A few weeks ago, I was scrolling Instagram [being active on social media] and I came across a post about a new Netflix Show called Easy Bake Battle. This wasn’t a sponsored post, I follow Jacque Torres. He posts wholesome content that I enjoy. Anyways, I told my husband I thought it would be amusing to watch a bunch of adults baking intricate desserts with tiny ovens. Then, I recalled getting an easy bake oven for Christmas… kind of. Actually, it was a Betty Crocker Oven.
Ironically, I was already using a real oven without help in my tweens. Yet, I circled it in the big toy book. When I finally got one, it wasn’t the toy of the year. It was more of Commercial Christmas right of passage for me. Looking back on it, I can count on one hand how many times I used it. To be fair, it wasn’t because it lost it’s Christmas magic.
The Truth About The Millennial Betty Crocker Oven.
- It only came with a few mixes. I recall making tiny sugar cookies and a cake with it.
- To buy refills, You’d have to go to a store like Toy’R’Us. Since the internet was still coming into its own, ordering online wasn’t something broke tween could do. Sure I had birthday money, but you need a credit/debit card for online shopping.
- I was a clumsy kid, and those baking sheets were really hot. So, I burned myself a few times with it. It did more harm than good.
- Three, I lost the special spatula. I’m not sure how I did it, but I do have siblings. So who knows how it disappeared.
- Either way, I didn’t have a way to get the treats out. Not that it mattered, I was out of batter anyways.
- The pans weren’t nonstick. They were like those Dollar Tree baking pans that leave scorch marks after the first bake.
Marketing Can Change How We Look At A Product
Regardless of it’s pitfalls, I was able to proudly say I had a Easy Bake Oven…kind of. You see, I wanted an Easy Bake Oven. I immediately found a little fault with the my gift because it said Betty Crocker. Which is ironic, because the cake and brownie mixes sold at the grocery store are basically adult easy bake pouches. Companies like Betty Crocker and Pillsbury literally take care of all the dry ingredients. They tell the consumer how much wet ingredients they should use [just like an easy back oven packets]. So all you have to do is mix it, bake it, and you’re done. Why does marketing matter?
I was so caught up on the tiny ovens label, that I felt unheard. Like my family cut corners with my Christmas List. Come to find out, Betty Crocker is the company that made Easy Bake Ovens in the first place. As an adult, it easy to look back and say that wasn’t my proudest moment. Sure, I used it. I know I didn’t hide my disappointment. After a bit of digging, I found out that I actually had an easy bake oven. According to the National Easy Bake Oven Day Timeline, Easy Bake Oven didn’t drop the Betty Crocker part of its name till 1993. Based on the timeline, it’s likely I received a model from the late 80s to early 90s. If you stayed to hear me out, you can see why I was a little thrown off.
Decades later, I found out, I did recieve an easy bake oven. It wasn’t the latest model, but I was heard. It’s easy for an adult to purchase a substitute and feel that the request was made. They aren’t necessarily looking at a situation from a child’s frame of mind. Think of it this way, a child really wants a Nintendo Switch and you get them a Wii. Now, they are both Nintendo products, but Wii games are basically discontinued. If this gives you a better idea of why marketing matters.
Children are more perceptive about things that they care about. They’ll notice differences right away. Its best to communicate with them about alternatives or putting of getting that particular gift of the year. Expecting a child to have a mature reaction isn’t fair. Many adults don’t
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