.881 and turn it into a fire. 0:05:00.881,0:05:02.549 Thank you. 0:05:02.549,0:05:04.808 (Applause)