The Boy Who Changed Betty Crocker

The story of a 10-year-old Emirati boy who transformed the 100-year-old Betty Crocker brand and won us the Dubai Lynx PR Awards

Betty Crocker, the 100-year-old brand of General Mills, a US Fortune 500 company, was challenged by an Emirati boy, Sultan Abdullah Mohammed Soumr, on Twitter.

He had a question: why were baking instructions on Betty Crocker’s packs only addressed to women?

Betty Crocker is a brand that prides in empowering women and promoting gender parity. It responded to the tweet with real commitment: To create progressive, genderless cooking instructions by working with a linguistic expert.

Betty Crocker then took an even bolder step – to change over 20 million packs of 100 products to prove to the world that ‘The Kitchen is for Everyone’.

The strategy

Working with VMLYR Dubai, our PR strategy focused on making Betty Crocker’s values clear to all audiences – that the kitchen is a creative and open space, no matter their age, gender or expertise.

The campaign took life online and on social media. It was shared by influencers, reached schools, talk shows and cooking shows. The story was covered by news channels, sparking real conversation about equality in the kitchen.

Campaign impact

Sultan’s tweet gained 450,000 impressions, 8,500 likes and was retweeted over 3,500 times. And he became The Boy Who Changed Betty Crocker!

The PR activation took the message across multiple media with a total reach of nearly 35 million, generating a PR value of about half a million dollars.

Recognition

The campaign won two honours for Public Relations at Dubai Lynx 2020/2021: A Silver for Corporate Image, Communication & Reputation Management, and Bronze for Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight.

Watch the story here: