Betty Crocker: The Boy Who Changed Betty Crocker

It's no secret that the youth of today are calling on companies to act for positive change across the world. In the Arab world, the latest young champion for change is Sultan Abdullah Mohammed Soumr, an eight-year-old boy from Ras Al Khaimah. Sultan stepped forward to address gender inequality when he noticed that a global brand which has embodied family values for almost 100 years - Betty Crocker - might need to look again at its Arabic instructions on the packaging.
Agency: VMLY&R

Sultan, who enjoys baking with his family, saw that the Arabic terminology in cooking instructions on a pack of Betty Crocker Mug Treats Triple Chocolate Cake that spoke only to the female population. As a young boy passionate about cooking, he voiced his feelings to this elder sister, who highlighted them in a tweet while tagging the brand’s social media platform. The tweet, which subsequently went viral read: “Betty Crocker, why do your baking instructions only speak to women?” Betty Crocker listened. The baking giant immediately began working to change the language on its packs, to make sure that all of its customers – male and female, young and old – would feel included. This was no small task. As one of the region’s biggest brands, it meant rewriting and redesigning instructions for more than 40 products, and then reprinting a whopping more than 20 million packs to make sure that the language used was gender neutral and inclusive, because, as Sultan pointed out, the kitchen is for everyone.